July in the shop started off with a couple of stock A scale banjos, #394 and 395, followed by a stock 12″ walnut thin rim banjo with a Dobson tone ring, #396. These are all shown on the Banjos page. The only custom project for the month was a bouzouki, built using the mandocello mold but with shallower sides. It also has a slightly longer scale length than a mandocello, and uses individual Grover tuners at the customer’s request rather than Gotoh mandolin tuners.
This will be being picked up by the person who ordered it in another week or so. I thought about trying to make a video with it, but decided that in light of my inability to play anything in the mandolin family in a plausible way, and because it is so similar to a mandocello, I might as well save myself the trouble of making a video and other people the pain of listening to it.
At present I am working on a batch comprising one custom banjo and two stock banjos, and another custom banjo will be started shortly. I’m still hoping to make another octave mandolin soon. I’ve been picking berries in the woods nearby and keeping up with the vegetable garden, as it’s that time of year.
I got done with basic exterior fire training on July 9, and as of August 7 I began a shorter round of training for emergency vehicle operators and pump operators. In between I went for three 3 day camping excursions on local waterways, which I enjoyed very much, though they did cut into my productivity a bit. I’ll put in links below in case anyone would like to see the trip reports or pictures.