Another of my unusual hobbies: Making coasters from guitar sound holes
By The Horse
@TheHorse (238358)
Walnut Creek, California
October 16, 2015 9:07pm CST
Folks who know me from "that other site" know that I love working with wood. One of my other slightly strange hobbies (aside from refinishing old loudspeakers) is making pairs of coasters from guitar sound holes. These are the cutouts from the centers of the "tops" of acoustic guitars. To my pleasant surprise, high end guitar manufacturers like Martin and Collings are willing to send them to me for free. They're basically smallish disks of high quality spruce wood.
The disks are originally light in color, and I sand 'em, stain 'em, and eventually finish 'em with several coats of oil-based polyurethane to make them waterproof. The last step is applying felt bottoms with a hot glue gun.
Each pair takes several weeks to make, and I very occasionally sell them for $20 or so a pair. But mostly I give them to guitar playing friends around here as house warming presents when they host jam parties or practice sessions.
Do you still use coasters in your house? My parents were adamant about us using coasters so we wouldn't leave little rings on our wood tables.
9 people like this
9 responses
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
17 Oct 15
we use coasters at home - it is just a fancy name for table mats - great that guitar makers send you the materials you use for free. To them they are just wasted wood but you are recycling them to good use
@arthurchappell (44941)
• Preston, England
17 Oct 15
@TheHorse yes, there are thousands of designs, some of which change hands for a fortune among collectors
@TheHorse (238358)
• Walnut Creek, California
17 Oct 15
Exactly! It also makes me feel good about the kinds of people guitar makers are. I'm ambivalent about occasionally selling the coasters, because I wonder if I'm taking advantage of their kindness. I've sold a few pairs, but mostly I give them away to friends who play guitar. Table mats are bigger, in my experience! They're what we put our plates, silverware, etc., on. Or are those called "placemats"?
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (238358)
• Walnut Creek, California
17 Oct 15
@arthurchappell Oh, I remember those. They're kind of glorified cardboardy or particle boardy and say St Pauli Girl or Guinness (or whatever) on them, right?
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (502805)
• Italy
17 Oct 15
I was going to ask how do you get those guitar cutouts, but I see that guitar manufactures send them for free, this is interesting. I still use coasters, I had a full box of old AOL CD, I have painted one side, applied a felt on the other side and use them as coasters.
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
17 Oct 15
they send'm to ya fer free?? heck! can't beat a deal like that now can ya? yepperz, i've coasters here....jest seem to be the only soul in the house who knows what the heck they're fer.
@crazyhorseladycx (39503)
• United States
17 Oct 15
@TheHorse sadly i don't reckon many do any more. i still sit 't the table to eat, the hubs eats outta his chair. when folks come o'er we eat't the table, the hubs still sits in his chair 'less i threaten 'im with a cattle prod. i aint got none fer the dinin' table 's its well sealed (o'er 50 years ol' now 'n still no water spots), but i do got 'em in the livin' room. folks jest don't use 'em 'less i mention it.
@TheHorse (238358)
• Walnut Creek, California
17 Oct 15
@crazyhorseladycx Back in the day, it was one of those things grown-ups had to remind kids to do. "That was your grandma's table back in..." As for eating dinner as a family, it used to be a predictor of good language development. Hmm.
@NeldaHoxie (1381)
• United States
18 Oct 15
Those are very neat gifts. I would think they would sell quite well on etsy. I forget to use coasters allthe time, but my husband uses them religiously.
@TheHorse (238358)
• Walnut Creek, California
20 Oct 15
@NeldaHoxie I've heard about Etsy several times. I should check it out, but I still haven't!
@NeldaHoxie (1381)
• United States
19 Oct 15
@TheHorse Etsy has lots of really neat handmade items. Whenever I am looking for a unique gift, I start there.
@JamesHxstatic (29410)
• Eugene, Oregon
26 Oct 15
What a great idea that is. You are quite creative.
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
17 Oct 15
That's a very neat idea! I don't use coasters because most of our furniture is already polyurethane finished, so there's little risk of rings (and I hate it when a coaster sticks to the bottom of a glass or mug and then falls off!)
It would be really neat if you could get the manufacturer's decal to apply to them but I'm sure that they wouldn't allow that!
@kevin1877uk (36987)
•
17 Oct 15
My mug of coffee at the moment is sitting on a coaster so yeah still use them.
@rahulvsmokiee (3110)
• Thiruvananthapuram, India
17 Oct 15
lol! its really a good businss to sell them for 20$. I too like to seek how you do this. Wont you guide me my dear friend?
