Hey, Dude!

[f5loar]

That Dude only lacks the signature of Lloyd Loar to be classified as a Loar.

[mandophil(e)]

Hey F5Joe, care to post a pic or two of your Dude?

[f5joe]

Here are some I took today of Dude #2. #It was completed nine years ago this month. Many thanks to Lynn!

[f5joe]

[f5joe]

[f5joe]

[f5joe]

[mandophil(e)]

F5Joe--that is a beauty. Looks just like a Fern Loar. Lynn really captured the '24 dark burst coloration.

[f5joe]

Thank you, that's exactly what I wanted. His name and all the pearl are hand-cut. I love this mando.

[diamond ace]

Dang!

[mandoman15]

And only number two!!? thats so ridiculously awesome, i cant even...i dunno! I spelled ridicolously wrong.

[f5loar]

I always thought No. 2 was much better than No. 1. Sure don't look like Isenhour Brick there. Must be General Shale.

[f5joe]

Yes, General Shale. Isenhour was too expensive!

[f5loar]

Bricks are like mandos, you get what you pay for! I hope your house does not fall down around your Dude and 815.!
The house and the 815 you could replace but the Dude No. 2 would be but a memory.

[f5joe]

f5loar ..... you win! I'll just play the Duff at that point.

[Darryl Wolfe]

The Dude's still looking good Joe, I forgot that it was quite that dark

[SternART]

And I thought #3 I owned was great, looks a lot like #2.....
but in comparison #5 is phenominal!!!
You guys lost me on Isenhour brick & General Shale? Does
Tom sell bricks?

[f5joe]

Tom Isenhour of Isenhour Brick fame. He's my hero.

[Darryl Wolfe]

In 1919 or 1920, Lewis Calvin Isenhour opened a brick plant (later known as the Little Plant) with ten round "beehive" kilns and a capacity of 25,000 bricks, manned by twenty to thirty workers. Isenhour opened a second plant with fifteen more beehive kilns and by the end of the 1920s, the Isenhour complex produced over 20 million bricks per year, many of which went toward the construction of the U.S. Army's Fort Bragg, located near Fayetteville.

And then came the Salisbury NC plant

and then came Little Tom I, aka F5loar

...and then came Lloyd Loar mandolins

[f5loar]

You're close Darryl. Isenhour Brick&Tile Co. in Salisbury came first in 1896 started by my great Grandfather, GW Isenhour, then came the spin-offs by his sons at the turn of the century like Sanford Bricks, Yadkin Bricks, Norwood Bricks. They learned the brick craft in Salisbury and then branched out to make their own fortunes. I was 4th generation of a long string of brick makers that increased production to over 120 million bricks per year. The 5th didn't make it.

[kudzugypsy]

...dang, i never figured i'd have anything to say in this thread...ft. bragg, NC, - thats me - "'dems good bricks!"...and A LOT of em too!

my house and my business both have your bricks in them!!

i always wondered if NC State had some kind of benefactor that donated all those bricks...that is one ugly campus, but i bet it will be around for a looong time.

[Darryl Wolfe]

I was 4th generation of a long string of brick makers that increased production to over 120 million bricks per year. The 5th didn't make it.

Tripp decided to play golf eh?

[Gavin Baird]

Well Darryl, I hope they can get their act together. It really seems a little hard to believe that the Flowerpot is so close to their heart and the F4/F5 shape seems to elude their legal experts...Gavin

[f5loar]

I would say you could blame it on golf as to the reason I am out of a job today. I guess there is more money in whacking the s**t out of a hard rubber ball than turning dirt into money.

[Ken Waltham]

Tom, you absolutely kill me. I laugh everytime I read your stuff!
Turning dirt into money.... gotta love it.