Here is what I've got going at the moment.....
I'm actually building a guitar for someone - and they're paying me!! (I know - amazing, eh) Wilder yet, it came from this deliberately non-commercial web page. Very interesting project.... the customer supplied back/side/neck wood - Australian Blackwood (an Acacia), very flamey - take a look..
And a nice Sitka spruce top... here's a close view....
I was supplied with 2 pieces of blackwood for the project, both 8"x32"x3/4" - one for the neck, one for back and sides. Getting the back/side wood resawn was a major battle that consumed 2 months. Another luthier (Jamie Kinscherff - wonderful builder, very helpful, a great guy - wish he had a web page I could reference) tried to get it sawn using his resources - problems everywhere. I finally got a 'special demonstration' of a Hitachi Resaw bandsaw from a local tool company - a referral from a friend of a fellow employee. That thing sliced 8" wide blackwood like nothing, and they got me 5 pieces out of a 3/4" board (well, one was a bit thin...). I know what I want to buy if I ever get too much money.
Planing this stuff was almost impossible - it chips badly. So, I'm in the process of getting back and sides sanded to thickness.
I'm building another guitar to the same pattern, out of acacia, but it will be nylon strings instead of metal.
Other than that, I'm accumulating wood, planning on doing the GAL convention in Seattle this year, and trying to figure out the new guitar synth.
Oh... here's a picture of the 24" jointer plane I built to help doing the joints for the tops and backs. It's made of maple and padauk, with a morado (bolivian rosewood) sole. I base it on a book on plane-making that Garret Wade carries.
The wood shown is a set of claro walnut for a future project... not more than a joined back at the moment.
If you have comments, please Email me at drfuzz@aol.com.
(Note: If you receive no response to your Email, please try again... and forgive my incompetence)
Dr. Fuzz - June 1998
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