:) Well we have had our sights on Vermont for awhile now. Karen got a great job as the CEO of a housing and community development non-profit organization. We also just went under contract on a wonderful house with a good place to set up shop.

Now we just have to sell our house!

Meanwhile I am still working away on the Old Town Farm guitar. Here it is with the body closed:

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I am doing the back graft and binding in Desert Ironwood:

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We're also doing the arm bevel in Desert Ironwood so it gets a little trickier when doing the binding, the top purfling and they need to part ways for a bit to make way for the bevel hence the pins to hold the purfling while gluing:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...024b1b36_b.jpg

Thanks for following along!
Mark

Beautiful guitar! Being a prophet is a dangerous job.

Congrats on the new house. Vermont is lovely and I hope the shop area is an easy transition. The thought of moving all that heavy equipment is quite daunting and this from a guy that just moved everything he owns to Tx.

Thanks and thanks Jamiejoon!

Thanks Tom, I’ve moved shop locations a number of times over the years and your right, there is a lot of planning and a lot to juggle. On the good side, I am doing much more work with hand tools now and it will be good to layout a shop from scratch to better accommodate that. Plus, there is no better way to clean-up and get rid of a that unused stuff that just accumulates. Karen and are really excited about the move, the new house and plans.

Glad to hear you found a place. Good luck with the move!

See you at B.I.G.! Guess I better bring a Padron.

I’m just setting up my new shop after our move. Everything you said about new possibilities and getting rid of extra stuff is true, and satisfying. I hope the new location is wonderful for you and your wife! Looking forward to meeting you at BIG. Best wishes on all the details and on selling your house. Dave

Thanks cigarfan, mmm Padron :)

Thanks Dave, My main workspace is framed out but I'll need to finish it from there. I've a little over a month to get the materials decided on and ordered. The other two rooms I can finish after I am up and running in the big workspace. I'll be hard at it for awhile but this will be a wonderful studio!

I'm looking forward to the BIG show. By then I'll be good and ready to be talking guitars instead of the pros and cons of rigid core vinyl flooring!

Mark, this is very exciting! When you’re up and running in your new home and the shop is open for visitors, that’s a part of the country I’d love to see again. Please wish Karen all the best with the new position. We have a couple of clients in that space (we’re their IT povider), and I have seen firsthand how challenging, yet rewarding, it can be.

Thanks Mike. If all goes well we'll be moving in a couple weeks after the BIG show. It will take awhile to set up but I'm excited about the space and my plans. It is beautiful out there and the people are great.

It's good to have a skill/business that isn't dependent on location, guess you could say if you build it they will come.

I agree, I can be pretty much anywhere UPS delivers and picks up. I also attribute it to the reach of the internet. I can find out about and buy cedar billets from a guy on a little island on the northwest coast who has a little boat and goes beach-coming for driftwood. Build a guitar with it and sell it to a guy in South Africa.
The joke is for the first time we have such a vast amount of information at our fingertips and people spend all their time watching cat videos! Well, I have a cat, Enzo, so I spend my internet time on more productive pursuits.

Arm Bevel
 

Here are a couple pics of the Desert Ironwood arm bevel. The second close up is rough and wet with Naptha to show color:

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Mark

Congrats on the move! Sounds like it will be a wonderful new start for you and your wife. So good! Best of luck selling your house! And that Desert Ironwood is gorgeous!

Love the color palette, Mark.

On to the Neck
 

With the body set for now it's time to get going on the neck. This will be Honduran Mahogany. I am using a traditional bird's mouth joint to hold the headstock. It is more work but, is stronger and certainly goes with the look of an Old Town Farm 00. Here I have the basic cuts to in:

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...8edbcf8a_c.jpg

It is all hand work to do the final fitting and forming the diamond volute:

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This gives me the opportunity to test out my new hand forged steel and Cocobolo draw knife. I might add that it works like a dream!