Greening Up
 

After a couple days of sun the rosette is starting to green up nicely along with the Lignum Vitae logo:

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Thanks for following along!
Mark

Wow, can't help but be impressed with all you have pulled together on this as well as your other build you have going on right now, you are an artist for sure!

Thanks Tom!

Setting Back Braces
 

I usually do a lattice back brace pattern on most of my guitar models including the Penelope. For this nylon cross over I decided to use the more standard latter braced style.

I get a wonderful amount of bass with the lattice style braces. With nylon strings it's not the bass you need to worry about to get good tonal balance it's the highs and the high mids. Ladder braces are stronger in that area.

On the go bar deck gluing on the back braces:

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..that Lignum Vitae in its green ‚exposed’ state really picks up the color of the fretboard inlay ‚twig’ very nicely.

..I read it also was/is widely used due to its density, toughness and self lubricating properties in boats and bearings for propeller shafts and the like..
How is it best glued to last if it is so oil rich ?

The rosette is really looking wonderful as the Lignum Vitae color changes--great choice!

Thanks Lonzo, I've read about about this wood being used for bearing also. I understand the first nuclear submarine the USS Nautilus had Lignum Vitae bearings for its propeller shafts partly to help it run silent. They also use this wood for the turbines of some hydroelectric power plants, particularly when drinking water is involved. Amazing wood! I believe that part of the lubrication is due to these bearing being submerged in water.

I don't see there are any gluing issues with this wood. The resin is certainly much less a problem than Cocobolo and a lot of other rosewoods.

Thanks Nemoman, I am loving the way the pallet of colors are coming together on this guitar. It is the same color pallet that you see in much of the art from the Middle Ages.

Thanks for commenting.
Mark

Back to the Tree
 

I just got the first coat of gloss picture on the Greta GA Tree guitar:

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It will likely be a little over two weeks before this finishing process is complete. There aren't any pictures of the top yet because after this is done I will be doing the top with French polish

So much color variegation in that Tree set! Remarkable. Kind of a bummer the client wanted a full cutaway when the wood has such unique figure, but to each their own :)
The flaming in the binding looks great, too.

Thanks Erithon, The depth of the figure in tortoise shell figure Tree wood creates such a believable optical illusion you have to touch it to confirm those veins aren't actually rising from the surface

Carving Braces
 

I spend a lot of time voicing my guitar tops. I usually set height with chisels and width with small finger planes. I have many finger planes and this little guy might be my favorite:

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Since this is a nylon string cross over the bracing is arrayed to enhance high mids and trebles to bring the response to balance. You don't really see to how different nylon and steel string guitars are until you see the top bracing:

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Yeah, slightly!!!!

And the shop looks great.

Thanks ukejon!

On different note, I just got another Tree set for a commission that is just hitting the workbench:

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Thanks for viewing,
Mark

New Woods
 

One advantage of making my own tuner buttons is when I get new trim woods I have new woods to make buttons!

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Oh wow, they all look great,
But the Afzelia and Box elder are unreal... such colour in wood ?
Nature never fails to amaze.. just like The Tree...
Another very nice set you have there...
thanks for sharing those beauties !

Thanks Lonzo, you could say the colors of the Afzelia Lay and the Box Elder are in fact, unreal. They are dyed woods. I prefer to use only naturally colored woods but just look at them! How could I pass those up? :)
The others are all natural.

The Desert Ironwood is more than can be caught in a photo. The gold specs jump to life when the light hits right so there is some wild chatoyance action going on with that wood!

Beautiful for sure. For me I like both examples of the Desert Ironwood the best! Very nice!

Desert Ironwood has the figure of Amboyna Burl, the hardness and lack of pores of Snakewood and the colors of Cocobolo. On top of that it has those amazing flecks of gold that sparkle in the light.

Here is a Desert Ironwood fretboard blank I just got in:

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That looks like it would make a beautiful fretboard...wow!

It really is a great wood. I am getting more, it’s inspiring stuff!

Mark

Sugaring Season
 

Winters are long here in New Hampshire. Sugaring Season is the first sign that winter is waning. When the days start getting into the 40s and the nights are still going down to the 20s, the sap for making Maple syrup starts running in the Sugar Maple Trees. Here in southern New Hampshire Sugar Season starts around the end of February:

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Why am I talking about Sugar Maple Trees? Because Sugar Maple trees are Hard Maple Trees and I make guitars out of Hard Maple, it's my favorite Maple:

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In recognition of Sugaring Season and the coming of spring I looked into buying some Sugar Maple. They have been making Maple Syrup around here for centuries and the fact is, all trees fall.

Look at this board:

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Yes, those are tap holes in that board which spawned all that wonderful spalting across that lovely curly grain:

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Now I am strategizing just how I'm going to get some guitars out of there!

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Mark,
you mention "after a couple days of sun" How exactly did you accomplish that? Was it in a room with indirect light or did you set it outside in a protected area?
As always I am enjoying your build threads!

Thank you for posting. I have learned a lot from you.

Thanks for following Roksbug, If you go back to post #90 in this thread I have a picture of the where the top is on one of my workbenches getting sun through the door window.

..I had missed that post somehow...
 

..how deep do those sapholes go?
Apparently they seem to be the source for the spalting if I understand correctly..
But I assume the holes are detrimental to both sound and looks.. unless you sell them as bullet holes and make it a wild west guitar ;o)

The maple with quilting and spalting looks good !

OK, if tap holes are the cause of spalting in maple, what causes spalting in hickory? Or other woods? I thought it was a fungus-related thing.

..wrong wording maybe.. I meant the sapholes provide the ‚open door‘ for the funghi to get in and do their thing. In other woods they get in via other wounds probably? .. woodpecker marks, bugholes, cracks, broken off branches...

Spalting
 

Spalting comes in a lot of ways but it is various fungi that cause it. In standing living trees where you see streaking, like this Sugar Maple, it usually starts from bugs drilling holes. I’ve heard it said that the fungi find bug poop quite enticing and it grows out from there. I think the tap holes left in the trees and the sweet sap in them is all you need to attract plenty of bugs or maybe that is all that is needed for the fungi to start.

I usually see the white rot fungi with the marbled black lines in wood that is in a more advanced level of decay. I see this mostly in woods that are laying on the damp forest floor. There is a finite window of opportunity if we’re concerned about the strength in of the wood because the fungi are making the wood lighter weight but are definitely weakening the wood.

There is a lot of science in all of this and it’s fascinating to read up on. There are hazards to avoid so it’s important to gain some understanding before working with it.

You can even buy fungus cultures that bring up a variety of different colors if you want to start growing your own!

Curly Brazilian Rosewood
 

Here is a curly figured Brazilian Rosewood set I just got in:

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I has beautiful color and figure and its ring is all that only Brazilian Rosewood can do.

You may have noticed I have been on a bit of a new woods shopping spree. This should be it for awhile. I can stop, I know I can stop! We'll be returning to your regular program shortly!

Thanks for viewing,
Mark

Holy cow! that’s going to make a beautiful guitar.

Shazam!!! That's an incredible set of BRW, Mark!

Can't wait to see you make it into something!