For the past several months I've been accumulating materials for a second scratch build. This one will be a Martin-style dreadnought with a donated Carpathian spruce top and east Indian rosewood back and sides that I saw at RC tonewoods and had to jump on. I acquired a serviced Martin neck that looks like it's a short scale (24.9") with modified V-shaped profile and 1.75" width at the nut. On my first build I made things a little complicated by working from scratch on almost every part but this time I'm going to use serviced parts. Still, to my knowledge there's only been one Martin short scale dreadnought (the recent but discontinued D-18SS) so I'll be combing over its specs. IIRC the bracing is forward-shifted.
The pieces:
I'm going for a vintage vibe on this one so the back strip is the zig zag pattern...
... but the rosette will be bold herringbone from Stewart MacDonald
Other noteworthy specs:
Bridge plate: osage orange
tail block: birch plywood instead of solid mahogany for added strength
kerfing: reverse type in basswood
bracing: 3 sitka spruce billets
ANyway, I've had the materials climatizing in my basement for several months. I don't have a reliable means of maintaining a consistent humidity level though so I've waited until things stabilized into the upper 30%'s to mid-40%'s. After setting up my cheap no. 5 jack plane I shot the joints for the soundboard and back plates this weekend then today I joined the top (using Kinkead's method) so things are officially underway:
