Hatcher's Studio '19

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Zandit75

Thanks Zandit75!

Originally Posted by David Wren

Wow ... that fiddleback mahogany ... and that cocobolo ... you'll definitely make something spectacular from that Mark!

Thanks David. Great woods truly are inspirational!

[Mark Hatcher]

I have the back strip laid in along with the side purflings:



Also the top is has been joined and we are working out the rosette:

[j. Kinnaird]

I reall like that cross grain back strip. Very pretty

[RGPGuitars]

Stunning wood, great combination of tone and grain.

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

I reall like that cross grain back strip. Very pretty

Thanks John, I've been doing cross grain on the back of the neck for years now. I don't know why I didn't think to do carry it onto the back strip.

Originally Posted by RGPGuitars

Stunning wood, great combination of tone and grain.

Thanks! we're fortunate to work with these woods!

Thanks for commenting

Mark

[Mark Hatcher]

Setting the vertebrae.

[Mark Hatcher]

Here are a couple pictures of cutting the rosette channel and the rosette installed. It is abalone and Cocobolo with a bunch of purfling lines. The Cocobolo came from the same piece of wood that I am using for the back strip and center laminate of the neck:







Thanks for viewing!
Mark

[Ovation1]

Love the pictures.

[Nemoman]

Beautiful woods--and what a gorgeous rosette and backstrip!

[canuck7]

I really like the color of the abalone....really pops, even without finish.
Sweet!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Ovation1

Love the pictures.

Thanks Ovation1. Is it wrong that I spent so much time setting up for a picture of a circle cutter?

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Beautiful woods--and what a gorgeous rosette and backstrip!

Thanks Nemoman, I have always been partial to trimming Mahogany (and Koa) with Cocobolo. I love the look and feel they really compliment each other. This
Fiddleback Tree is very special and I felt it warranted a little something extra out of the Cocobolo. I dug deep into my supply and remembered this one little piece of cloud figure that was stuck aside for just such an occasion.

Originally Posted by canuck7

I really like the color of the abalone....really pops, even without finish.
Sweet!

Thanks canuck7, That’s Blue Pau abalone. I believe it has the richest color of any abalone. I’d be delightfully surprised to find better!

[Mark Hatcher]

Here are a couple more pics. This first one is the back graft being cleaned up. This strip of cross grained wood is ther to support the glue joint between the two back halves. After it is glued in it is sanded down to a bring the sides down to a thin edge. If they where left full height they would become stress risers going right along the grain of the back halves increasing the possibility of causing cracks:



Here I am cutting out the sound hole:



I use binding tape on the bottom of the cutter to keep it from marking the top:



A nice sharp blade on the cutter gives a clean cut:



One of the practices I picked up while taking classes with Ervin Somogyi years ago was to save the hole cutouts with the pertinent details of the build for future reference. Of course Ervin has a lot more holes than I do

[Nemoman]

Looks like you've got a pretty good collection going yourself, Mark!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

Looks like you've got a pretty good collection going yourself, Mark!

I'm working on it!

[Guitars44me]

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

I like the look of peaks and troughs lining up. that's the way it's done in the violin family and to my eye it looks right.

As usual, I agree with John! I think it looks fantastic either view.

Beautiful BEAUTIFUL woods! And the rosette is SWEET. LOVE the Coco.

And it will sound awesome, no doubt!!!

Paul