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  #31  
Old 01-07-2018, 10:14 AM
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Originally Posted by BlmJn View Post
I bought a nice piece of Mahogany a few years in an estate sale in Kalamazoo. 4"x17"by 6.5 ft. Sold off at the Gibson auction in 1984 and put away in a garage. I wandered into the garage saw it with some 12/4 Walnut and Cherry that I had no interest in at the price being asked. But the "unknown" plank was yelling very loudly, "Take me home". There were also some nice scraps of BRZ large enough for a few bridges priced at $1ea. One of my better wood buying days.
Good for you! It’s really great to actually find treasure when you’re on a treasure hunt!

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Originally Posted by Guitars44me View Post
Yummy stuff and great stories too! What is not to like?

You Luthiers are modern alchemists. You turn beautiful wood into music.

Cheers

Paul
Thanks Paul. I’ll admit when it comes to woods I’m a sucker for a good story. That may be part of what attracts to domestic woods. It puts you closer to the story of the wood. Sometimes you are talking to the author of the story behind the wood you get to build a guitar out of.

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Originally Posted by DamianL View Post
I love the idea of using domestic wood - that olive looks brilliant, and would love to hear it.

Over here in the U.K. I know of a couple of builders using all domestic woods for some guitars...haven’t got to try one of them yet either....but it definitely appeals to me.

D
Thanks for commenting Damian. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed the first time you play a well made domestic woods guitar!
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  #32  
Old 01-07-2018, 11:07 AM
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I look forward to seeing more of that bandsaw setup.
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  #33  
Old 01-07-2018, 04:55 PM
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I look forward to seeing more of that bandsaw setup.
Hi Bill, I’ll show more of the set up soon. I have a number of billets in line to cut, hopefully to utter success!

Mark
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  #34  
Old 01-12-2018, 12:15 PM
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Default Koa

About a year ago I was fortunate to pick up a very nice old billet of Koa from a retiring luthier:





Wonderfully quarter sawn:



Very nicely figured:





I've been waiting to get my re-saw equipment and my chops up to bite into this billet and I'm there finally.
I was able to get 8 back sets from billet by cutting it in half and making 8 slices from each piece:







I'm very satisfied with the look and especially the tap tone I'm getting from the very hard old Koa billet!
The domestic wood locker deepens.
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Last edited by Mark Hatcher; 01-13-2018 at 02:39 PM.
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  #35  
Old 01-12-2018, 03:39 PM
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My my! That is some scrumptious Koa. You really know where to hit a guy Mark.
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  #36  
Old 01-13-2018, 10:02 AM
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I have mentioned before I have been working on my Unlimited Series of one of a kind guitars that I intend to display as I start doing guitar shows this year.
Things happen slowly in this world of guitar making and I am really taking my time with each of the four current guitars I want to have ready this year. I have limited the number of custom orders I am taking to help make time but, I do need to keep money coming in to "keep the lights on"

The first guitar in this series is finished and I had done a build thread here on AGF. This is my Olivewood Italian themed Penelope Guitar;



The second guitar is currently on the bench which is a Black Walnut/Redwood Greta. This guitar is introducing a new concept with it's throated sound port system;



The next guitar will be an all Koa Josie small jumbo. I am doing a Hawaiian theme with this one and am currently doing the groundwork for it. This is why you are seeing me do so much re saw work lately. I had the Koa billet but needed to buy better equipment to reliably cut the wood and needed to train the tool (me) to reliably operate the tools to get the best Koa cuts for this guitar. I've managed to get the 8 guitar sets from the billet and am able to pick the best among them for this all Koa guitar.

I was very happy with the performance of the all mahogany, wedge, fan fret Josie I had made for Ukejon:



I plan to greatly build upon this design and am currently doing quite a bit of research in preparation.

Lastly, I will have my Piña parlor model. Wait till you see what I have planned for this one!
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  #37  
Old 01-13-2018, 05:15 PM
Jeff Scott Jeff Scott is offline
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Mark, what is the scale lengths of the fan fret Josie? I have a 12 string guitar with a 25.5" - 27" fan and it feel perfectly natural to me, and anyone who has played it, some not even realizing it was a fanned fret guitar until I mentioned it! They must have been looking at that woman across the room when they grabbed the guitar to put in their laps.
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  #38  
Old 01-14-2018, 06:38 AM
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Originally Posted by Jeff Scott View Post
Mark, what is the scale lengths of the fan fret Josie? I have a 12 string guitar with a 25.5" - 27" fan and it feel perfectly natural to me, and anyone who has played it, some not even realizing it was a fanned fret guitar until I mentioned it! They must have been looking at that woman across the room when they grabbed the guitar to put in their laps.
Thanks for commenting Jeff. The Josie has the same 1 1/2” span but, instead of your 25.5”-27” fan we did 24.75”-26.25”. Also, the guitar is 13 frets to the body.
I think a 1 1/2” spread is longest fan you’d want to go with. For this next Josie I’m thinking 24.75”-25.75”.

Mark
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  #39  
Old 01-14-2018, 09:24 AM
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Wow, nice koa billet.
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  #40  
Old 01-14-2018, 09:30 AM
SoCalSurf SoCalSurf is offline
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That is some amazing koa. Can't wait to see how the guitars made from that look. That's probably my favorite wood.
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  #41  
Old 01-14-2018, 04:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Bill Kraus View Post
Wow, nice koa billet.
Thanks Bill! I was nervous cutting into it but it all worked out well.

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Originally Posted by SoCalSurf View Post
That is some amazing koa. Can't wait to see how the guitars made from that look. That's probably my favorite wood.
Thanks SoCalSurf! I believe Koa is one of the most beautiful woods available. I think of it as the most “exotic” of our domestic woods.
Thanks for commenting.
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  #42  
Old 01-14-2018, 04:41 PM
LouieAtienza LouieAtienza is offline
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That olivewood Penelope is probably my new favorite from you; love how you tied the motif in the rosette and sound "port."
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  #43  
Old 01-14-2018, 05:30 PM
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Mark,
What are the specs on your re-saw blade? I’m in the market for a new one. My current blade is a 1”-3 tpi skip tooth carbide .035”. I think it’s a Lennox from Hastings. It’s lasted a long time but it’s time...
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  #44  
Old 01-15-2018, 06:12 AM
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Originally Posted by LouieAtienza View Post
That olivewood Penelope is probably my new favorite from you; love how you tied the motif in the rosette and sound "port."
Thanks Louie, The stem of that Olive sprig port was a challenge to cut!

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Originally Posted by Tim McKnight View Post
Mark,
What are the specs on your re-saw blade? I’m in the market for a new one. My current blade is a 1”-3 tpi skip tooth carbide .035”. I think it’s a Lennox from Hastings. It’s lasted a long time but it’s time...
Hi Tim, I’m using Timber Wolf 3/4” 2-3 positive claw blades with a .025” blade thickness. They cut a .049” kerf which I feel is a lot of wood to be turning to dust. They cut well but, I’m open to change because the kerf is so wide.
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  #45  
Old 01-18-2018, 05:58 PM
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I just wanted to pull this post up again because the company I got the wood from has just become a sponsor here on AGF. You'll see the listing on the sponsor list as Chordwood. It's run by Glenn. Great guy, great premium mahogany!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher View Post
So I've been cooped up in below zero temps for a week up here in New Hampshire. Time for a road trip. Car's got heat. I got word on New Year's day there was a new source for some prime aged Honduran Mahogany for neck stock within days ride and I went for it yesterday. I left in the -11 degree black morning and headed east over the mountain to greet the sunrise. An hour and a half later with the sun in my eyes I reached the ocean and turned North for the beautiful frozen Mid Maine Coast.

In 1987 a very large quantity of this Long Leaf Mahogany was imported for a large job. They were matching colors and the rarer darker pieces were put aside maybe 350 board feet in all were left in dry storage. Now 30 years later they are making them available and I am the first one there!

This is the genuine Mahogany people say you can't get anymore and if you did you would have to wait 30 years for it to be what this stuff is. I drove by the Lee Neilson factory and showroom on the way there and luckily didn't realize what I was looking at when it went by.

I made my selection and got to try to catch up with the sun before it set on the way home. So here is what I got, this first board is 4 inches thick by 12 inches wide and six feet long:



That's enough for me to get 18 necks of American Mahogany:



I also bought a small two neck blank from another board. I'll say I was over budget but, I am not ashamed to say the this board was a bit scary. It has a dark color which is nice and it is hard as rock and really heavy. When I measured and weighed it at home it comes up to 44lbs per cubic foot. Big Leaf Mahogany normally come in at 37lbs. That is a huge difference!



These Swietenia Macrophylla boards are gorgeous and the chatoyance when wet just sparkles:



It occurred to me today that I am going to hold the two dark neck for "Tree" guitars as they'll be great matches. The other 18 will be for higher end specs or upcharges on customs because they are premium wood that came at a premium.

Finally here's the question: How many different common names did I use for the same species of wood?
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