New Dryad Drednought Model Hatcher Guitars

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by j. Kinnaird

Gorgeous stuff Mark. I recently bought some Schallers. There is no face washer. Gotta be careful mounting those things. Any tips.

A new Fisch 10mm brad point bit.

m

[Mark Hatcher]

While the first spec Dryad dreadnought is in the finish process I thought I'd put up some highlights on the two that are presently in the works.
Both of these two are mostly Northeastern woods.

This first one is 100yrs+ Northeastern Black Walnut with Red Spruce from the White Mountains. I've been working on the rosette which has a stone center ring bordered with spalted Sugar Maple.

I selected a local stone that is unique to the Lake Champlain valley. It is called Iberville Shale. It is most easily found on the lakeside. Here is where I found it when I went rockhounding on Lake Champlain:



This shoreline was just covered with these stone. You can see the Adirondack Mountains across the lake.

Here are a few of the stones:



Then the trick is to cut slabs suitable for the scale I'm working in.

A couple mock-up pics for the client:





Then on to the rosette:





Iberville Shale has an interesting history. You will find more information on this link:

https://yesdirt.com/iberville-shale/

Those of you who read the link will recognize this as a "Wishing Stone":



I was happy to find a couple of these for case swag.

m

[Nemoman]

That rosette is very tasteful and stunning!

[Al Mojo]

Wow Mark! The rosette is strikingly beautiful .. and really unique!

[FGBR]

Love that rosette!

[Kenny B]

I agree, a simply beautiful rosette

[canuck7]

Quite stunning…Iberville shale rosette…very cool!

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Nemoman

That rosette is very tasteful and stunning!

Thanks Nemoman. I’m glad stone is working out. There is an infinite variety available and it is fun to hunt them down in the wild

Originally Posted by Al Mojo

Wow Mark! The rosette is strikingly beautiful .. and really unique!

Thanks Al Mojo! Glad you like it.

Originally Posted by FGBR

Love that rosette!

Thanks for commenting FGBR. I’m enjoying the learning process of incorporating stonework.

Originally Posted by Kenny B

I agree, a simply beautiful rosette

Thanks Kenny B. One of the things I like about working with natural materials is the closer you look the more they have to show. That can be textures, little crystals, blending of colors, the more you look to more you see.

Originally Posted by canuck7

Quite stunning…Iberville shale rosette…very cool!

Vermont had an open art tour a couple weekends ago. Karen and I got out to many of the local studios and this is where I first saw Iberville Shale. It was being used in jewelry. I love the strong black and white contrast.

I found other potential materials to try too which I am sourcing now. Art tours are very inspiring!

m

[Dustinfurlow]

Picking out stone in the next few days at the shop will be a fun treat, man. Love how this rosette looks. Strikingly unique

[TomB'sox]

Beautiful work with the stone Mark. Kathy's grandparents had a cabin on Lake Champlain and she spent many a summer there. Unfortunately they had to sell it before she was an adult and prevent it from leaving the family. We often think what if?

[Mark Hatcher]

Originally Posted by Dustinfurlow

Picking out stone in the next few days at the shop will be a fun treat, man. Love how this rosette looks. Strikingly unique

I’m looking forward to your visit! I’ve got some new ones to choose from.

Originally Posted by TomB'sox

Beautiful work with the stone Mark. Kathy's grandparents had a cabin on Lake Champlain and she spent many a summer there. Unfortunately they had to sell it before she was an adult and prevent it from leaving the family. We often think what if?

Lake Champlain is a beautiful place. I imagine Kathy might already be familiar with the Iberville Shale. There are a lot of them in the lakeshores and they make great skipping rocks.

[Mark Hatcher]

The third Dryad I have in the works is White Mountains Red Spruce on torified Sugar Maple:



I've been working on the back on this one. We are going with a Sugar Maple back strip. In order to get contrast we're going with Sugar Maple with a much different history. We'll use Maple wood from old sugar trees such as these:



Here is the billet of wood I got from such a tree:



As you can see the tap holes are still in the wood. With age and ants getting their bellies full of sap and leaving a special little something behind you can see how that kicked off the spalting in the tree.

I cut out a good section that would contrast with the back and have some interesting color and figure:



We landed on a shape for the back strip:



And here we have it:



You just don't get much more Northeastern than Sugar Maple and we even included a tap hole

While I was at it I branded a spalted Sugar Maple wood logo chip for inside the guitar:





m

[Lonzo]

Besides being very cohesive and consequent in manifesting the theme in the execution, the woods are also very beautiful !
.. what else ? ..holey moley sort of...
..curious as to what kind of stone that one may get..

[Al Mojo]

Bravo Mark! This local woods Dryad back is really eye-catching and artistic!

[AcousticDreams]

My absolutely highest compliments Mark, for your innovative Inlay design for the back of the guitar.

BRILLIANT! Love the shape. Love how it does not go all the way to the end....You have succeeded in adding something a little different.

You have made a new mark that I am sure others will soon follow. That is all we can hope for in life...to make some kind of mark that will make a difference.

Bravo!

Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher

And here we have it: