Mark Blanchard - Sugar Pine [“Lucky Strike” Redwood | Carved, Curly Black Walnut]

[iim7V7IM7]

Mark lives in a beautiful part of the Sierra Nevadas and went for a hike this week. Knowing that I appreciate mountains, he shared some photos with me.



Today, he took the Black Walnut laminated rims that he had previously refined on his Fox Bender and glued his Honduran Mahogany neck block to the two bent rims. Mark’s Venetian cutaway has a twisting, convex compound surface as it transitions from the cutaway to the neck. He uses T-88 structural epoxy for this operation.

[iim7V7IM7]

Mark glued in the Honduran Mahogany end block with Titebond 1 to get the laminated Black Walnut rim assembly ready to install his reverse kerfed linings which he is currently fabricating.

[iim7V7IM7]

Mark sent me this mid-process photo of converting Spanish Cedar and Alder lumber into strips that will become kerfed linings. He is one of those old school luthiers who makes nearly everything in his guitars. Looking at the process at this scale makes wonder what happens at “Kerfing” Tom Peterson’s shop! These will be reverse kerfed linings with an end cap when complete.

[iim7V7IM7]

Mark continued to fabricate 90+ Alder and 50+ El Cedro 34” - 36”lining strips today (enough for 35+ guitars). He likes to use higher density Alder for top and back linings. The Spanish Cedar is used when weight is a concern (and it smells nice!).

[justonwo]

Very cool! Yes, Spanish cedar is one of the best smells in all of guitar-dom.

I’m used to hearing about alder on TGP! What about swamp ash?!

[iim7V7IM7]

Yep, Western Red Alder is Leo body slab wood….

My favorite smelling wood is actually Port Orford Cedar (which is actually a Cyprus). I have a guitar with laminated POC sides, solid linings and back braces. It smell’s fantastic!

Originally Posted by justonwo

Very cool! Yes, Spanish cedar is one of the best smells in all of guitar-dom.

I’m used to hearing about alder on TGP! What about swamp ash?!

[mhw48]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

Mark lives in a beautiful part of the Sierra Nevadas and went for a hike this week. Knowing that I appreciate mountains, he shared some photos with me.



Today, he took the Black Walnut laminated rims that he had previously refined on his Fox Bender and glued his Honduran Mahogany neck block to the two bent rims. Mark’s Venetian cutaway has a twisting, convex compound surface as it transitions from the cutaway to the neck. He uses T-88 structural epoxy for this operation.

These photos depict very similar graceful curves!

[eKat]

"These photos depict very similar graceful curves! "

Good one!

That's Blanchard, in a nutshell!

[justonwo]

I think it's weird that he's attached that giant steel reinforcement to the neck block. Looks like it's adjustable, though!

[eKat]

Originally Posted by justonwo

I think it's weird that he's attached that giant steel reinforcement to the neck block. Looks like it's adjustable, though!

Another, really good one!

YAY!

:-)

[Steve Kinnaird]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

My favorite smelling wood is actually Port Orford Cedar (which is actually a Cyprus). I have a guitar with laminated POC sides, solid linings and back braces. It smell’s fantastic!

Amen, and amen.

[iim7V7IM7]

The process continues…

[eKat]

That dusty green machine up thread's got a good story behind it. . . yasssss . . . it's the one from the back cover of Fine Woodworking, decades ago. A friend designed and built it with his students and ended up wanting to sell it. The rest is history. Blanchard wanted to name it Sandra. That's cute, but early on he told me his name was Herkimer, Herki for short, and it stuck.

http://www.dkwoodworksinc.com/dk-storey

[iim7V7IM7]

Finally, some finished reverse kerfed linings and caps. These are the Alder linings which weigh 46 g/strip. The Spanish Cedar linings are lighter at 37 g a strip. Mark will use the stiffer Alder for top linings and the pleasant smelling, lighter El Cedro linings for the back.

[justonwo]

Originally Posted by iim7V7IM7

Finally, some finished reverse kerfed linings and caps. These are the Alder linings which weigh 46 g/strip. The Spanish Cedar linings are lighter at 37 g a strip. Mark will use the stiffer Alder for top linings and the pleasant smelling, lighter El Cedro linings for the back.

Awesome. Looking good!