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  #226  
Old 11-28-2019, 10:45 AM
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BrunoBlack BrunoBlack is offline
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Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher View Post
The Woodsman guitar got me really looking at traditional guitar making techniques, both in building and finishing guitars. In my explorations I found a magical powder: Dragon's Breath.
I say this because it seems to have a million uses. For guitar making it is just the right color when making a filler for spruce tops.

Dragon's Breath is also called Lycopodium powder and it comes from several species of Club Moss. Locally here in New Hampshire we have Lycopodium Obscurum. Here it is growing in the woods behind my house:



The powder is the spores from the strobilus of the plant which are the cat tail like structures on top:



When drying the powder comes right out:



This powder is made up of extremely round and small spores that move like a liquid inside a jar. It is easily airborne and in science is used as a way to show sound waves passing through air.
It is hydrophobic (repels water) so it is used to keep pills from sticking together as well as latex gloves etc. Actually, the list of uses goes on and on.

The spores are packed with high energy proteins which gives it the Dragon's Breath name. It is the magic powder a sorcerer uses to throw flame. It was used in photography as flash powder and is still used for stage effects.

So you know I had to try that out!

Looks like what we call Princess Pine??? We used to pick it and make wreaths from it. I never knew about any of its other properties besides being a handsome and plentiful plant. I think it became rare and (I think) illegal to pick it any longer — not sure.

EDIT: it’s not illegal to pick, except in Indiana and New York from what I read. But apparently it’s getting rare in many locations.

Last edited by BrunoBlack; 11-28-2019 at 11:14 AM.
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  #227  
Old 11-28-2019, 11:33 AM
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Originally Posted by SJ VanSandt View Post
I have to confess that I hope you don't use it with redwood![/QUOTE]

Don't worry Redwood is too dark for this to work. It's that hard to match lighter colored Spruce that this comes in handy for.

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Originally Posted by Haasome View Post
Looks like what we call Princess Pine??? We used to pick it and make wreaths from it. I never knew about any of its other properties besides being a handsome and plentiful plant. I think it became rare and (I think) illegal to pick it any longer — not sure.

EDIT: it’s not illegal to pick, except in Indiana and New York from what I read. But apparently it’s getting rare in many locations.
Thanks for commenting Hassome. I've read that too. I don't see that it was ever an issue here in New Hampshire. It grows all over the place here. I imagine like any plant life you aren't supposed to pick it in parks and other public or conserved lands. I can get it easily enough in my own woods and a handful of those stems gives me enough powder to last my entire career building guitars.

These plants have all kinds of nick names. Ground Pine is pretty common. There are a bunch of similar species but, they all tend to be humble little plants. That was not always the case. They used to be the king of the forests, in fact, they were the forest before Ginkos and other trees. These Lycopod trees were older than the molds that today can break down cellulose.
All of that vegetation just piled up and is the origin of what became today's coal.

Mark
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  #228  
Old 11-29-2019, 10:13 AM
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Fascinating info....thanks for posting
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  #229  
Old 12-03-2019, 11:39 AM
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Fascinating info....thanks for posting
You’re welcome Ukejon!

This month I am working on a Woodsman OO model. It will be done in the vintage style with many traditional techniques and very old woods which the Woodsman is all about



The Woodsman is a deep bodied 14 fret OO and this guitar will be made with 150+ year old sinker Honduran Mahogany and 100+ year old growth Redwood.
I purchased a number of these Mahogany boards which I am getting the back, sides, neck, and internal parts, like the heel and end blocks from:



Here is a close up of the back:



The back being joined:



I particularly like this Mahogany because it is very lightweight as this species goes and has a wonderful tap tone and a great look.

The old Redwood top will give me the tone I am after and due to it’s age We won’t need to wait for years for the sound to open up.
The light color also goes very nicely with the old Mahogany









Thanks for viewing!
Mark
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  #230  
Old 12-03-2019, 11:51 AM
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Another beautiful set of woods, Mark.

Love the pairing for this one--should be a great match for your Woodsman model!
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  #231  
Old 12-03-2019, 01:11 PM
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Another beautiful set of woods, Mark.

Love the pairing for this one--should be a great match for your Woodsman model!
Thanks Nemoman! Here is a picture of the basic parts going into this Woodsman:



You can see I have the simple Bloodwood rosette in with the traditional rings. I also have the very lightweight Mahogany neck blank.
Instead of using Black Ebony like the last Woodsman the dark wood pieces you see there are all wood that coincidentally originates from Peterborough, except it’s Peterborough, England instead of here in New Hampshire. The wood is 5000+ year old big Oak. Here are a couple pictures from the source companies brochure:







You can see these trees were huge. It’s a difficult drying process with these ancient logs as they shrink almost 30% in the drying process. In the end, the wood is much more like Ebony than Oak. The dark color comes from the tannins in the wood reacting with iron in the silt

Here are a couple pictures of a Bog Oak fretboard up close and polished:





I’m thinking 5000+ yr old Oak easily meets the qualifying parameters for a Woodsman!

Mark
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Last edited by Mark Hatcher; 12-03-2019 at 02:34 PM.
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  #232  
Old 12-04-2019, 05:20 AM
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Default Headstock

One of my favorite features of the Woodsman design is the headstock. It looks simple but the birds mouth joint attachment requires precision work which results in a very strong setup.
I’m going to do the same basic headstock profile for this guitar but, it will be a slot head.
I’ll continue to use Waverly nickel open back tuners with the Ebony buttons. In this case the tuners will carry the slot head type posts:



Another difference is my slot head angle will be 10 degrees opposed to the 15 degrees I use for solid headstocks. This requires some calculation changes on how I cut this bird mouth joint:







Thanks for viewing!
Mark
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  #233  
Old 12-04-2019, 10:20 AM
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Smile Dang this Woodsman will be FINE

Very cool woods, Mark!

Love the Bog Oak particularly well.

Have fun

Play and sing 🎶 and dance every chance you get! And have a Rockin' Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Solstice/Festivus!

Paul
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  #234  
Old 12-04-2019, 01:39 PM
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Looks great, Mark! I love a fine set of Redwood

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Another difference is my slot head angle will be 10 degrees opposed to the 15 degrees I use for solid headstocks.
Why is this? Would the break angle be too extreme with a slotted headstock?
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  #235  
Old 12-04-2019, 03:20 PM
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Mark, those woods!!!! Absolutely marvelous! I hope you're able to record a sample of this one when complete because it should be outstanding!

And the bird's beak joinery on the headstock? WOWZA!
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  #236  
Old 12-04-2019, 04:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Guitars44me View Post
Very cool woods, Mark!

Love the Bog Oak particularly well.

Have fun

Play and sing 🎶 and dance every chance you get! And have a Rockin' Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza/Solstice/Festivus!

Paul
Thanks Paul, It is a particularly unusual old wood. I have a guitar back and side set of this Bog Oak too and just love the look of it. That set would make a great looking Woodsman too.

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Originally Posted by Erithon View Post
Looks great, Mark! I love a fine set of Redwood


Why is this? Would the break angle be too extreme with a slotted headstock?
Thanks Erithon, There are two reasons I use the 10 degree angle on a slothead. The first is with a slothead the strings are going down into the headstock to get to the tuner posts, so I'm pretty much maintaining the same break angle over the nut that a solid head has. So yes, it doesn't need the extra break angle which only makes the nut stickier and breaks more strings.
The second reason is it gives a little more clearance off the headstock between the tuner post and the nut.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Treenewt View Post
Mark, those woods!!!! Absolutely marvelous! I hope you're able to record a sample of this one when complete because it should be outstanding!

And the bird's beak joinery on the headstock? WOWZA!
Thanks Treenewt, This is a spec guitar so I expect to have time to get sound samples. Charlie Chronopoulos, who plays my sound samples for me bought the first Redwood/Black Walnut Woodsman. I think it would be interesting to A-B the two guitars.

Mark
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  #237  
Old 12-05-2019, 03:47 PM
Treenewt Treenewt is offline
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Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher View Post
Thanks Treenewt, This is a spec guitar so I expect to have time to get sound samples. Charlie Chronopoulos, who plays my sound samples for me bought the first Redwood/Black Walnut Woodsman. I think it would be interesting to A-B the two guitars.

Mark
Mark, that would be interesting, indeed! I hope Charlie is able to do that!
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  #238  
Old 12-05-2019, 06:10 PM
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Default Tuner I stock

I started carrying the Waverly open back tuners to go with my Woodsman model. They have the more traditional look and Black Ebony buttons. I like their light weight and smooth accurate mechanisms. They come in Gold and Nickel with a 16:1 turning ratio:



That makes four brands of tuners I now keep for my various models.

I have the largest assortment of Gotoh mini tuners which includes three different Gold colors: Regular Gold, Antique Gold X-Finish, and Satin Gold X-Finish as well as an Antique Copper X-Finish. They have an 18:1 Turning Ratio:



I also have Gotoh Minis in Black and three different Silver shades: Cosmo Black, X-Finish Nickel, X-Finish Chrome



I keep the modern looking Schertler open backed tuners. They have an 18:1 turning ratio. They come in Matt Black, Gold, Satin Chrome, and Metallic. Matte Black is available for both solid and slot headstocks. They come mostly with Black Ebony Buttons but I can make custom wood buttons for any of them.



Finally, I carry Knilling geared Tuning Pegs for my Nylon Cross over and Acoustic Bass models. These have a 4:1 turning ratio and Black Ebony Buttons:



You can adjust the turning tension on these by pushing or pulling the tuner button while turning it muck like a tradition one piece wood tuner peg.

This is a diagram of how these tuners work with their internal planetary gears:



So that's 19 different tuners I keep and with the custom buttons available in most any wood for the Schertler and Gotoh Minis, there are many combinations available.

I've been meaning to get all these tuners together all in one place!
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  #239  
Old 12-06-2019, 06:23 AM
ukejon ukejon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Hatcher View Post
One of my favorite features of the Woodsman design is the headstock. It looks simple but the birds mouth joint attachment requires precision work which results in a very strong setup.
I’m going to do the same basic headstock profile for this guitar but, it will be a slot head.
I’ll continue to use Waverly nickel open back tuners with the Ebony buttons. In this case the tuners will carry the slot head type posts:



Another difference is my slot head angle will be 10 degrees opposed to the 15 degrees I use for solid headstocks. This requires some calculation changes on how I cut this bird mouth joint:







Thanks for viewing!
Mark
Crazy complicated joint. Do you a jig of any sort or is it fit by free hand sawing/chiseling?
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2014 Pono N30 DC EIR/Spruce crossover
2009 Pono koa parlor (NAMM prototype)
2018 Maton EBG808TEC
2014 Hatcher Greta 13 fret cutaway in EIR/cedar
2017 Hatcher Josie fan fret mahogany
1973 Sigma GCR7 (OM model) rosewood and spruce
2014 Rainsong OM1000N2
....and about 5 really nice tenor ukuleles at any given moment
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  #240  
Old 12-06-2019, 01:41 PM
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Originally Posted by ukejon View Post
Crazy complicated joint. Do you a jig of any sort or is it fit by free hand sawing/chiseling?
I made a jig to help rough out the angled V cut in the headstock but, I hand cut an 8 degree angle in the walls of that V. The neck cuts are all sawn. In the end it is all refined by hand until it slides together leaving a .020” gap and a mallet knocks it in tight. I would imaging when done right you wouldn’t need glue for this to hold. I really like the mechanical aspect of this joint.
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