butternut body progress

i glued up the body pieces last week, and started to shape it.

i've been stalled out trying to decide what to do next. cutting holes in the body to receive the neck requires getting the neck height figured out. neck height needs me to figure out the pegbox first, kinda. so maybe i'll drill the pilot holes for the pegs. even though this is 'trash' wood i still get hesitant, don't want to make a mistake!

here's the body resting where it will attach to the neck, just to get an idea of final product. that neck is seriously curved. the small piece to the left is the plum wood, shaping it into a peg.

Okinawan Eisa

i've been immersing myself in all things sanshin lately. here's a video of Okinawan ladies performing an eisa dance; sanshin and taiko! reminds me of the feeling i got when i first saw the SF taiko dojo in japantown. very very awesome.

swedish cabinet scraper

today i learned how to use, and sharpen, a cabinet (or card) scraper. this is a fantastic tool! it can really get in and shave away wood where the plane can't reach.

overall it's been slow-going. i spend a lot of time thinking about what i want to do, planning. the wood is natural, not perfectly even, so a little difficult. the neck has a curve that i'll have to compensate for, maybe with the bridge placement. but the final product will be reflective of the life of the trees from which it comes. i like that.

here's the end of the neck (i think of it as the "dowel"), that will fit inside the body. i'm tapering and squaring it up, getting a ledge built where it will sit flush against the body. love that scraper.

Sanshin - Pt. 1 (The Wood)

i'm going to make a small sanshin for mr. sha. sanshin is a three-stringed ("san"-"shin") instrument from okinawa, like a shamisen or banjo. traditionally it has snake skin for the head, but i don't think i'll be going that route. one never knows though, i'll tackle that part later.

vicki in smithfield offered to let me dig through her wood piles, from tree-trimmings etc., and also to look at her neighbors black walnut tree. i really should have gotten some pictures of the land out there with the trees, very lovely. the walnut tree died a couple of years ago, it is still standing and it's massive! i'll try to get pictures next time i'm out there. it makes me very happy to get this local wood, much more satisfying than to spend money on crap wood from lowe's or especially anything super expensive for proper luthier work.

here's what i came home with, from top to bottom; plum, walnut, butternut ("white walnut") x 2.

i scraped and chiseled off the bark, and hand sawed the limb nubs off. for the butternut, rick cut the limbs lengthwise with his tablesaw, to make boards. the plum was cracked, so i used a mallet and chisel to split it completely.

the walnut is very hard. it might do nicely as the neck/dowel. i chiseled and planed one side flat ("fret board" side, although this will be fretless). here is the neck and a closeup of the flat part, so far.

the butternut is so nice! the top plank isn't smoothed yet (you can see saw burns, and a ridge down the middle since the blade was not high enough to cut it in one pass). these will make the body. they make a very nice sound when struck together.

the plum i might use to make the pegs. it is very hard. not sure yet, but here's what it looks like.