Now I'm making little piles and imagining new instruments.

Pretty stuff. I need to have a Shop Clean-up Day. It's too dadgum hot right now. 

Some nice pieces; that last picture is especially interesting.

I love that piece (and it's HUGE). It's almost too heavily figured — if I made an instrument out of it, I'd spend all my time staring at the top.

So use it for an acoustic (and spend your time staring at the back.....)

That one did catch my eye, too; wow!

Peter

It's like a turkey tail.

Another couple cool pieces:

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on July 19, 2026, 01:01:05 PMIt's like a turkey tail.

I would have said peacock tail.

Peter

I got my workshop cleared out this week, sorted and stacked the rest of the wood that was sitting around.

Found a really nicely figured hunk of Honduran Rosewood, some Honduran Mahogany with really wide curl, and a couple great pieces of figured ash.

The koa pictured below is somewhere in a USPS sorting room in SF — it's huge (38" x 12" x2"). If it doesn't show up, I'm going to be crushed.

That is a nice board of koa.   

I really ought to sell what wood I have squirreled-away to someone that could put it into use. I have enough fiddle-grade flame maple, like AAA or AAAA grade stuff, enough for someone to get two or maybe three dozen instruments from. It's thick and wide enough for mandolins too. It was already old when we got it and that was close to 40 years ago. There's a pile of figured cherry, another pile of some reclaimed mahogany planks. It's just taking up shelf and floor space. 

Sell it, or better yet, build some instruments!

Quote from: Nova Constellatio on August 16, 2026, 06:37:35 AMSell it, or better yet, build some instruments!

I really would, but I'm too busy fixing them. 

I'll probably give some of the mahogany and cherry boards to Ward's apprentices but some of that maple needs to be made into fiddles or mandolins. I don't think it's big enough for anything else. There are some boards we put back for banjo necks, but I can't imagine what else they'd be resawn for. 

The eagle has landed with two big hunks of koa — even without mineral oil, both pieces are impressive.

I was so relieved to hear this showed up! 

The postal service will be the death of me.