Thanks everyone for the kind comments.
Kim - I've got some Jarrah here but it just doesn't seem to have that same intensity under finish that the Bloodwod does. If I could find some a bit more vivid I'd give it a go.
I found that a light touch works better with sanding the bloodwood and using the rubbery thing for cleaning the belt sander helped a lot.
That's about the colour of it under finish Dennis. The photos may have darkened it up a bit. I'll get some pics under natural light.
Blackwood comes in all different colourings from chocolate through to a lighter brown with gold overtones. If you talk some of the older craftsmen here they will tell you that old growth is the best stuff and by old growth they mean the really dark chocolatey blackwood. So the darker it is, the more highly sought after. (by cabinet makers anyway)
There are a couple of tiny gaps in the top around the purfling.
The next test is to see how I can invisibly fill them
I wasn't sure how it was going to look but I'd used the W/B/W purfling on the rest of the guitar so it seemed like the right thing to do, but yes I'd do it again.
The serial number on this one is #13 Hesh. There's a couple more instruments that are being finished at the same time.(two more Fat Bottomed Girls, an OM and 4 x 0-18's) We started in November last year so I reckon that output for the year will work out at one a month.
There's a huge music festival here at Port Fairy each year that has an instrument makers section so we're trying to get a heap finished specifically for that, specifically the 4 x 0-18's and 4 more Dre@dnoughts before March
Dave and I reckon the only way to get this luthiery stuff perfected is build, build, build so we can streamline things, get a better feel for the wood, hone skills etc. So there's alway a few guitars on the bench.
Oh well, it keeps me off the streets and out of trouble
Cheers
Bob
