It has been busy around here the last few days. Tuesday we had a visit from Nik S. who with a friend salvaged the trunk of the old maple tree that had stood in the village center of Bellingham's Fountain District for many years. They cut it into slabs with a chainsaw mill and found wild quilt, fiddleback and spalting. He gave me a scrap chunk.
This short slab is two inches thick.
He gave me the small piece on the right to cut up for peghead plates.
But when I sawed it into slices I think I would rather use it for ukulele sides. Love that stripe that wanders the length of each piece.
Next, FedEx brought me a clever new tool and I spent much of today leveling frets on the 7 ukes we have in progress. Here I am checking for high frets on Stu Fuchs new baritone using the rocker. If it spans three frets and rocks if the middle fret is high.
This terrific new tool is a little thicker than the rocker and has a small center section with diamond grit. While the smooth surfaces ride on the two proper frets, the diamond center grinds down the high fret to the same level as its neighbors. what a simple practical idea, Why was it not thought of years ago.
works great
