Was a busy one today !--It began this morning at the lumber store where I found a nice piece of Honduran Mahogany. I could not resist.
Clear and sweet. - two by six and about 14 feet feet long. I can get two tenor necks out of each 18 inch piece. I bought 6 feet of it, When ripped, enough to make 8 tenor necks Just ripped the first piece on the band saw.
Eight future necks. Honduran Mahogany is light, stable, fairly soft and very pretty, Excellent instrument neck wood. One of these days I will saw them all into rough shape and stack them in my wood stash, meanwhile they will climatize in the workshop.
Then the doorbell rang. It was Fed Ex with a well padded package containing this elegant bottle of 1917 Chateau Miselles Sauternes, a gift from Ali, the resident of Bordeaux, France who is buying the Sycamore tenor. What a generous gift! In a note he said "I find that the color of Sauternes goes well with Sycamore and Western Red Cedar, Cheers". I am astonished and delighted and will save this fine wine for a special occasion. And Ali is right, they do go nicely together.
With that delightful incentive, I got right to work on Ali's tenor getting the binding trimmed and fitted.
A few hours later the bindings were on both tenors, glued, clamped and curing on the work table. Then the doorbell rang again. This time it was UPS with the hard case that Beth had ordered for her new instrument. Of course I had to be sure that her baritone fit into the case. Relax Beth, it is perfect. I now only need to put a label in your uke and it will be ready to take to the post office.
A few other projects were completed during this busy day which ended with a much needed Martini shared with my neighbor George.
