the first step in building a body is to choose the materials you want to build with. there are several ways to gother the materials, but most builders either purchase rough lumber from a lumber yard or they order from a reputible specialty dealer. in the case of this build both the American Cherry and Swamp Ash were purchased from a local hardwood supplier and required a significant time investment in sorting thru the available stock for material that had the right grain and or figure.
the Swamp Ash board selected was a 12' (3.7 meter) long 6/4 rough stock that had nice grain and was significantly lighter than anything else available. the American Cherry was a1 2' (3.7 meter) long 4/4 rough stock that showed significant promise of usable figuring. both came home tied to the top of my car.
once here at my shop, they have acclimated for nearly a year - the Swamp Ash was cut into body blank pieces about six months ago. each of these pieces were matched into sets and arranged for grain alignment. each piece had one edge run thru the Jointer so that there is a perfectly level and smooth edge for gluing to the other half. the two pieces were then glued (utilizing a hoarde of clamps) and allowed to dry for 24 hours
here's the resulting 2-piece Swamp Ash body core
next the top and back sets needed to be chosen from the larger Cherry board.
the board was cut into sections long enough to fit the length of a body, passed thru a Jointer to smooth and square the edge that will be glued, and then cut on a bandsaw across their width. here's an image showing the process for bookmatching a top (the image shows a Black Walnut top I cut the previous evening)
the results from the bookmatching reveal a great figure pattern for both the top and back sides
for reference, here's the bookmatched top with the Birdseye Maple fretboard blank. the two woods compliment each other nicely IMO
more to come ...
all the best,
R
