These are the sides and back, having been thinned down considerably. These are the next phase of the project. 

He had a friend at work saw his board in half. This is the wood from the oak from the tree from his folks house. The saw burned the medullary rays somewhat, and it reminds us of Arabic script. 

Here is the bridge. It is curvaceous to account for the various tunings that different strings need..

The headstock has been veneered, and shaped, and it has been thinned down some as well 

He has been hard at work on the guitar today. The purple heart is very hard, and proving tricky to work with. However, the butt end of the neck is looking pretty good. He added a veneer to the headstock today.

After the glue set, he began to carve the heel. The wood looks a bit funky because of the flash, but it is purple heart, and quite beautiful. He needs a few more tools in order to continue on this part of the work.

He is working on the neck here- gluing the pieces together that will form the heel.

I wish that I could get a better closeup of the soundhole. The grain of the wood shows beautifully through the carving....

Oh yeah, I forgot that he also bought some lovely Purple Heart for the neck, which has been miter-sawn, and had the headstock attached.

This was all in September & October.

Well, I began this particular blog in order to document my husband's adventures in dietary experimentation. As these experiments died down, so did my blogging...

So I think that I am going to revisit the idea behind 'espousing', and use to it document the various paths that my husband's interest's take. The latest adventure is guitar building. He has talked about it for years, and he recently decided to take the bull by the horns and give it a try. He researched extensively, determined where to buy the wood he needed, arranged the field trip and has done a ton of work on it.

He began with the top, which involved getting some spruce tops, & gluing them together. He then cut out the shape, and sanded it.

One night, I came home from work, and he had used his new coping saw to carve out a beautiful sun in the soundhole. It is amazing to see the amount of work that he is able to accomplish with handtools, and at the kitchen table of our wee apartment.

He carved the top, as it is an archtop which he has decided to build. Last night, when I got home, the bracings were attached.

I have been trying to take photos, but have managed to miss most of the process. I think he gets more accomplished when it is just he & the Sunchild at home.

I will be adding photos & commentary as this work progresses.