Whut It Iz?

[Will Reyer]

O.k., Dave, so this morning I got out my stepladder and climbed up to peer at what little remaining wood stash I've got. Wonder of wonders, I discovered a 1x6x58" of what appears to be the same kind of mystery wood as the guitar sides I bent, so I can now make a back from stuff that looks like the sides.

Also took a photo of a piece of cherry under a cherry neck blank I made up, behind the 3rd and last remaining .080" side blank.

Lastly, photographed the remaining unused guitar side at left on top of the 1x6 I found that looks to be of the same specie, both underneath two vertical pieces of actual red oak.

Now, if I was lots deeper into a jug than I try to get in my old age, I might possibly believe the mystery wood to be some kinda mutant oak, but we got lots of cherry in Meeschigan; my north and west fence lines on the bean field are mostly treed in cherry.

[Dave Bagwill]

Thanks, so I was right, definitely Cherry. Not.

[Will Reyer]

Mystery solved, as far as I'm concerned - iz ASH!

Today I made the 30 mile run to Kalamazoo, bought a guitar stand at Guitar Center, stopped by to see my friend, mentor, and fellow forum member, John Link, and then made a pass up Sprinkle Rd. to the Figures of Wood sawmill.

David and Brad have a portable bandsaw mill, make, among other things, a lot of live edge furniture, dry and sell lots of local hardwood. They've got a tremendous stash - last winter they had a stickered pile of 8 quarter walnut from a butt log 4 ft wide, biggest I'd ever seen.

I still had the third piece, blank for a guitar side, at .080" thick. Handed this to David, he sniffed it and, without hesitation, said "ash". He handed it off to Brad, who instantly agreed.

This surprised me greatly. We never bought ash to use in school shops when I was teaching woodworking, but I've seen lots of axe and shovel handles made from it, all white, while this is red.

As well, I contracted finish carpentry in Austin, TX for 4 years - they call it "trim" carpentry in Tejas. Worked in a number of million dollar spec houses. Cabinets in Texas are built locally, unfinished when installed by the trim carpenter, mostly made of ash - which looks white. Then the builder brings in a big crew of Hispanic painters, and they make the ash look like walnut, cherry, pecan, fruitwood or whatever you want, and then spray lacquer on it, along with raised-panel wainscoting, coffered ceilings, crown mouldings, etc.

And, since I found another board of this ash in my dwindling stash, I've got enough to make a matching back.

[Dave Bagwill]

[John Link]

Now that you brought it up, it reminds me of the ash trim I used to paint when I was a house painter, back in the 50s. It did not appeal to the taste of the time if simply clear coated. We would stain it dark, and the stain would hang in the open grain, for a dramatic effect we could not get with any other wood. That is the way we did it for our own kitchen. Or we did something we called "silver fox". First sprayed it black, then rubbed white paint into the open grain, then clear coated. Looked good with boomerang Formica counter tops, or so it was thought. Pure 50s. Happy years, wild and crazy color schemes, and everything blessed by Ike, who nurtured us all through an amazing home building boom. My uncle owned a pink and charcoal 55 Chevy Bel Air hardtop, I wore pink and black socks, even one time while playing in a highschool football game. Color drama was everywhere. Now it will be interesting to see what unstained ash looks like on #8. (Or would you dare silver fox it? Maybe with a pink Formica rosette?)

[Dave Bagwill]

Great post John. I hope Will takes you up on the silver fox idea sorta...