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I have to flatten and true my work with hand planes, cherry isn't the easiest wood I've ever tried to flatten. Almost any grain runout results in areas of tearout for me. I can minimize it by...

I appreciate very much the contributions of all the luthiers who do post here and don't particularly care why others don't post.

Everybody lives their own lives and while I place a lot of...

Man, that intro to 10 Degrees is cooler than the other side of the pillow. The first time I heard it I was powerless to resist trying to cop it.

The experience provided excellent instruction on...

No clue, but I love seeing them at this stage of their musical development.

The two times I saw him live - in 1978 at Memorial Hall (UNC) with DGQ, and in 2013 at First Class Bluegrass in Asheville with the Bluegrass Album Band reunion, once early in his career and once...

Cool to see any footage of Keith and Ricky. Love the 2 point. Love Roy Lee's singing, almost like Carter!

What year is the Melody Maker?

Nicely done, James.

I like the central piece that supports the iron all the way down to the "frog" in the 3rd shot, and the close fit to the sole that shows in the first shot (also the point at...

That's cool, Adrian. Looks to me like a codominant trunk split off at the union, often that is a weak structural junction. I see some included bark at the top of the wound that would be evidence of...

Thanks for the responses.

My first attempt with hot-melt glue resulted in a do-over, but it was an easy do-over. The little dab of glue I used proved too thick for me to press the inlay all the...

And for mandolin use, sometimes the firewood pile is not necessarily the final destination. My favorite mandolin was made by John Hamlett (#32) and was, I believe, salvaged from firewood or at least...

I really like Wayne's World Of Mandolin. I took a few lessons from him when I lived in SC and love his teaching and playing; he's such a mensch!

My father-in-law made kitchen spatulas and such from it. He said dry lilac was VERY hard wood.

I had to look up "gramil". Imagine my surprise to discover I already a pretty good one! Now I'll try to work it into conversation to help me remember it.

From an amateur woodworker's perspective...

You can't tell with absolute certainty, but some things are fairly obvious. Because ray cells extend from the center of the tree into the phloem, sometimes you can get a good general idea of grain...

I like the gauge idea.

I've got a handy little Stanley No 271 mini router plane that should make the main part of the inlay excavation go fairly smoothly. The narrow and irregular bits will be a...

Thanks - I think I'll start with the hot-melt glue. I like the idea of releasing it with heat, that seems like a low-impact way to remove the soft bendy copper without damaging it in the process.
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I'm doing this with hand tools and patience (I only hope I have enough).

I have an inlay shape I've cut from a sheet of soft copper. I've filed it to it's final form and hammered it reasonably...

It was indeed Dr. Rich Braham's dendrology class, ca. 1984. He was one of my favorite professors, although my misty memory tells me it was Dr. Art Cooper who made the comment about promiscuous oaks,...

WAY COOL pics!!

Love the clothes, the shoes, the pickguard on that guitar! His hair is long, but it ain't as big as it is these days. Wow, what a life for a kid - good for him to have survived...

Well, you know how scientists are - once they have better data, they have to either reject the hypothesis or modify it to fit. It's the same with nomenclature.

But if you think plant taxonomists...

Haha - this was exactly my reaction, and I'm a registered forester and certified arborist (and have a strong preference for Scientific names), but when I checked the complete taxonomy, I found that...

Personally, I love songs or tunes with "crooked time" but when people of varying skill levels play together, adding or dropping beats can be a stumbling block. I think it's sort of human nature for...

I've always understood naphtha to be safe for cleaning all finishes. It shouldn't be the first thing you reach for (soft clean dry cloth first, slightly moistened soft clean cloth second, mineral...

I was hoping to hear more playing, at least a few nice color chords so we could try to hear what he hears.