Tuesday, January 08, 2008

I am happy to report that I may have (finally) secured a pretty good source for quarter-sawn curly sugar maple 3 x 3 neck blanks. Though I don't want to give anything away, I'll just say that the lumber comes from a business that requires high quality maple blanks, but cannot use any curly maple. Bonus points to anyone who can guess what this company makes (hint: it's more obvious than you might think). Anyhow, the first shipment of blanks will arrive on Friday. I'll need to let them acclimate for a while, and then will work on a neck or two from the batch to test out the quality. Banjos made from these blanks will be about $30 more expensive than my normal banjos, as straight-grained, highly figured 12/4 maple boards cut dead on the quarter aren't exactly going for bargain basement prices.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jay: that is one gorgeous neck blank in the photo. I found a great 10 minute on-line video demo on making curly maple just jump right off the wood and do a sunburst too -- it's awesome. I'd be happy to share if you're interested. I'd like to know where you get those beautiful blanks.
Joe L.