Thursday, August 14, 2014

Composition, with volcanoes

Long ago I got a a few small planks of Palisander (Dalbergia barroni most likely), including one with volcanoes. Having seasoned them for a good many years, I cut some recently, with a good deal of trepidation to start. This is the volcano plank:


The worry was misplaced, it sawed like butter and stayed perfectly flat and tame. And what colors and graphics! 

It's too narrow for 2 piece tenor ukulele backs, which is perfect!--I've been wanting to do three piece backs for ages, inspired by my beautiful Don Musser steel string. 

Here are a few of the combinations I tried, starting with bookmatched volcanoes and quilted maple between: 



Opposite approach, ebony instead of maple, with chalk to simulate pale stripes between the different woods:


What about a single volcano surrounded by darker palisander from a different tree?


And tie-dye! Amazing "tiger" myrtle from the same tree as the end graft in the previous post, with the darker (volcano-free) palisander:


A different pair of volcanoes--though more like Belknap crater to the previous North Sister--and how about blackwood with a simulated sapwood stripe? You can see actual sapwood at lower left center.


 From my lethal wood collection, wenge, savage with burrowing splinters.


Wouldn't you know it, the cruelest wood looks great. It turns the rosewood color scheme inside-out; the rosewood is mostly warm brown with picturesque black lines, the wenge is dense with black lines interleaved with subtle browns. 

Back to the wood shelves--maybe some Morado, or a bit of Macassar ebony, both of which are far kinder. 

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