Startin' to feel like a real luthier.....

Not a whole lot new here to talk about regarding the guitar builds. I am completely stalled waiting for the plans to arrive from OLF. I have contacted them again regarding this and they say they have shipped two sets to me, but alas they have not arrived. I am not sure what is happening but I suspect that someone has my address written down wrong and they are shipping them to someone who is opening them and saying "What the......!" . I asked them to visually verify that they are indeed sending them to my correct address and am waiting on a confirmation. Needless to say I am a bit frustrated at this. I really like the folks over there, and I do trust that they are trying to get me my plans. But, it will be 4 weeks on Monday since I ordered them and they aren't here. I really hate to be a pain in the neck with them as it isn't my nature to be confrontational. Besides, I enjoy the forums and the site that they provide. I just want my plans!!! I am just about to the point of starting to build using one of the plans I already have. Maybe an OOO 14 fret based on the LMI plans. It is close to an OM which is why I didn't use them before, but I have the plans so if I don't get the SJ plans soon that is probably what I will do. Or, I might order a plan from LMI for a parlor sized guitar. Who knows.

Okay, now that I have that off my chest, I got a great package in the mail yesterday with a bunch of wood in it from the OLF swap meet. The wood is beautiful! I have it all properly stickered in my shop waiting for me to do something with it. The two redwood tops I purchased have a fantastic tap tone to them. Both of them have amazing sustain. I can't wait to do something with it. I also got 3 rosette blanks. Two of them are beautiful, but the third, a piece of olivewood looks great but it has a huge bow in it. When I say huge, I mean huge! It is almost like the piece was cut around the circumference of the tree. I am sending an e-mail off to the seller to ask if this is normal, or if there is a way to flatten it without breaking it. I am afraid to put weight on it for fear of it snapping in half. Standing back looking at my stack of wood, I am feeling like a real luthier, a very inexperienced one, but a real one none the less!

Also in yesterdays mail I had a big white padded envelope with some strange foreign language written all over it. Okay, maybe Australian isn't foreign but they talk funny down there! I anxiously opened it up to find the book Clapton's Guitar. For those of you who don't know, the members of the Kit Guitar Builders Forum have been circulating it between the members to read, and then sign their names in the front cover and then mail it on to the next person on the list. Ted from www.tedsguitar.blogspot.com was the person ahead of me on the list and he sent it to me. It was really cool seeing all those signatures in the front cover from people who I only know online. It makes them more real to me. I am anxious to read the book as I hear it is great. Thanks Ted!

And now for my big time spur of the moment purchase for the year. One of the guys on the OLF forums posted a thread saying something to the effect "If you are looking for a drum sander, click here". I went to amazon.com where they had the Delta 13-255X 18x36" drum sander new on sale for a very limited (read very short) time at the price of $498.00. Yep, that's right that is $500 off the best price I can find anywhere. Needless to say I snapped one up in a heartbeat and I am glad I did it quick as there were only 3 left when I ordered, and 1 left within 10 minutes of my order. I am guessing that they are all gone as of this posting. The cheapest drum sander I can find anywhere is the Performax 10x20" mini sander and that is just under $600. I was really wanting to get a 16x32" but at over $1000, that was out of my price range. I figure if this ends up being too much machine for my needs, I can easily sell it for at least the same price I paid, and possibly more. It was incredible timing, and maybe just a bit of luck. Now, to get a dust collector......... sigh, I hear the sound of more money whooshing out of my wallet.

Here is the drum sander I ordered. I can't believe the deal I got on it.

My slowly growing stack of tonewood.

Here is the olivewood rosette blank. It sure looks like it would snap if I tried to flatten it.