I couldn't take it anymore.....

DAY 19 (continued)

Okay, I just couldn't take it. I am one of those people who is driven crazy when things are crooked. As an electrician, I run conduit (pipe) a lot, and I am a stickler for straight conduit runs. If I put something in and I don't like how it looks, I take it out and do it again, or fix it. I have always been this way.

So here I am trying to decide what to do about the back brace that is crooked. It was driving me crazy. I went back out to the shop to take another look at it. It is crooked, but not as bad as it initially looked to me. I debated on trying to heat the glue loose on the brace and try to re-install it, but I don't think my skills are up to that yet. I am afraid I will do more damage than good. After looking at it, I realized that it was so noticeable because the spruce is so light colored and the back is very dark. This really draws your eye to the braces. So, I decided to stain the braces and back strip to the flat brace in the lower bout. Basically I stained the braces you can see through the soundhole. I mixed some of the mahogany red and tobacco brown I had until I had a stain that colored the spruce braces pretty closely to the color of the back. I masked everything off (have you ever tried to mask off braces through a soundhole?) and stained them. I am pleased to announce that it looks a lot better. The brace is still a tad crooked, but now it is not noticeable unless you really look for it. I am a happy camper now. I will take a picture tomorrow as I forgot to take the camera out tonight.

Oh, and I forgot to mention, the Granadillo makes a wonderful smell when it is being cut with a router. It is a very sweet fruity smell. My shop smells great right now.