Fiddleback Bastogne & Claro Walnut

I've always liked wood, and things made from wood. Especially natural (non tinted) finishes. Wood is one of the reasons that I now make musical instruments for a living. I like the "plain" woods a lot, but like most builders, have a special appreciation for figured lumber.

The early, early stages of a dulcimer's life

The lighter plank (on the left) is bastogne walnut (a hybrid of black walnut and English walnut). The darker plank (on the right) is claro walnut (aka Nor...thern California Walnut). Both pieces qualify as "fiddleback" (exceptionally, remarkably, tremendously curly). Each piece will make one complete dulcimer (barely for the bastogne, and with a couple of extra pieces for the claro).

The wet-looking stains on the wood are naphtha. We will sometimes use naphtha to "wet" the wood so we can see the grain. Naphtha will evaporate in just a few minutes, and it doesn't raise the grain (unlike water!), so the wood is unharmed. I applied naphtha to the wood so you could see the curl and grain in this photo.

Customized claro walnut/ebony peg head for Folkcraft's newest endorser.
Check back soon for the official announcement!

The bastogne instrument is already sold (going to Texas next week), but the majority of the claro piece is still available for instrument building. We've already made dulcimer parts from the claro billet. The extra parts (all four of them) are being used to complete a couple of special dulcimers for a well-known, popular, and talented mountain dulcimer player from West Virginia.

Dog tired after a day's work of dulcimer building.
Stay tuned for pictures of the finished instruments.