teeroy
Life Member
i saw this in yesterday's register, and thought i'd put it up, since we have quite a few woodworkers on the site
Visit the Des Moines Woodworkers' annual show this weekend at the Woodsmith Store and you may never look at a simple 2x4 the same way again.
That's because many of the club's 400 members have stepped up to the challenge of making something out of a single 8-foot plank. Last year's entries included a few turned bowls, a kid's chair and a model barn. "One guy even made a toilet seat," said club member Bob Saunders, who lives above the workshop he built on a hilly acreage south of Norwalk. The cedar-shingled house he's building stands nearby.
Most exhibitors at the Artistry in Wood show keep their 2x4 entries secret, but Saunders agreed to unveil his project, a beautiful acoustic guitar, during a visit to his workshop last week. He picked it up from a row with five others he'd made from more exotic woods, shook a few woodchips from its center hole and gave it a couple jangly strums.
"I'm surprised how good it sounds, and it's just made out of pine," said Saunders, who admitted he doesn't actually play. "One of these days, I'll have to learn." To make the guitar, he followed the same process he used for the two dozen others he's made over the last few years, including a Best-of-Show winner at the Iowa State Fair. First he sliced the plank into tenth-inch strips and glued them together to form the guitar's front and back. Then he took two longer strips for the curved sides, misted them with water and slid them between a pair of stainless steel plates in a handmade press. He heated the plates with a rubberized hot pad - six minutes at 220 degrees, then 15 minutes at 150 - and left the wood to cool in the form overnight.
Next he glued the side, front and back panels together with inside braces, attached the neck and rigged it up with six steel strings. He added black accents around the center hole and corners, screwed gold-plated tuning pegs into the head, and inlaid the figures "2 x 4" in mother of pearl right on top.
"The hardest part was getting that luster," said Saunders, who brushed the instrument with a dozen coats of varnish, sanded it and finally polished the whole thing to a satiny sheen.
The guitar will be displayed among other works at the show, which includes entries beyond the 2x4 category. Organizers don't know exactly how many pieces exhibitors will bring, but they expect a turnout similar to last year, when club members showed up with about 160 items.
Visit the Des Moines Woodworkers' annual show this weekend at the Woodsmith Store and you may never look at a simple 2x4 the same way again.
That's because many of the club's 400 members have stepped up to the challenge of making something out of a single 8-foot plank. Last year's entries included a few turned bowls, a kid's chair and a model barn. "One guy even made a toilet seat," said club member Bob Saunders, who lives above the workshop he built on a hilly acreage south of Norwalk. The cedar-shingled house he's building stands nearby.
Most exhibitors at the Artistry in Wood show keep their 2x4 entries secret, but Saunders agreed to unveil his project, a beautiful acoustic guitar, during a visit to his workshop last week. He picked it up from a row with five others he'd made from more exotic woods, shook a few woodchips from its center hole and gave it a couple jangly strums.
"I'm surprised how good it sounds, and it's just made out of pine," said Saunders, who admitted he doesn't actually play. "One of these days, I'll have to learn." To make the guitar, he followed the same process he used for the two dozen others he's made over the last few years, including a Best-of-Show winner at the Iowa State Fair. First he sliced the plank into tenth-inch strips and glued them together to form the guitar's front and back. Then he took two longer strips for the curved sides, misted them with water and slid them between a pair of stainless steel plates in a handmade press. He heated the plates with a rubberized hot pad - six minutes at 220 degrees, then 15 minutes at 150 - and left the wood to cool in the form overnight.
Next he glued the side, front and back panels together with inside braces, attached the neck and rigged it up with six steel strings. He added black accents around the center hole and corners, screwed gold-plated tuning pegs into the head, and inlaid the figures "2 x 4" in mother of pearl right on top.
"The hardest part was getting that luster," said Saunders, who brushed the instrument with a dozen coats of varnish, sanded it and finally polished the whole thing to a satiny sheen.
The guitar will be displayed among other works at the show, which includes entries beyond the 2x4 category. Organizers don't know exactly how many pieces exhibitors will bring, but they expect a turnout similar to last year, when club members showed up with about 160 items.
