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I promised some time ago to post the rest of the harvesting and processing process. This past week myself and three helpers (all musicians with an interest in instrument making!) processed about 500 sets and we took about 180 photos on one day to show you all what we do. A few of them are posted below. First, for those of you that are new to the forum I posted Part 1 early last winter and Part 2 a while later. So this will see the process through to the drying phase.

So here goes! Once we are ready to process the logs into tops we collect all of the tools we need for the yard work. Here they are!



So the first order of business is to buck the logs into blocks. For guitar tops that will net out at 22 inches long we start with blocks that are about 26 inches long. A Stilh 066 is the tool for this job! These 44 inch diametre logs require cutting from both sides.



Once the logs are bucked ( I only buck what I am about to process) they are flipped onto a piece of plywood to keep them out of the dirt and then hand split with a sledge hammer and wedges. The first action is splitting the entire block in half. Spruce is tenacious and this requires a bit of work indeed!



A good log will give a nice clean and STRAIGHT split face like this.



Some of you will recognize the tool in my left hand as a "froe". This tool is commonly used to split cedar shakes. You typically drive this blade into the cedar block and pry the thin shake off. Spruce fibres are too tough for this so I use the froe to mark where I want to split.



I use the froe to mark out rectangular shapes that will give us nice vertical (edge) grain blocks for later re-sawing. Wedges are inserted in the marked lines and the billet is split off the block in a very controlled fashion.



Here is the result of careful planning, a nice rectangular billet ready for the re-saw.



This process is continued around the entire block.



The blocks are loaded into the truck for transport to the shop! (trying for a corporate sponsor...think it will work?)



They are then taken from the truck and placed on the shop floor.



These are the bands we use. They are 'Woodmizer' 1.25 inch double hardened re-saw bands. I get about two hours cutting from each band, then off the saw it comes and on goes a fresh one. I have them sharpened locally and buy 15 at a time.



I built this sliding carriage for squaing blocks. I have often thought of going hydraulic but have since decided to continue with my processing system. I have found that I can get the maximum recovery out the wood with this system as I do not need 'wastewood' to dog on to. I use all of the wedge shaped pieces for bracewood so waste is kept as low as possible. This method also allows me to really 'feel' what is going on with the wood and I like that. I could be a lot faster with hydraulics and they are not too difficult to have installed but I think I will stay this way as long as I can.



So a block is clamped into the carriage and pushed through the blade. I square three faces with the carriage.



I use a lazer that shows where my cut will fall to aid me in trying to get absolutely minimal runout in this 'squaring up' process.



Still, I like to check the billets once off the saw to see if minor adjustments are required.



Here are bunch of squared blocks ready for re-sawing.



Once we have a bunch of blocks squared up we remove the carriage and this 10 inch by 54 inch fence is installed. It slips over the saws factory fence and then is clamped to the front and back of the saw table.



We draw triangles on the end of each block before re-sawing to ensure that we maintain our orientation and that each set remains a book-matched pair.



Every bandsaw has a bit of "drift". That means that the blade will wonder a bit during the cut resulting in one end being slightly thicker than other. You can adjust your saw for this but it is a big job and not one that can be practically done for as many blade changes as I do. I know of a tonewood processor who uses carbide tipped bands and sets his saw up for each blade change, but he also sharpens with the band on the saw and can get something like 18 sharpenings before he has to replace the band. We do something else. Here you can see a triangle we drew on the side of the block, entirely for the purposes of these pictures.



Here is the second pass with the same block. Can you see what we do?.... After each pass we flip the block, so if there is any drift it gets cancelled with the very next cut. This makes it a bit hard on Graham who has to maintain our proper orientation...hence the triangles on the end of eack billet as a means to ensure we have it right!



Here he is making sure that he takes the slice and properly orients it to its mate. I have to tell you he is seldom wrong! It must be that musicians rythym!



Once they are re-sawn Evan trims them to length in their paired form.



Then they are labelled. As has been discussed before, I label all of my tops and a record is kept in my 'harvest log' for future reference.



All archtop sets are end sealed. Both guitar and mandolin! Rachel is at work here doing just that. She indeed is a person who handles multi-tasks!



Once the sets are trimmed and labelled they are stacked and stickered with fans blowing warm air over them for about 10 days. It is quite amazing how well this works to dry this wood.



And here is what we do this for, tops that will become parts of fine musical instruments built and played all over the world.



I hope you find this interesting. This is just my process and is indeed not reflective of any other operations out there as I have not visted any other operations while they were working. It could be much more automated but I quite enjoy the connection with the process and I believe that it helps me keep the quality as high as possible based on the wood supply on hand.

On one last note.....Hesh and Lacey! Glad you stayed!!

Thanks

Shane

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Canada

Shane, so cool to see this process. Thanks for sharing. And what lovely and pure stuff it is!

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"Building guitars looks hard, but it's actually much harder than it looks." Tom Buck

Very interesting. Thanks for taking the time to post this.

Amazing documentation Shane    

How many wedges do you split in a day? Are the logs just freshly cut when you do the splitting? It sure looks like hard work and makes me more appreciative of the product we purchase from you.

Shane,

Thanks for posting...very interesting to see this side of it.

Looks like you have a great band there Shane.

Thanks so much for sharing, this is very similar to the Voth family process, no automation there, just good hard work like you do.

I sure like the look of Terrace, I'll have to get up there some time again, it sure is prudy.

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My Facebook Guitar Page

"There's really no wrong way, as long as the results are what's desired." Charles Fox

"We have to constantly remind ourselves what we're doing....No Luthier is putting a man on the moon!" Harry Fleishman

"Generosity is always different in the eye of the person who didn't receive anything, but who wanted some." Waddy Thomson

Thank you very much Shane, great documentation for sure, it makes me appreciate all the love, sweat and tears that were required to produce the very fine tops i purchased from you, you can expect me to buy some more for my mandos, will PM ya soon!

Serge

Oh and great crew you got there, they look like good and interested workers!

Very cool to see your setup!

Shane:
     I'm a city boy, and I can't tell you how cool it is to see your process! Here, I was told wood comes from trees but I wasn't quite sure! Yes we are that dumb!

   I've never seen the actual work involved! It must be very fulfilling to do this!

Thanks Shane! You have anymore things like this in lumber processing I for one would like to see it! How cool to have your family involved in this! I won't take a top for granted again!

Billy Dean Thomas

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Billy Dean Thomas
Covina, CA

"Multi famam, conscientiam, pauci verentur."
(Many fear their reputation, few their conscience)

Thanks for posting that Shane, very educational for us builders. Looks like we just get to do the fun bit after you guys have done all the hard work.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Thanks for the documentation Shane, I find this very interesting. I like your sliding carriage, it seems like a great idea to keep the billets secured with those pins. Did you come up with that system?

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

Very Very interesting Shane

Thank you very much for taking the time to post this.

Thanks very much for sharing that Shane, very interesting. Watching the way you and your crew source and process your logs sits very well with me.

To me, the whole guitar building process is a combination of careful selections bought together by careful application of skills, your process reflects this very well.

It is nice to witness the care afforded the environment as well as that given to log selection and also to see your hands-on approach at work. Over all, your process appears environmentally sound and very good for the end product.

Nothing worthwhile can be built upon poor foundations, your process appears to ensures a good start for anyone using your product. I look forward to adding a few sets of High Mountain Tonewood Company's High Quality Lutzii Spruce to my stash

Cheers

Kim

Love that red 'burst on the truck.

I spent many years hand splitting red cedar shake bolts with a froe like that...

Thanks for sharing this with the group Shane. I was always curious how this was done.

Thanks-

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John Lewis
Wannabe builder owned by 2 crazy dachshunds

Shane, excellent post. Very interesting and informative. Thanks for sharing!

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Joe Breault
Merrimack, NH
Perpetual novice

That was awesome Shane! Gives me great appreciation for the amount of work that goes into a top.
I do a ton of resawing, but have done no splitting or processing of a whole log before. That's a lot of work!

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Yes,Thanks much Shane.It was very interesting to see how well you process the tree into tops.The wood looks beautiful. Appreciate you sharing this with us!

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

That's great, Shane. Thanks so much for sharing!

Mike

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Mike

"The Dude abides. I don't know about you but I take comfort in that. It's good knowin' he's out there. The Dude. Takin' 'er easy for all us sinners. Shoosh." The Stranger

Great information Shane.

Thanks

Great info....nice to see the hard work it goes into the process!!

Thanks Shane!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

AWESOME post shane!! I love that stuff.... and that's a sweet little box your holding too!

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John Mayes
http://www.mayesluthier.com

I echo these sentiments. VERY COOL!!!!

That was a great idea for a series of posts. Is this all Lutz you are processing?

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

Shane,

Fascinating stuff - I love reading all of this.

When the perennial "Luthiers Cashflow Syndrome" resolves itself I'll be back for some more Lutz tops. I really loved how the 2 instruments I have done with them turned out.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

I want your job.