I met Raven this morning at the Santa Rosa Starbucks next to her FIMA covered motel. Good coffee, we’re off. I’d like to hit the farmers market in Healdsburg so we go straight there before they close at noon. Zucchini, big portabella mushroom, a small cabbage and a couple burgundy pomegranates, good to go. Safeway for some Rocky chicken breasts and stew beef, a lemon, a few other things. Next stop Salvation Army, a blue velvet pouch, a lamp glass (too big for my lamp), a bunch of funky ties for Christmas tradition. Raven scored a perfect fitting pair of jeans and some good hiking boots needing shoe laces, easy to get. Home.
Raven cooks lunch, her Mom’s lemon chicken sort of, roasted potatoes, onions, garlic, thyme and oregano, broiled in a cast iron fry pan, very good served with steamed zucchini. Meanwhile I’m out draining the olives I picked yesterday, soaked overnight in lye. I have two and a half gallons of olives, water black with neutralized acid, rinsed fresh, black again in a few hours.
It’ll take a few weeks to a month or more to get them edible choice with multiple rinsing, brining and flavoring. but they’ll be so good if it works out. Lunch was great out back with a view, a bit tart and tasty.
Raven needs to finish her bed extensions/ benches we prepped last week. I’m working on the bass guitar. I help her by setting the small tool bench with some blocks to match the height of the legs so she can drill, she gets it and takes over, needing two screws per leg to not swivel and provide sufficient strength. These will work great, but how to store them will be seen.
On the guitar, I need to reduce the head stock and cut it to the pattern I’ve selected from the Tinozza bass pattern. I measured the tuning peg, a 5/8″ thick head stock should work best. I set the tiny square and mark the line to 5/8″. Using the band saw open wide to fit the head stock with the bigger square to hold it, I make the cut, fair but a little wide. I true it with the lapidary and belt sander. I cut out the paper pattern , set to measured center of the middle 5/16 wood piece top and bottom. I trace the pattern down, vice the neck in the bench vice and cut the pattern using the hand power saber saw, just a little wide to sand it to on. I true it again with the lapidary and belt sander, then go over it with 100 grit by hand to loose any burns and make it right. The sides are still wide to fit the fret board.
I cut the neck down on the band saw to match the wings width full length to the head stock as this will keep the neck square for clamping the fret board while reducing the neck closer to stock. Now the neck matches the body wings width.
I’ll need to glue the fret board down, so I trimmed it to 1/2″ beyond the last fret and curved it, then sanded the end in succession to a smooth 320 grit. I trimmed the through neck on the table saw a half inch longer than 44″ to move the body tighter to the high frets. I postpone gluing the finger board as I need to secure the truss rod first, this will all wait so I get it right.
Clean up and drive Raven home to her last night in the motel. We stop at Walmart to look for boots, nothing that strikes her fancy, they will come. I’m back home to write this. A fine day.
8shotoflove8 