@sameolegrind so here is my first attempt at luthiering… learned a lot but pretty happy with the results 
Here is a quick video of the neighbor playing it, still unfinished in the video and I added some passive filters to take out some of the “tinny” sound. (I didn’t take the video)
Beautiful work! Rosewood in that? 
Pigheaded - those turned out great! Nice commemorative pieces.
@sameolegrind - I really like the leather work on that, Gives me inspiration for the handle of my next Bat’leth.
I would really like to learn how that is done.
That is beautiful. Well done! Reminds me of modern EUB’s. Ive wanted to try one for a while. Thanks for sharing it.
Agreed, I noticed the leatherwork on @sameolegrind 's piece as well. Nicely done! Also, I’d never heard of sapele wood before, so I googled it to see/learn more. Beautiful stuff 
That Bat’leth is awesome!
I was really happy with the wrapping. I wanted to do something special, rather than just screw on a strap button. Ive never done any wrapping before, much less with leather. Originally I was thinking nautical and was going to use a ringbolt hitch but I wasnt happy with how sparce it looked. I wanted something tighter spaced. That wrap is called a Solomons sword wrap. You can see how to do it here:
Sapele is great to work with! I believe its in the Mahogany family. It works very much like Mahogany but is cheaper and more available. I actually prefer it too because it tends to have a sort of ribbon like figure/chatoyance that in my experience, Mahogany doesnt. At least not as commonly.
@PrintToLaser thanks, its walnut and maple, the walnut was really purple!
@sameolegrind Thanks, we pretty much just copied the design from a few we found online, just needed to get the first build out of the way:-)
Yes! I noticed that in some of the google images 
Yes, reminded me of mahogany with the depth of grain! 
Thank you so much for the link!
For never having done it, that sure turned out pro!
I don’t buy the old saying “Jack of all trades…” I have learned that a man who is good at one thing is usually good at many.
For the price that thing should command, you should take the rest of the year off.
Gosh! Seeing things like this always makes me wish I was a string player. I often have to explain that “Yes… A piano has strings. But it’s a percussion instrument.”
Of, course, it’s never too late to learn! Maybe one day I’ll do just that!
Anyway, your first attempt was AMAZING. I hope you realize that!
Thanks! If you end up trying it, post a pic of the results. Its actually a somewhat therapeutic process. If you take your time, its really not that difficult
Haha… I wish!
Nice! Makes me think of the Zelda guitar for some reason. Guitar of Waves? Something like that.
Whoa-ho-ho!!! That’s awesome, and my favorite color! What kind of paint did you use? I tried Valspar oil enamel with Valspar hardener and Valspar primer on an old machine vise. It kind of worked well. The goal was to smooth out the rough casted surface so it would be easier to clean.
Would love to hear what paint and process you used to paint it!
My main concern was rust protection so I just picked the most obnoxiously orange can of rustoleum spray paint I could 
I actually did a poll on my facebook when I was building it asking people for what color I should choose… I ignored all of the results and bought orange because I love it.
I sanded everything making sure every bit of rust I could get at was off and then I did several light coats and then a few heavy ones. Made a pretty good coating!
Amazing!!
Not really crafts but this is what has been occupying my creative time the past several months.
Last August I purchased a house in downtown Las Vegas. The crazy thing is that I was moving downtown so I could be closer to my gallery and the week I went into contract they closed the building that held the gallery. 
The house is about twice what I was looking for but it is so perfect for playing with all sorts of art. The two garages total nearly 1500 square feet alone! Well whatever isn’t house is concrete and I miss my roses so it was time to add a little color.
This was the day I went into contract.
After extensive masking and painting.
Learning how to use a concrete saw and jackhammer.
Two weeks ago I had one ton of rock and six tons of soil waiting for me when I got home Monday after work. It took until midnight but I got it all moved out of the street.
The rock went right into place as the area was already prepped.
Then the big dig started. I dug out the trench to a depth of about two feet.
And started to back fill it with the planter mix.
The fences were prepped with Coreseal rust conversion and then pained with an oil based paint. Grapes, roses, and pavers started to go in.
Progress continues…
I have two more fences sections to finish along this stretch of wall then it is on to more jackhammer work. Each fence section will have two grape vines and the spaces in between will be filled with roses. Currently there are six grapes and six roses.
Last night I turned on some ambient lighting and kicked back with a nice glass of port. This weekend speakers will be installed under the soffit and hooked into the whole home audio I’ve been building out on the inside.
Phew! Just looking at the pictures makes me tired. 
Makes me tired too! (Jackhammer work…ho.)
Very nice transformation. Do you hire out to do work in Wisconsin? 
Wow, talk about curb appeal. The transformation is amazing!
You wouldn’t like the hourly rate. 
