Milling Mahogany

I know, I know: I should have videotaped this! I found a slab of mahogany 12 feet long by 18 inches wide by 2+ inches thick at St Charles Hardwood in Fenton, MO. What a monster! They cut it into two 6 foot sections so I could load it into my trusty Volvo wagon, and with some careful planning, I was able to get 7 one piece body blanks, 3 necks, several strips for use in laminated neck construction, thin stock for pickup mounting rings, truss rod covers and control cavity covers.

These babies were heavy! It took some creativity & planning to get them cut & planed to size

Ripped down to just fit in the planer. VERY shallow passes, or the planer tried to walk up the board!

Laying out the body & neck blanks

7 one piece body blanks

Mahogany/Maple/Walnut laminated neck. The center walnut is 2 pieces, book matched. Great tap tone.

7 piece mahogany/maple/walnut laminated neck. I'm thinking I'll mate it to a Pau Ferro fret board.

First peek at a single cut I'm starting. The neck is  book matched mahogany from the same slab the body came from, with a maple center stripe. Two P90s and a wraparound bridge are in this build's future.

Next two builds: Douglas fir short scale Tele with Port Orford cedar neck and drop top, and a machiche fretboard. On the right is the mahogany single cut showing the maple cap I'll use with it.