Getting under way

To cut a long story short, I have done a great deal of research and hard thinking since last February, when the idea of actually making an instrument became appealing. I've lain wide awake from bedtime until 6 a.m. or later on a number of sleepless nights, my mind churning away on various thorny problems. My notes to self on the construction process occupy more than 18 pages so far (admittedly, some of them are reminders of basic woodworking things so that I don't do something foolish).

Fast-forward to August 16, when my father and I visited A&M Wood Specialty, an excellent supplier of all kinds of quality lumber. We came back with about 35 feet of 5-6" wide quarter-sawn western red cedar, two large walnut boards about 9" wide and a chunk of Douglas fir.

A few days later I picked up 8" and 6" wide poplar boards from the Home Depot. I take a dim view of the lumber they have on offer, but this poplar is purely structural and no one will ever see it. Plus it saved me having to get oversize poplar boards from A&M.

There's plenty of wood still left to buy, but this initial batch will help get things started.