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:::Anatomy of a Black Tiger::: |
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Section 2: "Hunting" the Black Tiger |
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| Recent shipments of Black Walnut Lumber includes Crotch Flitches, 8/4 Solid Body Lumber and 4/4 Lumber for Top, Back & Core Sets. Ken will process this walnut, piece by piece to insure the best yield & highest figure possible for the "Black Tiger" Basses. | ||
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Here, Ken "Lays Out" a piece |
Defects and cutting |
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Although this piece had 4 square feet in it, yielding more than 2 Tops will be a challenge. Defects and cracks pop up everywhere you look. This is what makes the Black Tiger so challenging to produce. Most wood cutters throw the crotch away. We ask them to save these pieces, so we can hunt down the rare figure that sometimes will yield a masterpiece. Ken makes the basic cutting area larger, leaving all possibilities intact. Since you don't know what you will find inside after splitting, you want to be as cautious as possible. This particular piece has only a small area without defects, and will most likely yield only 1 top. The good news is it will be an Exhibition Grade- perfectly balanced highly figured feathered crotch. |
| Note: Defects, splits and figured sections are waxed within a day of receiving the lumber. This is to prevent further splits or checks while drying. |
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| These crotch logs are Flitch cut. Several consecutive pieces will be sliced from the same log. Here is the previous piece cut. The yield varies from piece to piece within the flitch. This piece had slightly less defects and will yield 2 pieces. One, a Feather Crotch and the other, a flamed piece. | |
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| After the pieces are trimmed, planed & rewaxed they are stickered (stacked with spacers) for air drying, for a minimum of 2 years. |
Two finished examples. |
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From this lumber, we also yield core sets, heel blocks & solid body sets. The defects that are trimmed away will be used in our wood burning furnace. |
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