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Everyone--

You might recall that I organized a trip to Appalachian Tonewood in Lewisburg, WV last year, in conjunction with the Valley Woodworkers of West Virginia. That trip also allowed us to make connections with the Blue Ridge Luthiers. Well, it is time for another trip to Appalachian Tonewood. My understanding is that Luke and Travis have their shop all set up (it was a work in progress last year). I will be meeting with the Board of the Valley Woodworkers tomorrow night, and we will likely start looking at dates for this field trip. It will probably be on a Friday. If you are interested, could you let me know, and give me an idea of dates that are bad for you? We will probably visit the shop and get some for lunch at a decent local restaurant. It was a great trip last time, and it should be even better this time.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Appalachian Tonewood, it is a successor to Old World Tonewood. Luke and Travis have supply contracts with some factories to provide various tonewoods, but they also make time for individual builders, and gladly welcome their business, too. Here is a link to their website:

https://www.appalachiantonewood.com/

They have great maple and walnut, but the stars of the show are their red spruce tops.

Let me know if you are interested, and if so, any specific Fridays that would be bad for you. Thanks!

I have two orders of maple B/S, some spruce tops and maple necks (all mandolin). It’s among the best I’ve ever seen and Luke is a joy to work with. Can’t recommend them high enough

Jon

I would be up for another trip!

Edited to add; June 2nd or 9th works. The weekend before is Memorial Day.

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Interested - missed the first one. 5/26 and 6/2 are out for me, already have commitments.

It will be great to have you all visit our little burg I will be more than happy to offer information on local accommodations. For those who need to make the trip a weekend destination visit there are many options from state forest camping to to the luxurious Greenbrier both within 15 miles. In Lewisburg there are many options including small well appointed hotels the historic General Lewis many ABB’s and the usual assortment of chain hotels. Luke and Travis are truly dedicated to providing high quality tonewood There operation is first class bringing the best West Virginia has to offer overseeing every step of the process from the forest to your workbench Lewisburg is fortunate to have them among our diverse business community Other interesting visits for woodworkers are Almost Heaven Sauna factory and West Virginia Great Barrel Co factory. Both very different from Luke and Travis’s operation, both modern high tech production facilities. And for diversity of experience don’t forget downtown Lewisburg’s shops and restaurants including Mollie and I s vintage/antique store Patina

It looks like the trip to Appalachian Tonewood will take place on Friday, June 23, 2023. Choice of the date was driven by availability within the Valley Woodworkers of West Virginia leadership. I have confirmed the date with Luke and Travis.

For those of you who go through Charleston, WV, to get to Lewisburg, WV, you are welcome to join our caravan, share rides, etc., from the VWWV departure point in Charleston. We will leave Charleston in the morning (8 or 9 am), drive to Lewisburg, spend time in the Appalachian Tonewood shop (Luke or Travis usually give a presentation), go get some for lunch, go back to the shop for buying wood, then head back home mid afternoon. For those of you driving directly to Lewisburg, we’ll coordinate the arrival time with you.

If you are interested in joining us, please send me a PM and we will firm up plans. I look forward to spending time with you on this outing!

I’m in.

Will bring back the curly walnut I bought from them last time, although in a slightly different form.



Brad


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That's a beautiful instrument, Brad! I am sure Luke and Travis will be excited to see it.

Everyone—

Those interested in joining the Valley Woodworkers of West Virginia for this trip should plan on either leaving Charleston, WV with us at 8 am sharp on Friday, June 23, or meeting us in Lewisburg, WV around 10 am that day.

Just a reminder that this is a trip organized by the Valley Woodworkers of West Virginia (a nonprofit located in/around Charleston, WV) to visit a West Virginia lumber business that happens to specialize in instrument wood. I’m just inviting OLF folks who are geographically close to join the VWWV, if they want to. Four OLF participants (including myself) joined the VWWV on this trip a year ago. Anyone with such interest is welcome. Anyone who wants to discuss any aspect of this invitation is welcome to PM me, and I’ll be happy to discuss it with you.

Just a bumped reminder of the Valley Woodworkers of West Virginia visit to Appalachian Tonewood this Friday, June 23, 2023, at 10 am in Lewisburg, WV. The address is on the Appalachian Tonewood website, if you need it. I look forward to seeing those of you who will be accompanying the VWWV for this visit! If you are leaving Charleston, WV with us at 8 am, please PM me so that I can tell you where to meet us.

Oh well shucks! I was just in Lewisburg yesterday on my way back from Cass and Marlinton. Nice little town there. I had no idea it was so old and reminded me a bit of the old New England town I grew up in with houses that had doorways so small you had to duck to walk into them. Have fun y'all.

To all those traveling to Lewisburg, this is the last weekend of the WV Renaissance festival. A great time with many wonderful acoustic musicians, theatric acts and where else can you witness a good jousting match ? If you can stretch your schedule you can catch a few hours Saturday afternoon or all day Sunday you will not be disappointed

The Valley Woodworkers of West Virginia enjoyed a wonderful trip to Appalachian Tonewood yesterday. About a dozen folks attended the presentation by Luke and Travis, four of whom (including me) are OLFers. We had a great tour of their shop, ate some tasty at Hill & Holler, then went back and bought a bunch of wood before heading home. There may be some photos shared at some point. Thanks to the OLF members, some of whom traveled great distances, for joining the VWWV for this field trip.

I suppose I won the award for longest drive. We still aren't back to Michigan; my wife and I made it a short vacation getaway. It was enjoyable, and informative. I knew finding the right log was hard, but just getting access to the logs is difficult.

I bought a piece of Hemlock, and Luke? asked me to send photos and thoughts on the wood. It was found in a pile of spruce. I really like the look of it. It does taper off quarter more than I would normally accept on the outside edge; but the cedar on the Electro Less Paul goes completely flat sawn for a while on the edge; and it seems to work. Extra spring?
I have seen photos of a really old, fully flat sawn violin. If it was terrible, it would have been firewood before photography!
But I still need to string that one up, and see what happens to it under tension.

Has anyone used Hemlock?
A fun tiime.

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Why be normal?

Thanks for organizing this event, Don. It was a very informative talk and demonstration, and a fun group of folks (both guests and hosts). Hope to see you guys again soon!
Ken

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Ken Mitchell
Durham, NC

For folks interested in seeing some of the Appalachian Tonewood trip, here is a short video. The 00 that Luke is playing throughout the video is the walnut and red spruce 00 I made with wood purchased from them a year ago. https://youtu.be/ZGAVj1pJdA0

Make sure you check out the horizontal resaw at the 16:00 mark!

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