I always have people ask how I do the fretwork or where I get my lumber from, so I thought I would write about that here.

 I mill almost all of the hardwood I use on a homemade portable sawmill that me and a friend built.

I get the logs from trees that people need removed or have been knocked down in storms, I also pick up a few from a local tree service.

I saw almost all of the logs into one inch boards. The boards are stacked and covered and left to dry for one year.

 When I get a idea of what I want to make, I start looking for just the right piece of wood to use for that design.

Then I plane the board down to get the wood to the thickness that I want. 

I lay out the pattern and start drilling the holes for my blade. Every single hole you see in my work has been cut one at a time by hand using a scrollsaw, nothing is cut by laser. 

I do this by disconnecting the blade, putting it though the wood, reconnecting it and making the cut, then repeating that over and over with each and every hole.  

Some designs have hundreds of holes and this can take days to make all the cuts in just one piece. 

After I get all the cuts made I dip the piece in sealer and let it dry for a few days and then start sanding.

  I start with 60 grit sandpaper then 100 then 150 and do the final sanding with 220. 

 This is where I have quite a few pieces break and I have to throw them away and start over, its very nerve racking to spend a week or two cutting, sealing and waiting for something to dry and then break it during sanding and have to start over.

 When I am done sanding I use compressed air to blow the cuts out and get all the dust off the wood before I start putting the finish on the piece. 

I then apply five coats of clear gloss finish to each side over 10 days to show the wood's natural beauty.