Sports + Wood

/ Kyle Newman / Leave a comment
bats

Photographed at Louisville Slugger

Sports are a popular pass time and even they are intertwined with the wood. From baseball bats to bowling alley floors, to pool cues; wood is an integral part of many of the sports we enjoy. The application of wood in sports is both practical and simple. Various woods are chosen for their specific physical properties and less for their appearance. Both competitive sports and the use of wood goes well into prehistory of mankind; however I find it fascinating that combination of both rarely precedes the industrial revolution. The Sports + Wood Series elaborates on the application of wood as it applies to sports.

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Music + Wood

/ Kyle Newman / Leave a comment
custom-carved-guitar


Fender Custom Shop Carved Floral Stratocaster, 1994. Photographed at NAMN Museum of Making Music

Music is a fascinating area when it comes to the art of woodworking. Wood adds to the beauty of both the music and the instrument itself. Music is, has been, and always will be an important part of culture. Until the refinement of metals and the development of synthetic materials wood was the material for instruments. Even today the finest instruments are made of wood. Pianos, guitars, and the woodwinds to name a few that are made from wood. Wooden instruments last and it is not uncommon to hear of a violin from the 18th, 17th, or even the 16th century sold in auction. The construction and the woods chosen for an instrument are not random, but are highly specialized. This forms an interesting overlap in the study of acoustics and wood science. The Music + Wood Series elaborates on the application of wood  as it applies to instruments.