Rabs Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hello all (who are still watching :)) Ive been a bit quite the last few weeks or so.. Waiting for my fret tools to arrive so I can finish the first few builds off (proper fret files and a notched edge which I realised is quite an important thing to have)... Plus ive bee organising the business side of things and I am now an officially registered sole trader :D which is both exciting and very scary.. but as always I will take it as it comes... and I should be setting up a web site pretty soon now (been waiting to finish the first few builds fully first). But today I decided to get on with cutting and making bodies.. that way when I do get of the ground I will have a good start and can hit the ground running.. So I had this nice big bit of wood... I have no idea what sort of wood it is but it is hard (anyone who wants to guess (or knows)please go ahead :)).. And this is what it looks like when I get it, very rough and I have no idea whats under there. After some sanding its looking promising And oohhh.. NICE!! :) (still don't know what it is :)) Its not Oak or Ash, kind of inbetween (maybe a type of Ash?) And the other side But really who cares lol.. even though I do want to find out.. But for now what I know is it will make two solid one piece bodies Ohhhhhh, they will finish nice Also, when I started all of this, I was using pine.. and I still want to do some pine bodies so the last time I was at my wood supplier I picked these bits up.. that need gluing Which I really like the grain of (and it smells nice when you cut it :)) And I will have enough for two bodies :D So that's all for today.. but theres some exciting stuff happening so hopefully I will be up an running as a business within September sometime.. :unsure: (its a very scary feeling)... Well, more soon.. And as always, thanks for watching Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pin Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Well, keep us posted on developments Rabs. Interesting wood which will come up nice with a translucent glaze of some sort. At a glance I would have said it was Ash - I would guess maybe related to Ash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Well, keep us posted on developments Rabs. Interesting wood which will come up nice with a translucent glaze of some sort. At a glance I would have said it was Ash - I would guess maybe related to Ash. Yeah.. it is kind of ashish.. but the Ash that I have worked with before is more white than that.. I will keep looing around the net :) Actually I just found this "The sapwood of white ash is creamy white, while the heartwood ranges from light tan to dark brown" So its probably Ash heartwood :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Its not Oak or Ash, kind of inbetween (maybe a type of Ash?) Basswood. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveinspain Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Treble wood... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Basswood. rct Hmmm... Good guess but from what I have read Basswood is a soft wood and this stuff is hard.. This is a basswood pic I found and I think the grain is a lot tighter than what I have Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 huh. Looks from the color of yours to be an ash of some kind. You have weird Ents ands hit over there, so who knows what kind of tree it was. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bender 4 Life Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 from the grain it appears to be Sycamore wood.....the wood of choice for Lee Enfield rifles during the 2 world wars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Maybe poplar, but I'm familiar with american poplar, so I'm just kind of guessing. Poplar can have a greenish hue to the heartwood and it has nice straight grain. It's considered a hardwood but it's on the soft end of the hardwood scale. It could be some kind of oak, but I don't recognize the heartwood. You can tell oak by it's unique smell. Ash is hard like oak but usually not greenish. The only way to really tell for sure is to look at the end grain under a magnifying glass and check the yabba-yabba and make sure the whatchacallits are so-on and so-forth (there's an identification process.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Maybe poplar, but I'm familiar with american poplar, so I'm just kind of guessing. Poplar can have a greenish hue to the heartwood and it has nice straight grain. It's considered a hardwood but it's on the soft end of the hardwood scale. It could be some kind of oak, but I don't recognize the heartwood. You can tell oak by it's unique smell. Ash is hard like oak but usually not greenish. The only way to really tell for sure is to look at the end grain under a magnifying glass and check the yabba-yabba and make sure the whatchacallits are so-on and so-forth (there's an identification process.) Hmm.. well it is close to Poplar but from what have read, that's a soft wood... I still think its more likely some kind of Ash.. But will keep looking.. It may be easier just to take it along when I go get some more wood and see what they say... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Hmm.. well it is close to Poplar but from what have read, that's a soft wood... I still think its more likely some kind of Ash.. But will keep looking.. It may be easier just to take it along when I go get some more wood and see what they say... :) Good plan - Poplar is what they make Strat and Tele bodies from. Ash is what they make shovel handles from. <_< If you can take a pic of the end grain, it might be a little more clear. You can also measure the specific gravity of the board by sticking it in a tub of water on it's end and see how far it sticks down into the water when it's floating. Also measure the entire length and then I can calculate the specific gravity for you. That will help identify it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Good plan - Poplar is what they make Strat and Tele bodies from. Ash is what they make shovel handles from. <_< If you can take a pic of the end grain, it might be a little more clear. Ok, I will get that tomorrow.. Even though I did look, but it dint mean much to me :) (even though it did seem similar to some Ash I have worked with before). And lol.. theres plenty of ash guitar bodies out there too :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 Maybe poplar, but I'm familiar with american poplar, so I'm just kind of guessing. Poplar can have a greenish hue to the heartwood and it has nice straight grain. It's considered a hardwood but it's on the soft end of the hardwood scale. It could be some kind of oak, but I don't recognize the heartwood. You can tell oak by it's unique smell. Ash is hard like oak but usually not greenish. The only way to really tell for sure is to look at the end grain under a magnifying glass and check the yabba-yabba and make sure the whatchacallits are so-on and so-forth (there's an identification process.) Ive been looking around more and I think its Tulipwood aka Poplar :) Like this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Tulipwood-Hardwood-Timber-Woodwork-Luthier-Woodcraft-Mantle-/171414057303?pt=UK_BOI_Building_Materials_Supplies_Carpentry_Woodwork_ET&hash=item27e912f157 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Yeah.. it is kind of ashish.. must be some variety of Cannabis then Rabs. Well, that'd be a first for guitars. One way of getting your brand noticed... Mind you, Jimi would've had fun lighting one up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L8_4thesh0w Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Good plan - Poplar is what they make Strat and Tele bodies from. Ash is what they make shovel handles from. <_< If you can take a pic of the end grain, it might be a little more clear. You can also measure the specific gravity of the board by sticking it in a tub of water on it's end and see how far it sticks down into the water when it's floating. Also measure the entire length and then I can calculate the specific gravity for you. That will help identify it. BBP, did you study Forestry or do you have first-hand knowledge from hands on experience? My guess would be Yellow Poplar or a relative species, kiln dried of course. Nice work Rabs and best of luck in your endeavor(u)r! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btoth76 Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Hello Rabs! Hope it helps: http://www.pacemercieca.com.mt/timber/6-Solid%20Woods Cheers... Bence Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 BBP, did you study Forestry or do you have first-hand knowledge from hands on experience? My guess would be Yellow Poplar or a relative species, kiln dried of course. Nice work Rabs and best of luck in your endeavor(u)r! I just have a little experience. Plus, Tennessee's State Tree is Tulip Poplar. They're all over the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 must be some variety of Cannabis then Rabs. Well, that'd be a first for guitars. One way of getting your brand noticed... Mind you, Jimi would've had fun lighting one up. Lol... I wondered why I was feeling hungry after I cut the bodies out ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 Also I decided to upgrade my tuners a bit.. I have been using Wilkinson which seems pretty good but I have heard that Schaller make good stuff too so I decided to give some of those a go (and they arnt crazy priced like some brand names I could mention :unsure: :)).. Anyone used Schaller before? And I got a bunch more wood today including some Utile and some nice Sapele which is pretty much Mahogany (I think Gibson uses it sometimes) ANNnndd I found a new wood supplier today too... This time we are talking proper cuts of wood that I can choose.. They had Wenge, Sapele, Oak, Beech and all sorts of hardwood too choose from.. I was told today I can get a plank that's 10ft long 6"wide and 1.5" thick for about £55 which isn't bad (that was for Oak). I think that will get me about 3 bodies... AND they will cut them to what ever size I want so it may save me some time too... :) So its all good... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badbluesplayer Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 It might be good to use woods that are commonly used for guitars. You'll probably eventually be doing that, so now's a good time to start. Like mahogany and similar species and maple and that kind of stuff. Like maybe make maple necks for the poplar bodies. That kind of thing. I'm not an expert on guitar wood. But I would follow somebody else's recipe until I knew all the in's and out's of the different woods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 It might be good to use woods that are commonly used for guitars. You'll probably eventually be doing that, so now's a good time to start. Like mahogany and similar species and maple and that kind of stuff. Like maybe make maple necks for the poplar bodies. That kind of thing. I'm not an expert on guitar wood. But I would follow somebody else's recipe until I knew all the in's and out's of the different woods. Well now... I went to four different wood places today.. and all of them said they don't get Mahogany any more :o Its all Sapele, Utile and Meranti (which are all very close to mahogany).. And yes I will be getting more of that... As for getting woods traditionally used... Well so far the Oak guitars I have built both sound REALLY nice so im happy with that and as far as im concerned for body wood you can use almost anything.. Neck wood as we know just has to be a good hard wood and Oak is one of the hardest so I am sure its a good wood to use.. As for why not many people use it to make guitars im not too sure, the only reason I can think of is cos its so hard it breaks your tool bits... Also I am very much in an experimental phase.. Im sure I will learn in time which are the best to use and may as you say go back to the traditional stuff in the end... But we will see.. Maybe my oak guitars will offer something new to people? All part of the fun :unsure: ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted August 28, 2014 Share Posted August 28, 2014 You may find this interesting Rabs (and the other vids) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted August 28, 2014 Author Share Posted August 28, 2014 You may find this interesting Rabs (and the other vids) Cheers. And yes.. Hes right its a tough wood.. BUT I have managed to make mine in a good weight range so im not bothered about that... And theres nothing wrong with the way Oak finishes in my eyes anyway :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabs Posted August 29, 2014 Author Share Posted August 29, 2014 Now got me some Pine bodies :) And a Meranti neck through on the way too :D nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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