Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a few pieces of mahogany that are very nice, light with good quarter, but they have compression marks. Does this actually destabilize the wood at all or is it just cosmetic?

Some pics would help .
Do the marks go all the way across the pieces?
Can you look at the edge and see their depth?

Mike

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Mike Collins

It varies along it's length. Some certainly appear to go all the way through, though the wood seems very strong and it doesn't open when you flex it. The marks look like cracks but they seem to be filled, much like can sometimes happen when you bend mahogany into tight curves.

That's compression !
Those pieces and some maple make sweet coals for grilling .
REALLY !
Now-do you have any other neck woods?
Do you need some?

Mike

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Mike Collins

Ah, therein lies the rub. Is the wood inferior and structually unsound, or is it just a matter of looks?

Those are unsound for necks.
For a steel with lights your looking at 170+pounds of tension .
Classicals 75-90 lbs.
Do you want to spend the time making a nice guitar only to have the neck be a future problem?

MC

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Mike Collins

I am DYING to see what this looks like.....anyone have photos?

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There is no difference between the man that thinks he can....and the man that thinks he cannot.

The compression lines just look like jagged cross-grain cracks. I have used mahogany like that for necks, where the 'cracks' run about 1/3 of the way through the piece. I have not encountered any problems.

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John

thanks for your input everyone.
I have a pile of the stuff, great quarter and light and straight grained, but with the compression "cracks". With the increasing difficulty, especially in Canada, of getting good mahogany, and with the expectation that this difficulty will increase in the future, it is starting to look appealing.

To satisfy yourself that it is OK, you could cut a thin slice from the edge of a board and try to break it in the 'crack'. I am sure I did this when I first encountered it over 30 years ago.

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John

Yeah I guess I will. I reefed on the boards but a thinner slice would be more telling indeed.

Laminating may be a great way to save your wood.
Take a look at Brocks necks-nice lamination .
Of course this makes the neck more stable and strong.

just a thought.
Mike

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Mike Collins

Good thought indeed. I intend to switch to lam necks anyway...

There ya go !

Let us know how they come out when they're carved and strung please!

Mike

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Mike Collins