Official Luthiers Forum!

Living in the central valley of CA, I have access to a lot of Almond wood. I have some boards that have been sealed and drying since 1991. The wood is lovely and very dense.

I've searched the web and can't seem to find anything on the properties. I was considering using it for fingerboards and perhaps bridges. Does anyone have any links to Almond that could let me know the Q value and perhaps the dampening? Would love to see the wood used in some of my work.

Steve

I believe Almond is very close relative to Peach - you may try searching peach wood.

_________________
wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

I expect you've already googled under its scientific name Prunus dulcis, but be sure also to extend your search to the synonym P. amygdalus, and its very close relative P. persica -- the peach, also a member of subgenus Amygdalus.

At a stretch, you might look at properties for more distant relatives North American black cherry (P. serotina) and European/Asian wild cherry (P. avium), both in subgenus Padus -- their wood anatomy will at least be similar and there's loads of published data on the physical properties. But, take it with a grain of salt -- like trying to compare the wood of the 5-needled pines with that of 2-3 needled pines -- quite different beasts, although anatomically similar.

The management of fruit trees in orchards, regardless of species, usually results in loads of reaction wood, knots and wild variation in density and stiffness as a consequence of intensive crown management designed to promote fruit and facilitate its collection. While fruit orchard woods are commonly used for turning and decorative items, the yield of uniform timber is usually rather low. This is probably the reason why you don't easily find timber properties published, but doesn't mean your selected pieces aren't suitable. Good luck with your search -- I'm sure orchard growers would love to find markets for the wood when they replace orchards.

Almond has excellent Q value. I use it for Q'ing pork and chicken. Add a few chunks of hickory or mesquite and it's great with beef as well.

Sorry...I'm of no help to you at all, but I couldn't resist.

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Almond wood - excellent firewood (burns better than oak)
Almond wood - excellent for slow cooking and smoking
Almond wood - excellent for fine cabinetry
Almond wood - excellent for fine inlay and wood turning


Almond wood for Lutherie? - FORGETABAHDIT!



I'm going to cut up some pieces and compare to the EIR and Mad Rose bridge blanks I have. I'll post some picts. It sure is nice wood; nice striping.

Steve

One of my students got me some a number of years ago, and I've used it for fingerboards. It seems to have the right hardness and density for that use. I do have a B&S set, courtesy of the same student, which I have not used or tested yet. The back pieces are somewhat warped, which messes up the stiffness readings, and I may have to cut off strips to test at some point. It does seem to 'ring' OK when it's tapped. I'll note that there are two types, 'softshell' almond wood is harder and denser than 'hardshell' wood. Whether these are different varieties of the same thing, or different species, I can't say.

I've built a couple of guitars with Sweet Almond B&S which I got from Turkey. Both were Torres style classicals, and I wouldn't have made the second one if the first was a failure.

Overall the tonal balance was very similar to my maple bodied classicals. One thing to consider however is that my wood came from the original source area for Almond, and the clonal selection that made its way across the Atlantic may not be type typical. I know American almond has a reputation for instability, I have mot found this with wood sourced in Turkey. I plan to make more guitars from Almond wood.

Colin

_________________
I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

Colin, that's exactly opposite of what happened. It grew here first, and was brought over to the Turkey and points East by aliens.

Really!

_________________
"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

I’m interested in this also. There have been many times I have passed by piles of almond wood and wondered myself if it is usable.

I have a vacation/retirement home in La Grange, CA right between Lake Don Pedro and Lake McClure. My plans are to move there this next year and hopefully build some more instruments (in between poker).

You might check with John Mayes since he used to live in Riverbank.

Philip

_________________
aka konacat

If you think my playing is bad you should hear me sing!
Practice breeds confidence and confidence breeds competence. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in practice.