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I want to post this before I forget, and to force myself to research this a bit more when I get home...

Hesh's post in response to Waddy's bridge repair on WRC (viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=48539) is one of those threads where sage advice is given and I have to really be cautious about sticking my fingers in my ears and singing... "I can't hear youuuuu!". I learned (or at least am now aware of) a lesson by not giving full heed to opinions...

I have a WRC top that I got for the classical I want to build, but it has this "feathering" of the fibers that, maybe it's normal for WRC, but it put up a little flag for me. I haven't tried but i'll bet that I could grab those feathers and pull fibers off in a strip. Not sure if that's runout or what...

My first thought was that if I flip the top around so the pull on the bridge is opposite the direction of the feathering, I might be Ok. I'll post pictures when I get home and you all can vote on whether I should build with it or not.

Rob

Pics would help but you might be talking about run out IDK. I'm not sure I would want to use a board that can peal away so easily under any circumstances but flipping it around does make sense. I have built several WRC guitars over the last 25 years and have never seen one come back with bridge problems and tear out and so on. So my thinking is that if it's done right then it will last.

Nothing wrong with cedar in itself if it's used properly.

Need pics to understand what you've got...

I've found nicely quarter sawed (vertical grain) western red cedar boards at the lumber yard and resawed tops from them. I pick through the pile to find boards I like. I avoid boards that show "feathering" (runout ) on the face. Being relatively cheap and available and easy to resaw, I'm more picky about WRC than other top woods.

WRC unfortunately has much lower toughness and peel resistance than spruce. In this it's like the redwood that you have already used, but cedar is also much soofter than redwood, which exacerbates the issue.

It's generally pretty easy to pull off fibers from a WRC plate; that in itself is not a sign of run out. It's run out when the fibers tend to dive in in one direction and come off in short pieces the other way. It seems to be easier to find cedar tops with no run out than spruce ones, and it's worth getting one.

Is this "feathering" that you describe going across the grain? If so, it's just good silk, which is a desired trait for stiffness and strength.
Picture please, so we're not all guessing here.

_________________
"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."

Not the best camera (or not the best photographer!)



getting the blade take no pressure at all. Tried to lift some and they just break off, they do NOT peel lke i was worried they might. But peeling might be better/stronger than splintering.


Where it's sanded a bit better, it seems fine.


Taptone is nice. Has a nice deep ring with an accompanying clear high tone, but it doesn't last (hello... cedar!?)
Seems decently stiff, but i have not done any measurements on it.

If you think the feathering will sand/scrape out and not be a problem (normal WRC), i have no other qualms about it's use.

thanks for your opinions.

I think it's just not fully sanded! Ever buy any Lutz from High Mtn Tonewoods? Looks like that, but has no run-out.

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Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Looks ok to me.

Take a sharp block plane, couple of swipes in each direction will tell you all you need to know

Yeah you see that a lot on rough cut boards. Once you plane it smooth and past the damaged fibers you can use light reflection to try and determine if it has any runout.

Thanks all!