Official Luthiers Forum!

hi all, i need help again, i had this wood from an old dinning room table and thinking of using it for tone wood but not sure what it is.It is a hardwood but soft compared to other hardwoods i have used.Can someone tell me what wood this might be and if its usable for a solid body guitar?. thanks all....jas

here is the link for the picture

http://aimphotos.aol.co.uk/photos/edb42 ... e/19799840

Jas,

That looks like oak.

_________________
Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

It could be White Oak could be Ash

Oak....

_________________
Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Oak

If it's light weight and soft enough to leave a finger nail impression then my first guess would be butternut. That photo looks like some butternut I've used in the past. If it's heavy and hard, won't leave finger nail impression, then it might be white oak. Most old white oak tables used quarter sawn or at least have the edge of a board show a quarter sawn grain.

Paul

I'm with Michael----Ash

_________________
Wisdom is justified by her children

thanks guys, ill give it bash and see what kind of tone i get once i finished, im gonna use it for a hollowbody telecaster i think, keep you posted....jason

Yup, looks a little more like ash than oak to me.

_________________
Mountain Song Guitars www.mountainsongguitars.com

I'd go with ash. I only bought a load the other day...

i gave it the nail test and it didnt leave a mark, anyhow i cut the top out this after noon and routed out out the other half, should have it finished at the weekend.
another question id like to ask as a newbie, i have made a good few solid body guitar bodies and all come out extremely good, i want to try and make a neck, im confident of fretting etc as i have done it many times as a guitar tech.What id like to know is what are the best tools to use to shape the profile of a neck? i have the blocks etc to radius fretboards etc as i have done this many times, just wanted to know what methods you guys use, read a few forums and some people do it by feel etc, what ways and tools do you use? cheers jason......thanks for all your replies as its much appreciated.

I make a 5 piece laminated neck (actually is more pieces when you count the laminated mahogany blocks I use for the heal and scraf joined headstock. For a one piece neck I would do it like this:

Start with a piece of quartered mahogony at least as thick as the neck at body joint. make the top edge straight and flat. Glue some blocks if needed for the heal. Make them longer than you think you will need. Don't forget to leave material for a joint, either dovetail or mortise. Lay the fingerboard on the top. Put the body joint fret, (12 or 14), a couple inches from the end of the mortise or dovetail and mark at the nut end of the fingerboard. add another 1/4" for a nut and mark it for a scraf joint (usually 15 degrees on a SS). Carefully cut the scraf joint. Rotate the cut piece under the scraf cut and align so the two surfaces are flush. True them up with a plan checking as you go with a straight edge and square. Glue the scraf joint up.

You now should have a flat edge along the top and the top of the headstock. Cut a channel for the truss rod and CF rods if you use them. Cut the mortise. When you cut the shoulders of the heal (the part that will go against the body) cut them with a 5 degree angle in so that it will flush up aginst the body. Beware that the angle of the cut may not be 90 degrees to the top edge (where the fingerboard goes) I usually use a 2 degree up angle on this plane so that I will have the correct neck angle since I turn the top down slightly the last 12 inches. Plan it so that when you lay the fingerboard on top it will go from the body joint at the 14th or 12th fret to the down turn of the scraf joint plus room for the nut.

Now I cut the side profile of the neck on a band saw. Then glue the wings on the headstock. I switch gears here and work on the head stock by laminating the head and back plate, Cut out the head shape, and do my inlaying work.

Then I install the truss rod, glue on a profiled neck and flush trim the neck

_________________
Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

And then.....

I mark the neck about a 3/16 up from the fingerboard on both sides and about 3/8" in on both sides of the under side of the neck and rasp the wood between the marks. that gives you about a 60 bevel on the underside of the neck. Then just finish shape with rasps, files, scrapers and sand paper.

This is really abreviated and not make much sense.....

_________________
Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust