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I met a man who bought and old pattern shop and has alot of old Mahogany. He says it is about forty years old at least. I know that guitar would should be quartered but what about mahogany. Is it stable enough to have flatsawed backs? I am going to take a look on friday. I would like to buy as much as I can afford if it is good. Regards Bill the Greenman

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I did exactly this same thing about 30 years ago! My advice is get all you can.
Pattern shops have thicker stock too. Even if it is flatsawn, you can use it for lots of stuff, and you'll probably get it at a great discount. If it really is old, it will be a lot darker than what you get today.

If there is so much that you can't get it all, let us know, maybe someone here is in your area.

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lots of good guitars are made from flatsawn.

birdseye maple for instance, HAS to be flatsawn.......

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Only a couple of the pieces were quartered but I got a huge board 18"x 1 3/4"x 12" 2" have a couple flaws in it but it is nice and deep red. I am going to resaw it into sets and sell some of them. I may bring them to the A.S.I.A. symposium to sell or trade. Cool that you could have a whole guitar from one board. I am going to put together 3-4 that have a matching top as well. This stuff is 40 plus years old.

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It is going to be tough to sell "non quartered" mahogany sets. Too much nice quartered stuff out there now. Flat sawn backs and sides are prone to splitting.
You should keep it as large as you can until you need a piece, like for a neck blank. The old dark red stuff looks so great for necks.
It would be much easier to sell it raw, to builders of course.

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I found 2) 11' x 1 3/4 x 6" Mahogany for $100 each. Good price? Dive on it?
He said he could get more at a higher price but would sell me those 2 for $200

The big board is quartered I guess I wasn't clear about that. I didn't buy any flatsawn boards. Greenman

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Sorry Greenman, I was also assuming something that you didn't say.
If it were me, I wouldn't let anyone else tell me what to do with my wood. Only you can look at all the aspects of your board and decide how to cut it to your best advantage.

I pretty much buy cut sets of wood now, and don't resaw much, except for neck blocks and such. I miss bringing home the "pig in a poke" aspect of rough lumber, deciding over weeks, months and sometimes years, how to cut it up, and for what.

Once I bought a huge plank of mahogany, and cut it into a keel for a sailboat I was building. Then, whoops, the wife came up pregnant (don't know how that happened) and had to put that project to bed. That keel is now cut up into neck sized blocks.

On your original note, was the wood a really great deal? That flatsawn wood sure can be used for lots of parts. Finding old mahogany is like a treasure, later, you'll wish you got it all.

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I would have jumped on all of it. Your not going to find 40 year old well seasoned mohogany in your average lutherie supply or wood dealer.

I left things open with the guy I said I would be back. He wants a good buck for the wood. He knows what he has. If I had deep enough pockets I would have bought it all. He has a huge 3" thick board that is flat sawn but would be great for necks. I could cut blanks off the edge. It is about 20" x12' so it is alot of wood and alot of money to drop on one board.

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