Official Luthiers Forum!

A friend of mine has relatives in north eastern minnessotta , they own a parcel of land which is about 80 acres, this land has been in his family since the time it was acquired through homesteading , and the forest has never been harvested ! He seems to think his family might be amenable to the selection and removal of a few trees for use in the noble art of luthery.
What , if any , tonewoods may be found there ? Jody

I believe there is white spruce in minnesota which is closely related to red spruce?
Also I would guess maple, walnut, oak, and ash.

Jody, Don't over look black cherry. Some like to build with that as well.

Hi Jody,

If it really never has been logged, there will probably be some good size White Spruce trees, and maybe maybe even a Black Spruce tree big enough for soundboards. If you are very lucky, you'll find a tree that grew in a densely populated patch, and it will have few lower branches. (There may be other knots and pin knots that you will not find until you split or saw the wood.) Some of this material is literally "as good as it gets" for soundboards, and even the wood laboratories literally cannot tell Red Spruce (Picea rubens) from White (P. glauca) from Black (P. mariana)

You'll certainly find a few species of Maple there, and much of the Maple this far north has some figure. You never know what a squirrel buried or a bird pooped out 100 years ago, so there could be Cherry or Walnut, but I'd say it's more likely you won't find those. Quaking Aspen (called "Popple" by the locals) and White Birch, Basswood, along with a couple of species of Pines and Spruces are a sure bet, and I would say that at least some Ash and some Oaks are pretty likely too.

Grant Goltz (an extraordinary luthier, canoe and kayak maker, furniture maker, world-class bird carver, tonewood sawyer, archeologist, tightrope walker - OK, I made that last one up) lives in north central Minnesota, (between Hackensack and Longville), and would be an excellent resource to clue you in to not only which commonly used species might be on that property, but also other species you might NEVER think about using in lutherie. An example is Sumac, which has wood that looks very similar to bronze metal (think of the possibilities as an accent wood.) Grant also took down a Burr White Oak tree about 2 years ago that has strong curl. Cut "dead-on" the quarter (90° vertical grain) it displays strong medullary rays ("flaking") and that added to the curl makes it truly a North American exotic.

Grant doesn't pop in here to the OLF too often, but you can contact him under the handle "whitespruce" at The Luthier Community. I really think it will be well worth your while to contact him.

Dennis

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Dennis Leahy
Duluth, MN, USA
7th Sense Multimedia

Thanks for your responses all! Dennis the plot is a bit north of you , Hibbing I think, but I am sure it is somewhere on "the range" . it has been awhile since I have been there myself. Ray is 89, the property was originaly homesteaded by his wives family, i have no reason to discount his story , as I remember those on the iron range tend to be true to their words( at least the old timers!). My friend John was there last summer, he said there were many trees he could not put his arms around ! I am tentatively planning a road trip there next winter , it would be a boon to have someone that knows the local forest to correspond with . Thanks everyone, Jody

ok. a little more detail, we now definatly have permision to take a few trees,probably jan 2011, if they have another cold winter there. Ray says,as far as he knows no trees have been removed from the property since the 1920's, since the adirondak spruce rebounded from all the cutting for wwII, I would think there might be some usable spruce in minnessotta, he says some of the trees are 24" 26" in diameter. I am not sure about any hardwoods though ,unless maybe they were over looked backed then . I might need some luck with that one ! jody