Official Luthiers Forum!

Does anyone know what this is ? I bought it as lacewood.

Looks like lacewood to me...

_________________
Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

...or leopard wood... same thing (?)

_________________
Steve Sollod (pronounced sorta like "Solid")
www.swiftcreekguitars.com

Looks like what I call Lacewood. But I'm not good at the guess what the wood is game.
Tom

_________________
A person who has never made a mistake has never made anything!!!

Mark you just wanted to show off that beautiful piece of wood. Leopardwood tends to have larger flakes (flecks) than Lacewood. The ones on Lacewood tend to be more numerous and small. Other than that, both woods are very similar in appearance and both have a Janka hardness of 840.

_________________
Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Here's a bit more info for you Mark.

_________________
Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Thanks for the info on it Bill! 840 hardness.Is that enough for a fretboard as that was my intention for this piece. My fingernail couldnt dent it but my fret saw went through it quite easier than i had hoped.I have already made some bridges and headplates to match but i am concerned about the hardness to hold frets. It sure is pretty though.

Well, a good comparison is American Cherry which is about 950, Walnut is about 1010, Hard Maple is about 1450, Wenge is about 1630, and Mesquite is about 2940. Anyway, I think you get the picture. I personally would not use it, but maybe someone else would have a different thought on it. It is pretty stuff though.

_________________
Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

Hopefuly i can find some rosewood the same shade as the bridges and headplates i made out of it so i can at least use those.

That's a good idea Mark...if your after the 'lace' look Beefwood (Grevillea striata) is plenty hard enough as I explained in another thread but you would need to contact Tim Spittle of Australian Tonewoods by email to see if he currently has stock....that stuff don't grown on...eermmm never mind.

Cheers

Kim

If this is Lacewood which I suspect it may well be since it is lighter in color than Leopardwood typically is, one thing to keep in mind is that much like Cherry, it will darken to a deeper brown with age. You can take a piece of it and expose it to direct sunlight for a few weeks if you have that kind of time and it should give you an idea as to the color of brown it will achieve. This should help in selecting the wood for your fingerboard.

_________________
Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

What I know about Lacewood is that it can look a lot like Leopardwood except the color is a little different (leopardwood is more in the brown tones and Leopardwood is more in the golden tones). Both woods can have large or small flakes.

Lacewood is much softer (ie. you can make an impression in the soft grain with your fingernail. Leopardwood is very hard and dense - much heavier too.

What you have there looks like Leopardwood to me but the density will tell you.

The lacewood I'm talking about comes from Australia. Australians don't call it lacewood. (Not sure what the aussie name for it is).

The picture looks like Grevillia robusta to me. It's called Lacewood, Silky Oak, and probably some other names. I've seen (pictures of) it used for fingerboards on electrics, but I don't think it would hold frets very well. If it's the species I think it is, it's got huge pores that would probably need filled for a fingerboard.

_________________
I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

I wouldn't use it for a fret board but if it's like the silky oak I have, it bends quite well for binding (finally got my latest pics uploaded here):

_________________
"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.

I have already slotted this board and would be a waste if i didn't use it so i think i'll go ahead and try to harden the fretslots with glue before fretting. This will be an experimemt of sorts for me . My necks are true bolt-ons, not glued on and interchangable with each other, so it can be replaced real easy should there be a problem in the future. Now i need to pick the best glue to do this with. Any sugestions?

Thin CA wicked in after fretting.

Maybe someone else would have a different suggestion, but I personally would flood the entire fretboard with thin CA. I would then repeat the process after it cures each time until it will not absorb any more. You will likely have to re-cut the slots afterward.

_________________
Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

I used a piece of of Leopardwood that looks a lot like that for a fret board. I did flood it with CA once. It's been strung up less than a year and seems to be okay. Time will tell!


[quote="Bill HodgeMaybe someone else would have a different suggestion, but I personally would flood the entire fretboard with thin CA. I would then repeat the process after it cures each time until it will not absorb any more. You will likely have to re-cut the slots afterward.[/quote]

_________________
Say what you do, Do what you say.

Looks like everyone is on the same page as far as what type glue to use, so CA is what i'll put to it. There won't be any inlays on this board, so i think i'll flood the the whole board just before fretting then use it while fretting as well. I hope that does it. This board doesn't seem to have any open pores that i can see. If is does they must be very small. It actually looks like a closed pore wood to me. I sanded the endgrain on a scrap piece and put one coat of shellac on it and i still cant see any open pores there .

I used leopardwood on the fretboard of the electric guitar I did at the Purdue Guitar Workshop this summer. I was told by one of the Fender sponsors that it was a very hard wood, between ebony and rosewood in hardness. It is harder than the lacewood I have used for general woodworking. I use an awl to check hardness (I'm a nail biter ) If it is lacewood it will dent easily about like cherry (as someone said).

I do feel that the leopardwood's spots are softer than the surrounding wood, so the CA soak is probably a good idea.

Danny R. Little

here's a shot of lacewood binding, with snakewood endgraft...

_________________
"Preoccupation with an effect gives it power and enhances the error"
from "Your Owner's Manual" by Burt Hotchkiss.