Official Luthiers Forum!

My brother lives in Ithaca, NY, and had a cherry tree on his property that needed to be cut down. Not sure when it was cut but it was quite recently. He's not a guitar builder but wants to see it used for guitars or ukes (if possible) and is wondering how he should get it processed. Since I live in NH, I can't help much with it, not that I know much about what you need to do to turn it into wood for guitars, other than it would be best quartered. He said there is a ten foot straight section that is about 24" in diameter. I'm not sure if that would be big enough for guitar backs but I'm guessing ukes might be possible. Or maybe some necks. I'm not sure what to tell him. Any advice would be helpful. Or if there's anyone in the Ithaca area that might be able to advise him, that would be great, too. Thanks for any help!

Matt

Lot of potential with a 10' log 24" diameter. Saw the log into two or three 24/25" pieces for backs and 37/38" for sides. Carefully split into at least quarters. Saw into 1-1/2/2" billets and dry for a couple of years. Lots waste cutting wood dead on quarter but it can be spectacular looking when finished. 24" tree processed properly should easily get Dread and Jumbo backs.

The final step in the process, which clinchriver left out, is to pack up a few sets and send them to me. I'll PM my shipping info.

_________________
http://www.CostaGuitars.com
PMoMC

Also, get the bark off ASAP. And seal the ends with latex paint or similar. Sticker the planks and re-stack them periodically. The stickers should be moved whenever the wood is re-stacked.

This is where the argument comes up as to whether it should be processed and re-sawn green vs dried in billets, to get greater use from the wood and for easier drying with less checking and cracking.

_________________
Waddy

Photobucket Build Album Library

Sound Clips of most of my guitars

Todd Rose lives in Ithaca, and I'm sure can help him. He's also into building ukes, which seems to be a terrific opportunity for both parties.

Matt, make an announcement on the NEL Yahoo Group...Todd should get it.

_________________
"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."

Matt, feel free to send me a pm with your brother's contact info (or you could direct him to my web site, and he can email me from my "contact me" page), and I will see if I can be of some assistance.

_________________
Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Thanks for the information, everyone. I appreciate it a lot. Hopefully, we'll get some nice cherry out of it.

Todd, I sent my brother a link to your website so he can contact you that way. I'll PM you his email address, too. Thanks!

Matt

Cherry is relatively easy to process, since the shrinkage is not excessive. You can cut it into 1 1/2" to 3" thick billets for seasoning. The bark should be removed before summer, but I would not do it until after the billets are cut.
Leaving the bark on during the summer will result in borer holes, particularly in the sapwood.
I seal the end grain with melted paraffin or Anchor Seal.

_________________
John

Some good advice here. A couple things I would add... First, determine the quality of the wood. Since he knew the tree, he knows whether the trunk was reasonably vertical or if it had a lot of lean to it. Cherry trees have a strong tendency to grow toward the light if there are other trees near them that shade them, so they often lean pretty dramatically. If a tree leans a lot, the wood is not as stable. On the other hand, if it grew in the middle of a yard with no other trees around, chances are it had a lot of branching along the trunk that would make the wood knotty.

If it's a good, straight, vertical trunk without too many knots, the next thing I would probably do is cut off a length long enough to saw backs from and split it down the middle. Then you can see the wood and tell a lot more about its quality. Maybe it has fabulous curl - then you'd probably want to saw it into B&S sets. Maybe it's just beautifully clear and straight-grained - then, if it were me, I might decide to saw most of the log into neck blanks, since I consider plain, unfigured cherry to be relatively undesirable for B&S, but excellent for necks. Another option would be electric guitar bodies, which can make use of shorter lengths and lower quality (more "character grade" wood).

In other words, I would try to determine what would be the best use of the wood (maybe firewood if it's really poor quality) before sawing it up.

_________________
Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Todd: I've visited Robert Collins in Cayuta but not had him process any lumber yet. Are there any mills in the area that you might recommend?

Matt: If your bro can't get wood suitable for lutherie, he might still get some usable timber from it or make a few bucks selling it.

Thanks for the help, guys! I appreciate it. Todd, my brother said he was going to send you an email.

Matt

I'm surprisingly ignorant about that. I know a couple guys with portable sawmills, one of whom I've hired a couple times. A friend of mine just up the road, Mark Speiser, runs a small business called Danby Hardwoods. He would know more about mills in the area than I do. It wouldn't take much for me to ask around to find out more myself, I just haven't had much need to.

In the case of this cherry tree, I would think a portable sawmill would be the way to go - probably a lot easier to tow the mill to the log than to get the log on a truck and haul it to a mill.

_________________
Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Thanks. Will put Mark on my contact list for future reference. I agree, a portable mill will probably save a few bucks, as long as you plan to keep the timber and air dry it. I've chatted with a winery owner (in Hector?) who has a Wood-Mizer (which is definitely an option) but what I like about Collins is that he has a kiln (which may be of interest for those who are less patient).

Sure wish I had a 24" diameter Cherry tree (or Walnut) to deal with. Good luck to the op's bro.

I agree with Todd. Cherry makes great necks.

yes, thats the pity with cherry, actually nice wood, but for back and sides nobody is interested in...like walnut. Just today I got some very very nice, straight, tight grained cherry, not figured, and I am wondering if I invest time and work into resawing....everybody likes it, but nobody is building, selling...

Sad but true...

cheers, alex

Necks!

_________________
Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

hm...might be too thin these boards, talking about backing boards from veneer production, 15 feet without any knot, straight like an arrow, perfectly quatersawn....but only one inch thick or so...and still very wet....btw European cherry is a bit harder, denser then American cherry, finer grained but the trees don't grow so big....but this one was big...

cheers, alex

I agree with Todd that cherry makes really nice necks. I've built two with it and will be using it more. I don't know what my brother is going to get out of this log. I also mispoke about the size of the tree. Apparently, it's only 22" in diameter, not 24". My bad. Hopefully, he'll get it processed and it'll turn out to be highly figured. Of course, that will mean I'll have to build him and our other brother guitars out of it. But I think figured cherry looks really nice and sounds great, too.

Matt

_________________
Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

one day I will find out

https://plus.google.com/photos/11579318 ... banner=pwa

Lots of nice looking cherry there!

Matt

I love all the photos of your wood stash they are wonderful

I would spend days just looking around your stash

If you don't mind me asking how many sets do you have altogether?

All the best
Dave

_________________
To be someone must be a wonderful thing!