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It looks like my 3rd wenge fretboard in a row has begun to split. Bad luck? Bad wood choice? Whatever it is, I'm getting a little tired of it.

FWIW - Crack runs almost the entire length of the board. Maple neck. Slotted but not fretted. Glued flat board onto flat neck. Radiusing (7.25") and shaping done after gluing. Truss rod is not proud of slot and neck surface is flat.

Any ideas?

Thanks,
Mike

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Mike Lindstrom

Perfectly quartered (or vertical grain if you prefer) Wenge is highly prone to splitting.

Assuming the 2 woods were acclimated to the same RH, I think it would have to be the difference in the expansion/contractions of the two woods & Wenge's tendency to split.

I found this on a flooring site.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

The wenge that's splitting was pretty close to quarter. I've got some that's around 30 degrees. I guess I'll give that a shot next.

That's interesting data. Does anyone know how much difference makes a difference?

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Mike Lindstrom

Maple - especially flatsawn - moves more than wenge with changes in humidity, and vertical grained wenge is crack prone being brittle along the grain. Building with unseasoned wood, high humidity while building, big humidity swings after the two were glued together... there are lots of reasons why you could have trouble with that combination.

Here's where I got that chart from if anyone wants to dig deeper.

http://www.hardwoodinstaller.com/prepar ... ansion.htm

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.