Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jim138 on August 27, 2009 at 7:08am

I know someone who used Ipe(Brazilian Walnut) for hardwood flooring instead of Red oak because of its superior resistance to dinging and scuffing. Ipe is harder and more dense than Red Oak which means it may be difficult to work with, but will most likely make a stronger neck than Red Oak. Ipe resistance to bending is about the same as Red Oaks which is most likely the most important part of choosing a neck wood. I compare it to Red Oak because it is one of the more readily available hard woods used in CBG necks. I say go ahead and use it! Remember as they say here "There are no rules". Part of making CBG's is using what you've got!

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Permalink Reply by hplcman on August 27, 2009 at 7:15am

Thanks Jim! I'm looking forward to my first project and value the experience of everyone on this site. As I have limited tools I think working this wood will be a challenge, but I can't let all this 2x2 stock go to waste!

Jim138 said:

I know someone who used Ipe(Brazilian Walnut) instead of Red oak because of its superior resistance to dinging and scuffing. Ipe is also harder and more dense than Red Oak it may be difficult to work with, but will most likely make a stronger neck than Red Oak. Ipe resistance to bending is about the same as Red Oaks which is most likely the most important part of choosing a neck wood. I would say go ahead and use it! Remember as they say here "There are no rules". Part of making CBG is using what you have around the house.

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Permalink Reply by Tres Seaver on August 27, 2009 at 7:18am

Some of the tropical woods (I don't know specifics, just reporting what I've read) have oils in them which
can interfere with some kinds of finish, including on adjacent woods. I would try out whatever finish you
plan to use on scrap first.

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Permalink Reply by Jim138 on August 27, 2009 at 8:07am

Tres is right. These same oils are what makes brazilian woods resistant to insects and rotting. You may be better off leaving it natural. Ipe usually has a beautiful color and grain anyway. Mabye try some Linseed Oil on
a test piece. You can mabye even use leftover deck sealer, if you purchaced any, to protect it from the sweat and grime that build up on guitar necks, hopefully its not toxic or anything haha.

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Permalink Reply by hplcman on August 27, 2009 at 9:48am

Thanks!!! I was planning on rubbing in a few coats of boiled linseed oil, just as a protective, and will try that on some scrap first to ensure no issues with that. I know that these woods tend to be very high in tannins as well (I needed to use stainless steel screws throughout the deck), could that be an issue to anything?

Jim138 said:

Tres is right. These same oils are what makes brazilian woods resistant to insects and rotting. You may be better off leaving it natural. Ipe usually has a beautiful color and grain anyway. Mabye try some Linseed Oil on
a test piece. You can mabye even use leftover deck sealer, if you purchaced any, to protect it from the sweat and grime that build up on guitar necks, hopefully its not toxic or anything haha.

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Permalink Reply by Rich on August 28, 2009 at 4:04am

I use Padouk exclusively myself. May try some purpleheart next.

Here's some info...

1. Ipe dust is very, very fine. It gets over and into everything - clothes, body hair, tools. Dust this fine is essentially electrostatically bound to surfaces, so it takes a determined effort to remove it.

2. Ipe dust contains silica, which is partially responsible for its harshness to tools. Very fine dust containing silica is life threatening. Ask any coal miner or, in Minnesota here, iron miner, what happens when you're exposed to silica containing dust on a regular basis.

3. Because the dust is so fine it may not be completely filtered by our dust collection and air filtration systems. (Dr. Gene, any opinions on this one?)

4. Some people may not initially react strongly to ipe. This is bad, because you're still getting the silica laden dust into your lungs. Your body's allergic reactions are nature's ways of telling you there's danger.

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Permalink Reply by Jim138 on August 29, 2009 at 3:50am

haha. Deadly poisonous wood used for residential flooring/decking. Hes right, mabye you should send a 3' long piece to me and I'll see how it goes. You can never be too safe. haha

tinyguitars said:

No, you don't want to use ipe for your necks. In fact that stuff is actually deadly poisonous! You should pack it all up and send it to me and I'll take care of it for you! Heheheehee!

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Permalink Reply by Raymond Overman on August 29, 2009 at 5:48pm

Rich mentioned the silica in the ipe. Depending on what you're using to shape the neck, be prepared to sharpen it. When I've turned ipe I have to go to the grinder with my tools regularly. It finishes beautifully though.

I've mixed a large bucket of finish that works pretty well and is a little more durable than the boiled linseed oil by itself. Take 1 gallon of Boiled Linseed Oil, 1 gallon of Mineral Spirits and a quart of "good" clear varnish and mix it in a sealable 5 gallon bucket. The cool thing about this finish is, for small pieces you just dunk em then put it on a piece of chicken wire and wipe the excess off after about 30 minutes.

Good luck.

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Permalink Reply by Paul Doug on August 30, 2009 at 5:25am

A friend of my built a deck out of Brazilian Tiger wood. He jave me some scrapes about 18" long. I wish he had given me the whole deck! I think Ipe is close to the same. If so you have a treasure!

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Permalink Reply by StarGeezers on August 30, 2009 at 9:38am

Gentlemen , we love to use hard dense oily tropical woods for our guitar making ... no reason it wouldn't work very well on a CBG neck... If you're gluing pieces together , a thorough cleaning with a rag and Acetone will remove most of the surface oils for better adhesion... We've had great luck using Titebond 2 for these woods ... never a failure , even after some guitars soaking a month during Katrina.. www.neworleansguitar.com
On some oily woods , you almost don't need any finish at all , the natural oils protecting the wood from your oils ... for an easy durable finish , we like Burchwood Casey Tru-Oil gunstock finish ... wipe it on or rub it in with your fingers, let it dry overnight , repeat with several coats with a little smoothing with 0000 steel wool in between coats ... after 4-5 coats you'll have a nice glossy finish ... very similar to a nice poly finish ... after a week , you can buff it out to a high polish ...

If you're building quite a few CBGs , then some kind of dust collection system would be prudent... for one or two , I'd just do the sanding bits outside ...

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Permalink Reply by Paul Doug on August 30, 2009 at 11:15am

Ever wonder why God put hair in our noses? It not a very good filter, least not with what we work with in these days.

StarGeezers said:

Gentlemen , we love to use hard dense oily tropical woods for our guitar making ... no reason it wouldn't work very well on a CBG neck... If you're gluing pieces together , a thorough cleaning with a rag and Acetone will remove most of the surface oils for better adhesion... We've had great luck using Titebond 2 for these woods ... never a failure , even after some guitars soaking a month during Katrina.. www.neworleansguitar.com
On some oily woods , you almost don't need any finish at all , the natural oils protecting the wood from your oils ... for an easy durable finish , we like Burchwood Casey Tru-Oil gunstock finish ... wipe it on or rub it in with your fingers, let it dry overnight , repeat with several coats with a little smoothing with 0000 steel wool in between coats ... after 4-5 coats you'll have a nice glossy finish ... very similar to a nice poly finish ... after a week , you can buff it out to a high polish ...

If you're building quite a few CBGs , then some kind of dust collection system would be prudent... for one or two , I'd just do the sanding bits outside ...

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Permalink Reply by StarGeezers on September 1, 2009 at 1:50am

I still wonder why God decided to put hair in my ears ... Old Guy ...

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