What would be a good test of pieces of timber..to determine suitability and best use for a neck and fretboard?
I have three great large pieces of timber (planks) from which I can mill and machine a few necks and a few fretboards.
Now I have many options from these:
1. One piece neck and fretboard.
2. Laminated neck. Same timber or mix timbers
3. Laminated Fretboard to neck. ...so...which timber to choose for neck and which for fretboard?
All have passed my "fingernail densitometer" test.
All have passed my "knuckle tap" resonator test. Confirmed by a wood to wood tap.
All have passed by "eye-ometer" on the end grain test.
Conclussion - I think they are all relatively dense hardwoods with fine straight grain. All are stable and dry. All are warp free.
I have no way of identifying these woods!
So how do I choose what is best for what?
Any other tests I can do?
Replies
The red mahogany type timbers are good for necks,generally close straight grained and easy to work.Pale harder woods,maple and sycamore,are good for fingerboards and contrast well with the mahogany types.Try the timbers together and if you like the the combination make it.
Stating the obvious, why not learn how to identify the wood? It's knowledge that does come in handy over the years. There's plenty of resources on the internet - a lot of timber is quite easily identifiable by its color and grain pattern.
Have a look at this:
http://www.wood-database.com/
I spend hours on this site :)
Hi Craig.
I think you may be over-thinking it. If they are all hard hardwood, then any one of the three should make a fine neck. If you are using hand tools to build your necks, then a softer hardwood might be good to start on. I would think about what other woods you are planning to use in the project and pick woods that "go together" well. For instance, laminate together a neck using contrasting colors, or match the neck (or contrast the neck) from the color wood used for the fretboard (and/or sound box). I like to save the piece with the nicest grain pattern for use as the fretboard. I have used softer hardwoods to laminate together necks, and then in similar instruments used a "solid core" of hard hardwood, and I found the "solid core" necks sound better (sweeter sounding), but that's my subjective opinion. I do a "solid core" neck because I build "paddle-box" style stick dulcimers by gluing on two much longer sapelli (or cherry) wood slats (0.5cm thick) to either side of the solid core neck (&headstock) and these slats also form the sides of the roughly triangular sound box.
-Rand.
Thanx guys for all replies.
Thinking..thinking...
It s because I cant identify them...they are unknown "qualities".
I am sure they will all do the CBG job. I aint buildng a Steinway Grand Piano after all. Ha.
like you say, you aint building a Steinway.
I try to bend it over my knee. If it wont bend, I figure it will work.
Sandpaper... If 100 grit does little to it, it must be Maple.
Poplar is one of the softer hardwoods, but still works great with or without a laminated fretboard...
Craig,
You might post some pictures here and we can see if we can help identify it. It sounds like it should make good neck/fret boards from how you have described it.
Dan