Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ben on October 14, 2009 at 3:28pm

Home Depot, Lowes, something like that. I started with maple but fell in love with oak.

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Permalink Reply by kyle clark on October 14, 2009 at 3:30pm

do you suppose they carry hard wood that small? every time I go in they only have pine or very large pieces of hard wood.


Ben said:

Home Depot, Lowes, something like that. I started with maple but fell in love with oak.

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Permalink Reply by Brendan deVallance on October 14, 2009 at 3:33pm

Got my oak 1 x 2 at home depot, It's in the moulding section. But the last time i looked they didnt have anything that was straight. So I'm on the look out for a good source.

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Permalink Reply by kyle clark on October 14, 2009 at 3:39pm

thanks, I'll give that a shot then.

Brendan deVallance said:

Got my oak 1 x 2 at home depot, It's in the moulding section. But the last time i looked they didnt have anything that was straight. So I'm on the look out for a good source.

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Permalink Reply by Dan Sleep on October 14, 2009 at 3:43pm

If you go to Home Depot, they usually have 9-12 foot chunks, and almost all of them are warped to a degree, so I find a few that I can get a straight 3 foot section out of, and have them cut it for me. You can also use 1/4 x 2s, and laminate them together to make the neck instead of trying to find a straight piece. I have had good luck with using a piece of poplar in the middle and sandwiching it between 2 pieces of red oak. It looks pretty good.

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Permalink Reply by Ben on October 14, 2009 at 3:50pm

I pretty much always laminate 1/4"ers now. Saves some trouble with cutting down parts (for the tuners, etc.) and makes it really strong. If you have to work with a warped piece, use the bow to your advantage and let the string tension straighten it out.

Iggy said:

If you go to Home Depot, they usually have 9-12 foot chunks, and almost all of them are warped to a degree, so I find a few that I can get a straight 3 foot section out of, and have them cut it for me. You can also use 1/4 x 2s, and laminate them together to make the neck instead of trying to find a straight piece. I have had good luck with using a piece of poplar in the middle and sandwiching it between 2 pieces of red oak. It looks pretty good.

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Permalink Reply by HENRY LOWMAN on October 14, 2009 at 3:53pm

I buy red oak craft wood at Lowes. I have also found some at Home Depot, though it's easier to find at Lowes. Oh, and welcome to the Nation!! You're gonna dig it....

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Permalink Reply by Diane in Chicago on October 14, 2009 at 4:08pm

At the big box stores, you can generally find 3', 4' and 5' lengths in the "project wood" section. Mine has oak and poplar. It is it's own little display rack. There are 1x2, 2x2. 1x.5 and others.

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Permalink Reply by kyle clark on October 14, 2009 at 4:16pm

Thanks for all the help guys, I appreciate it.

Diane said:

At the big box stores, you can generally find 3', 4' and 5' lengths in the "project wood" section. Mine has oak and poplar. It is it's own little display rack. There are 1x2, 2x2. 1x.5 and others.

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Permalink Reply by ChickenboneJohn on October 14, 2009 at 11:13pm

You guys actually BUYING wood? I never buy wood for necks, all ways scrounge it from the side of the road if someone is throwing out furniture, kitchen cabinets etc, or go skip (dumpster) hunting. I often carry a saw and hammer in the car to knock big pieces down into manageable sizes to drag off home. I've had oak, beech, cherry, mahogany and even merbau..all perfectly useable stuff...and free!!

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Permalink Reply by Roger Martin on October 14, 2009 at 11:47pm

I did the salvage wood thing for a while earlier this year. But I found that it took me longer to bring a piece of salvage wood to useable condition then it did to just buy the wood and go from there.Time is my biggest problem as I"m trying to keep enough CBG's and Didley Bo's to appeal to as many people as possible.
Which means I'm building 4 to 6 3 stringers a week now and any where from 6 to 12 DB's to try and keep up with demand.
I found that the more CBG's I have in stock the higher my sales are now.
Because I aim for a lower price market ( 3 strings fretless for anywhere from $70 to $90 average prices ) I cant afford to spend time hunting wood .
I'm very happy using the poplar 1x2's I get at Lowes and laminate together to get a strong usable but inexpensive neck for 3 stringers.I use the 1x2 as it is for DB's.
Building as I am the best month I've been able to eek out so far was last month which turned out to be $2,046.00.
I cant build any faster then that and still find time to sleep and work my real job.
I think poplar is very underated for CBG's and DB's if its done right.

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Permalink Reply by Tim on October 15, 2009 at 3:23am

i found a really nice peice of 1x2 figured maple at home depot i only wish they would have had more

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