Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brian "Pork Pie" Anderson on August 29, 2011 at 8:18am

http://www.lmii.com, http://oregonwildwood.com, These are two suppliers I have used

 

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on August 29, 2011 at 10:03am

Dave,

http://www.theguitarsherpa.com/luthier_supplies_tonewoods/default.html

http://www.buildyourguitar.com/resources/suppliers.htm

http://www.luth.org/links/suppliers.htm

http://www.rockler.com/c/wood-products.cfm

http://www.gilmerwood.com/

Hope these help,
Oily

Permalink Reply by Len Davidson on August 29, 2011 at 11:33pm

Dave,

'Normal' acoustic guitar bodies are made by glueing together pieces of wood along the edge to make a wider piece (usually book marked).  There are a number of web sites that would explain how to do this.  Here is a bunch of links to these.  Jonathon Sevy's is a very good one.  Quite often they will glue a strip of wood along the joint on the inside of the guitar to add strength.  My Taylor is like that. Have fun.

http://buildyourguitar.com/resources/links.htm

Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on September 1, 2011 at 1:55pm

Hi Dave,

Len Davidson is right about gluing together two pieces of wood to make the backs and soundboards of guitars. If you look around at hobby shops and even Lowes, you should find some wood good for building sound boards as well as the sides to you boxes. I was in the States this past summer (SF Bay Area) and found a few local sources for these kinds of woods. Only wished they had them here in China. In China, I have been building my own boxes using long strips of trim wood that I glue together (laminate) to for necks and which I butt join (edge to edge) to for the sides of the boxes I build. For the top and bottoms, I have been using plywood laminate and have found it works better than most cigar box lids for making good sounding boxes. Here is a link to Kathy Matushita's website where you can find a couple videos relevant to joining two boards together to make a sound (or back) board. Her techniques are easily adaptable to box making for box guitars. The two videos are: The "Easy Jointer" and Joining the Top. I have employed simplified versions of these techniques to build my boxes and mountain dulcimer as well. Enjoy...

-Rand.

Permalink Reply by Dave Onastik on September 1, 2011 at 3:53pm

Thanks for all the tips everybody, as well as the helpful video links, Rand. The "joining the top" video is especially helpful.

 

The thinest wood I can find at Lowes or Home Depot is 1/4" thick Oak.  Is that too thick for a decent sounding soundboard?

Permalink Reply by Rand Moore on September 1, 2011 at 8:44pm

Hi Dave,

In the Lowes store I went to, they had a separate area from the kind of wood I use for building necks (i.e. 1.5" wide x 0.75" thick lengths of poplar & red oak). The wood in this other area was "small stuff",  wood more suitable for hobbyists building boxes as compared to home building/remodeling. I don't specifically remember the thinnest wood they had, but I do remember it as a place for good wood for box building. But if that is the kind of wood you are talking about, and the thinnest is 1/4" then my advice would be to check out hobby shops (craft supply shops), especially those that specialize in airplane model building. They should have some real thin wood. Some will be balsa wood, but also another wood (name forgotten) and plywood. Seems they had 2 types of wood and one plywood. In any case, they had "small stuff" and very thin stuff. If you get the thinnest stuff, you might need to add internal bracing (if < 2mm thick). Also, without internal bracing, the Balsa wood might be too flimsy, so try the other wood options first.

-Rand

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 1, 2011 at 10:51pm

Dave,

I see you are in Winter Park, near Orlando. There is a Hobby Lobby in Orlando, a Michael's in Winter Park, and several other local arts and crafts supply stores near you. Check with them for < 1/4" wood.

The section at Lowe's Rand is referring to is a rack that has 2' x 4' x 3/16" lauan plywood for $5.92. You should be able to get a number of box tops and bottoms from a sheet this size. If you are concerned that this isn't "tonewood," I can assure you that it has been proven by numerous luthiers, acousticians, engineers, and rare individuals who are all three, that it is the thinness and structural stability of the soundboard, and not the wood type itself, that contributes to good acoustic tone. Interestingly, it has also been empirically proven that soundboards of composite materials, exactly what plywood is, but also carbon fiber tops, and even thin MDF sandwiched between thin hardwood, which are less than or equal to 3/16" or 2mm thick work really well. I personally can vouch for the tonal capabilities of 3/16" lauan, as this is what I build my boxes out of ( sides, tops and bottoms) and they sound as good as my Yamaha acoustic with a spruce top.

Home Depot has a 4' x 8' x 3/16" sheet of eucalyptus hardboard called Eucaboard for $13.96, that could also work.

Permalink Reply by Dave Onastik on September 2, 2011 at 12:34am

Funny you mention lauan, since I purchased a sheet of that a couple of weeks ago.  I am currently building two boxes, and plan on using the lauan sheet on one of them. The sides on that one are made out of Home Depot Oak. The other one is made out of a nice 1/4" thick cherry board I found on ebay, and I'm using that for sides, top, and bottom.  I'm basically experimenting to see if there's any real difference in tonal quality between the two.

 

My only reservation about the lauan is that I like varying the woods I use and the look I achieve on each build.  If I used lauan for the tops, they would all start to look the same.  I might consider glueing a nice veneer on the surface, or painting and sealing  with lacquer.

Permalink Reply by Ron "Oily" Sprague on September 2, 2011 at 12:58am

Dave,

Understand the aesthetic issue. You could try different stains, paints whatever...But, I have at least one other wood option for you: Hobby Lobby has Baltic Birch Plywood!

In thicknesses from 1/32" ( which would IMHO require bracing if used for a soundboard) to 1/4", ranging in lengths from 24" to 36", and widths from 2" to...ta da! 8". Prices run from $2.99 for the smallest dimension (L X W) to $13.99 for the largest dimensions.

The variations in tonal quality will come from the thickness ( so a 1/4" soundboard will not resonate as much as a thinner one - which doesn't, BTW, mean it won't sound good), and the stiffness of the wood (how open- or close-grained it is, and how large or small the wood cell structure is). This is based on some recent research I've done on the Web at various luthiers' and acoustics sites. Expect variation, which I think is a good thing, and the acoustics won't matter as much if you are gonna use a mag pup.

But you knew that already. I'll be interested to see / hear the results of your experiments!

Oily

P.S. For reference, the now highly-collectible Harmony guitars from the 50's - 70's were made from...Baltic Birch Plywood.

Permalink Reply by Dave Onastik on September 2, 2011 at 3:53am

A Hobby Lobby recently opened near our house.  I will definitely check it out.