Okay so I have a cigar box ordered and on its way to me but I now seem to have stumbled at the next hurdle which is trying to find a timber merchant that I can buy pieces of american oak or maple from which to make a neck. Strangely enough I have a timber supplier less than a mile from my home that will sell me the wood at a reasonable price but it is 6 inches wide, unbelievably the guy informed me that they don't have sawing equipment as they mainly sell to trade and they tend to saw their own as necessary. Has anyone else had this kind of problem and if so how did you overcome it? I do not have specialist electrical saws and have no inclination to buy one, for occasional hobby use it would be a waste of money. Failing that if anyone in the Lincolnshire area knows of a supplier where I could purchase pre-sawn timber I would be grateful for a heads up. I even thought of buying from the timber merchant and seeing if my local B&Q would cut it to size for me???
Thanks for any help guys.
Midge
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I used a couple of pieces of pine from B&Q for my first two and they worked out ok, but from then on I bought packs of off cuts from ebay. There are plenty there. I try and make sure they are about a meter in length and something in the region of 40 x 20 mm (or bigger to be cut/planed down). The last pack I got was oak and I got about 25 lengths for £30. Total bargain, great wood and I've done about 17 guitars from that lot so far.
Oh and meant to say a lot of the guys who sell offcuts on ebay leave phone numbers on their auctions so that if you don't see what you want, you can just contact them.
Clarky
Thank You very much for that info. I'll do a search on Ebay right now.
Cheers
Midge
Was in B&Q near Whitstable today for some paint so wandered down to the 'wood end'. Found a piece of oak 90cm long by 4 x 4 cm. I think it was a sort of basis for a Stair Bannister upright. It was reduced as it had a chip off one corner at one end. In a place that would have to be cut off anyway for CBG.
Its a big heavy chunk of wood that could almost be made into a Baseball bat, or some sort of weapon.
It will do for my next CBG
Meant to say also some of the wood on ebay can be expensive, just trawl through until you see a decent auction.
Thanks for the warning trouble is I have no real idea what a fair price for wood is :o(
Totally new to all this. Guess I'll learn the hard way.
Midge
Hi Midge, there are plenty of fantastic British woods that are available ready cut from wood stockists. Local small "one man" joiners will cut your wood at a very reasonable price. If you are lucky enough to become friendly with them they are more than willing to let you have off cuts from jobs for little or nothing. Some colleges do night school wood work courses and allow you to buy wood at cost and you will then be able to use the tools and machinery to cut/plane/shape everything you desire. I used to do a lot of turning and joined a local club and once I became friendly with the majority of members they were more than willing to cut wood for me free of charge. Look round your area and ask anyone in the wood working business if they would be kind enough to help you, it costs nothing to ask and you may be surprised how many people are more than willing to give you a helping hand, best of luck mate, Chris. :)
I'd suggest avoiding oak unless you really can't get anything else suitable, it's a very tough wood and not easy to work.
Sapele is a possibility you should consider. It's a hardwood widely used in the joinery industry as a substitute for mahogany. It's nice to work with and you can get a really nice finish on it.
When I've needed to buy wood for necks I've tried local joinery firms - generally they've been very helpful (in one case a fiver donation to the office coffee fund got me a couple of offcuts turned into nicely cut and planed neck blanks)
Ironically, firms that describe themselves as "timber merchants" are probably not a great bet. They seem to tend to be the sort of place that deal in big bits of wood - eg. structural stuff for houses, fence posts etc. And in the UK that seems to be dominated by softwoods (pine) with a bit of oak for the posher or heavier duty end of the market. Instead definitely look for joinery firms.
Midge
I am in Nottingham and managed to get a 7ft 2x1 inch length of oak form Fitchett & Woolacot for about £10.00, link blow.
David
Midge
I managed to scrounge some old mahogany type shelves, I can let you have one, the size is 110 cm X 25 cm X 17MM (approx ) if you are passing in Nottingham ever.
David
David
Thanks so much for the kind offer mate. I won't be over Nottingham way anytime soon though. Hope you manage to get some nice builds out of them.
Best Wishes
Midge
Have a click at this
.
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Northeast-Timber
.
and have a look around.
I think they have lots more at their stores.
Tony
Hey David, that's the kind offer from the Nations builders that I like to see, if your ever going near Ossett, West Yorkshire, drop in for a chat and a cuppa and some top free exotic wood mate, share and share alike, welcome anytime mate, with gems like you the Nation rules. Your a sound guy in my book. I love it, we share everything with the Nations members, well done that man, kettles on anytime for you David. All the best, Chris. :)
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