Evaluating wood

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Evaluating wood

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r0bbie

Posts: 160
Joined: Feb. 11 2007
From: Holland

Evaluating wood

Hi,

I wonder how luthers evaluate the wood they use for guitar building and how they got the knowledge which wood is useable and winch wood has to dry a little longer.

This week I received some wood and I wonder how I can see if it is well sawn, dry enough to use and so on.
I have some wood I bought 6 or 7 years ago and I don’t know any more if this wood is for bracing or just to separate the wood when drying. It looks nice and quarterly sawn but I don’t know which species it is.

So, is there a way to improve in this kind of knowledge?

Rob.

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 28 2009 13:09:46

jshelton5040

Posts: 1500
Joined: Jan. 17 2005

RE: Evaluating wood (in reply to r0bbie)

quote:

ORIGINAL: r0bbie

Hi,

I wonder how luthers evaluate the wood they use for guitar building and how they got the knowledge which wood is useable and winch wood has to dry a little longer.

Rob.

Rob,

This is not a subject that can be discussed with brevity. Suffice it to say that quartered is generally better than flat, width and straightness of grain is less important than run out, stiffness across grain is desirable, weight is not and dry does not mean cured.

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John Shelton - www.sheltonfarrettaguitars.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 30 2009 6:40:53

TANúñez

Posts: 2559
Joined: Jul. 10 2003
From: TEXAS

RE: Evaluating wood (in reply to r0bbie)

r0bbie,

Experience will be your teacher. I had the same issues when I first started out but after you get more time with the wood in your hands you start to learn these things.

_____________________________

Tom Núñez
www.instagram.com/tanunezguitars

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 30 2009 7:40:59

Armando

Posts: 302
Joined: May 27 2005
From: Zürich, Switzerland

RE: Evaluating wood (in reply to TANúñez)

quote:

Experience will be your teacher. I had the same issues when I first started out but after you get more time with the wood in your hands you start to learn these things.

Hi robbie

I share the opinion of TANúñez

I just like to tell you what experiences i made with this.

When i started guitarmaking i purchased only one set for tryal. As you know, the wood sold by most suppliers is green (not cured, sometimes not even dry). As i didn't want to wait several years before to start building, i desided to build my first guitar with this wood. Fortunately the wood was dry enough. The guitar came out well playable and it is still alive, but it could have been easily cracking.

So after the first guitar, i realized that guitarmaking is a passion and for sure i'll gona build more. I realized that there are only two ways how i could proceed.

1. Always buy only the wood needed for one or two guitars.
2. Buy a stock of wood and store it.

I desided to go for number two. This have cost me a bit more than just a few bucks, but it's absolutely worthwile the investment. Now i have always well cured wood at disposal and it is getting better every year.

I have stopped to purchase soundboard material by internet. My experience with this was not positive. When i ordered soundboards they have sent me just anything but not what i really asked for. I believe that it is very important to personally choose the soundboards because then you always know what you are getting. Today i don't mind to travel even to italy to purchase my soundboards directly from the sawmill.

When i'm in the sawmill it takes me always at least an hour to select ten soundboards. I have my own way of proofing the quality of the wood. The tonal response is most important to me. I don't care too much about straight grain and annual ring spacing, but whether or not it is a radial cut. Soundboards with runout must be rejected. A soundboard with runout is not only weaker, it is also more likely to warp and it will produce an ugly appearance when joined. Soundboards with an easy visible gluejoint and uneven shine (one side appears to be darker than the other) on either side is typical for soundboards with runout. Most of the soundboards that i have is cut of splited wood, so it has no runout.

Now i'm waiting and waiting and waiting and each time i go thru my stock i feel and hear the wood to become more resonant. That's really exiting.

regards

Armando

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Aug. 30 2009 12:46:08

r0bbie

Posts: 160
Joined: Feb. 11 2007
From: Holland

RE: Evaluating wood (in reply to r0bbie)

Hi,

I understand that it is difficult and hard to explain without the wood at hand to point out the things to watch for. Experience is something I have to work on but I had hoped to speed this up a bit.

I worked with Zebrano and I think I can recognize it from a mile away, Cypress I can smell but it gets difficult when two pieces of wood are very similar. Like spruce, is it Sitka or Engelmann or one of the 20 others...

For dry wood it is just best to store it yourself so you know when it should be cured, no trick and tips ? Thats to bad..