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Posts: 22
Joined: Mar. 8 2010
From: North Wales, UK
'Alternative' tonewood supplies?
Hi, all.
I'm fairly new on here; I've been lurking a bit while I'm plotting and planning my project guitar. I've got nearly all the materials in one place now - I think I'm only short of the tuners and strings and am in the process of sorting my tools out.
I've spent a few months collecting all the materials, not to mention quite a bit of money, so I'd like the guitar to be a good one. I've heard tell that one's first guitar is rarely a great one, so I thought a bit of practice first might be in order.
With this in mind, I've scounged an old upright piano from my local Freecycle group. It was in need of repair, so I explained to the donor what I wanted it for; they were quite happy for it to be 're-purposed' since they'd been quoted £80 to have it hauled off to the the tip . . .
I went with my trailer today, spent a couple of happy hours dismantling it and I'm now the owner of a quantity of (hopefully) usable timber - the soundboard is about 5' x 3' x 3/8" spruce, the frame that holds it consists of 6 pieces of 3" x 3" spruce about 4' long, the sides of the piano are 1" mahogany about 4' by about 8" wide and there's all kinds of other bits and pieces like the ebony from the keys (shame about the ivory though - it's quite thin. Maybe it could be used for inlays somewhere?)
The piano was nearly 100 years old so the timber should be pretty well seasoned and it's all quartersawn. I realise that the soundboard is jointed from narrow (4"?) strips but I reckon it should be good enough for a practice run when it's been re-worked. Shouldn't take much 'playing-in' either . . .
I'd appreciate any thoughts from you guys - can you see any big problems I've missed? Anybody tried this before? Good idea? Bad idea?
Posts: 597
Joined: Jan. 14 2007
From: York, England
RE: 'Alternative' tonewood supplies? (in reply to Cymro)
Its great to recycle old wood, and its its very tempting, but its not a good place to start with your guitar building imo. Much better to buy the lower grades of tonewood from a dealer like David Dyke in Sussex or maybe Madinter in Spain and then buy better wood as your skill and knowledge increase.
Then when you know what you are doing start using your salvaged wood
RE: 'Alternative' tonewood supplies? (in reply to Cymro)
Quarter sawn mahogant can be pretty tricky to find these days that a good catch if the boards you resaw are nice and stiff!! Ive got a 200 year old cuban mahogany tabletop to get resawn. The quatering isnt so hot though so im a little put off by it.
If all the piano cost was time then perhaps this isnt such a bad project. The sound board of course is most important and if the stiffness of the board isnt right then you wont get a good idea of the outcome from your first build.
I have spent sometime re-pegging and stringing a piano and looking at the board on that didnt look too suitable for guitars. You could be lucky though. sounds like the mahogany is good find!
Posts: 22
Joined: Mar. 8 2010
From: North Wales, UK
RE: 'Alternative' tonewood supplies? (in reply to Cymro)
My thinking is that since the piano cost me only a couple of hours and 20 miles worth of diesel, then its wood would at least allow me to learn the techniques required to work on the expensive stuff. If anything goes belly-up then I've lost nothing but gained some experience. It's going to be a steep learning curve and I need to get the mistakes made on something cheap!
I've found a couple of pieces of an olive green coloured wood - maybe 9" x 3" x 1", the kind of colour that pressure treated timber comes in here in the UK, but with some brownish streaks. It's very dense, shows medullary rays when I plane it (but not like oak) and is very hard, with a fine grain. I looked it up on Google and it seems like it might be green ebony; if so it might be suitable for a bridge? It's a yucky colour but stain is cheap . . .
I'm still taking everything apart; it's amazing how many parts go to make up a piano! I was astonished to find some nails in some of the framing, since I'd always imagined that the joints would have been precision fitted. The glue is something else, I've had a hot air paint stripper on some of it and it doesn't want to budge. I think one of the problems is that the wood is so thick that it's insulating the glue from the heat.
RE: 'Alternative' tonewood supplies? (in reply to Cymro)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Cymro
I've found a couple of pieces of an olive green coloured wood - maybe 9" x 3" x 1", the kind of colour that pressure treated timber comes in here in the UK, but with some brownish streaks. It's very dense, shows medullary rays when I plane it (but not like oak) and is very hard, with a fine grain. I looked it up on Google and it seems like it might be green ebony; if so it might be suitable for a bridge? It's a yucky colour but stain is cheap . . .
That sounds like lignum vitae. It is not suitable for bridges since it is rather unstable unless aged for many years. It's also too heavy, hard to mill and rather oily.
Posts: 22
Joined: Mar. 8 2010
From: North Wales, UK
RE: 'Alternative' tonewood supplies? (in reply to Cymro)
Lignum vitae, eh? The closest I've ever come to that was a greenheart fishing rod my father had when was a kid. Used to be used for canal lock gates and such since it's not affected by submersion.
Just think; a fully waterproof guitar!
Thanks for the heads-up; I'll keep it for the next canal lock-gate I build . . . ;-)
RE: 'Alternative' tonewood supplies? (in reply to Cymro)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Cymro
Lignum vitae, eh? The closest I've ever come to that was a greenheart fishing rod my father had when was a kid. Used to be used for canal lock gates and such since it's not affected by submersion.
Just think; a fully waterproof guitar!
Thanks for the heads-up; I'll keep it for the next canal lock-gate I build . . . ;-)
Lignum vitae is so resistant to water, hard and tough that was used for the bearing where the propeller shaft exited sea going vessels (may still be used as far as I know). I know the pieces I've worked threw sparks when I cut them with a carbide blade.
RE: 'Alternative' tonewood supplies? (in reply to Cymro)
Hmm...sounds like you'll have plenty of bracewood, tie-block inlays and tentalone stock for years to come! And I suppose neck wood if you don't mind mahog.
That lignum vitae could make some good tool handles I guess. Overall a good find
Posts: 22
Joined: Mar. 8 2010
From: North Wales, UK
RE: 'Alternative' tonewood supplies? (in reply to Cymro)
Now you've got me wondering whether it is lignum vitae. It is really hard, but it's possible to plane it. I had thought of using some for a small plane body - maybe a small curved block plane for dishing a solea or tapering bracing. Even if it was ebony it would still do the job.
I am hoping to harvest a good supply of wood for bracings, tentalones etc - looking around, they're the parts that really add up after you've bought the big bits.
RE: 'Alternative' tonewood supplies? (in reply to jshelton5040)
quote:
Lignum vitae is so resistant to water, hard and tough that was used for the bearing where the propeller shaft exited sea going vessels (may still be used as far as I know).
It is. Take it from a former naval engineer.
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And I suppose neck wood if you don't mind mahog. 
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