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Hinoki Cypress- Port Orford Cedar or Lawson Cypress
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estebanana
Posts: 9413
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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 Hinoki Cypress- Port Orford Cedar or...
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I'm writing about the guitar making process on my website blog. I'm using Hinoki which is a Japanese Cypress which promises to make excellent flamenco guitars. The Hinoki is a Cypress native to Japan and it grows all up and down the archipelago. It's very similar to Lawson Cypress AKA Port Orford Cedar.
A look at botanical class:
Port Orford Cedar- Lawson Cypress and Hinoki share the same botanical classification right down to Genus, Chamaecyparis, then split into two distinct species.
Kingdom: Plants
Division: Pinophyta
Class: Pinopsida
Order: Pinales
Family: Cupressaceae
Genus: Chamaecyparis
Species: C. lawsoniana
Hinoki - Chamaecyparis obtusa:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaecyparis_obtusa
Lawson Cypress - Chamaecyparis lawsonia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chamaecyparis_lawsoniana
They share a similar Topogragical range, they both grow in the same latitudes on the East and West sides of the Pacific Rim. The Hinoki Cypress does flourish for about 800 miles farther south than the Lawson species.
I think it is a wood worth having a look at because Port Orford Cedar has been a very successful wood for making flamenco guitars and I expect no less from the Hinoki. In my area it can be found commonly in many lumber yards, but finding aged timber that is big enough to build guitars from is difficult. You have to search and be choosy, but the rewards are worth it.
I have also cut down a Hinoki tree and quartered the logs with a chainsaw. The tree had been standing dead for 12 years, but since Hinoki is like Lawson Cypress, full of bug resisting chemicals, the interior of a standing tree is not subject to the same kind of rotting and degrading that other trees may have. When we sawed this tree open we found it to have pristine, dry, non greyed wood from the outer layers to the center.
This felled wood has been dimensioned to air dry further, 12 years in the open air is along time, but a complete tree can't fully dry...or at least I'm not taking any chances. This wood will dry in guitar dimensional form for at least a few years before I build with it.
When the rainy season is over I have plans to search for a larger Hinoki in the mountains. I am trying to find a tree a diameter of one meter across to render backs and sides for guitars and cellos. If I find one and cut it down I'll document it with photos and share them.
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(Yeah, I know, I know, everyone has 'Blog Fatigue' but artists who work for themselves have to keep up the fight. We have to act as our own PR depts. ~ Humor us all, please.
You can follow the process on the blog.
http://stephenfaulkguitars.com/?p=616
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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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Date Jul. 3 2015 4:59:58
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estebanana
Posts: 9413
Joined: Oct. 16 2009
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RE: Hinoki Cypress- Port Orford Ceda... (in reply to estebanana)
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Triple M,
Hey thank you for the attention on the hinoki front. And I have to apologize for being tardy on answering your note on my blog. I have been in a time crunch the last week coming out of the holidays and with limited internet time, but I do intend on answering your note.
Hinoki is a worthy wood for making blancas, and so far it stacks up in it's own way with other woods used for blancas. It really has a vibe like the best Port Orford, and English Sycamore, it is also like the very light batches of Mexican Cypress I've had which make hot guitars. A few Japanese makers employed hinoki as a soundboard material, but so far I have not heard of a guitar made with hinoki and spruce of cedar top by any maker here. I also think Jim Frieson is beginning to play with some Hinoki, so the more better I say.
The Japanese dealers, I predict, will be skeptical of hinoki, they supply to a mostly conservative type of buyer, but I think there will be players who are strong individuals who will step out and buy direct from my shop. This is to say that yes hinoki is a treasured wood and used in special architectural projects , but most people think of it as a common, plentiful wood. So for building a temple some hinoki could be used, but for a guitar it seems like a newer idea that might need some open minds to test and bring forth. Americans, and probably Aussies will take to it faster I think, as they are willing explore non traditional woods and be more adventurous in general about letting the guitar maker build what he or she is attracted to.
Hinoki is should also be said is quite variable in softness or hardness and stiffness and density. It has much more material latitude than most other woods I've worked with. That means I looked through a couple rooms full of planks and took the best suited to guitar making. Lucky for me there is much,much more good stuff to select from at the yard. The real problem is finding a good resaw man who will not waste as much wood when slicing ribs. The yard has a band saw about 12' tall they use for ripping down big slabs and logs, perfectly suited for ripping down back stock at 4mm, but that is a waste for ribs because I hand plane them to just under 2mm and then scrape and sand. Once I find the resaw guy who can nail it I can rip down more board stock. But as it is now I have several guitars' worth of high grade backs and sides.
I also ripped down some really old Red Oak, which is actually honey colored, and I'm aiming to us it as binding on dark rosewood guitars as a light on dark binding. I like lighter bindings on dark woods, but sometimes maple seems too bright, so this honey color on say indian rosewood might look very mellow and natural. I'm incorporating local materials as much as they fit the need and are beautiful for the purposes. When you begin looking around you you can see great beauty in what gets overlooked as common. The rift sawn red oak really surprised me in how much depth the wood has under finish, much prettier to me than the American oaks.
I've learned more than I could or care to say about what seems exotic to whom. Japanese people often covet things from the US that seem trivial or commonplace to us as Americans, while Americans will call any ragged scum bucket chunk of rice topped with raw fish a sushi. Well, well, there is the story.
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https://www.stephenfaulkguitars.com
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jan. 10 2016 15:29:26
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mmmenk
Posts: 54
Joined: Dec. 26 2015
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RE: Hinoki Cypress- Port Orford Ceda... (in reply to estebanana)
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I would love to try some of the Hinoki. On the east coast of the USA we have a native tree, Chamaecyparis thyoides (Atlantic white cedar, Atlantic white cypress) which is prized by ship builders. Unfortunately all of the great old growth trees were cut down long ago, and it is rare to find it as usable lumber for guitar making. I have used the Port Orford cedar, for backs and sides and tops, and even necks. It is superb for bracing and blocks in the guitar, also linings and kerfing. What a fine aroma this wood provides. Alaska yellow cedar is also good to use for guitars, and is available in good quality, the aroma is rather punky, and some would say it is skunky, I just think it is funky and would not use it as an air freshener.
The wood from the Monterrey Cypress is quite nice, is that what you are calling Mexican cipres? The Spanish cipres is in another category, it has exceptional working qualities, it can be worked to an exquisite thinness and still retains structural integrity. Most of the cipress I have been using is coming from Turkey. Maybe that is why it is as light as a feather.
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Date Jan. 10 2016 19:07:36
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