Suitable Wood To Practise Shaping Necks With

[JohnnyG]

Im fairlly sure that this post has been up at least once before but i cant seem to find it with the search function.

basic question is thus. i want to start learning to make my guitars from scratch rather than just making guitars up from parts etc. im probablly going to carve necks using a spokeshave, rasps and sand paper and a jigsaw since i dont have the space for any large machines here. however seeing as i havnt carved a neck before i dont want to start on maple since i know im gonna screw up a load before i get one right and it could get expensive.

so, the question, what wood would i be able to buy for really cheap that would at least be a good aproximation to working with maple? or do any guys know where to get maple neckblanks for cheap in the UK. either would actually be good

cheers guys

JG

[Drak]

Poplar and Alder are both quite inexpensive.

To be honest, regular Maple is pretty cheap too.

In the width you'd need to do a sketch neck, I'd bet like no more than $6.00-$10.00, give or take.

Poplar and Alder are in the same neighborhood as far as workability, both are easier to work than Maple, so if you wanted to make it easy on yourself, those two. If you wanted to make it as close to real life and you're making a Maple neck, then Maple.

[JohnnyG]

ah ok, thanks forthe info drak. ive had a look on toushstone tonewoods and for a piece of rock maple 700 by 100 by 55 mm its £16.82 which is about 30USD

the cheapest stuff they have is Cedar in 750 by 85 by 28 mm for £8.75 (about 16USD) and they dont have any poplar or alder. would i be ok going with the cedar to save a few bucks or should i just drop the cash for 3 or 4 maple blanks and just expect to keep plowing money in untill ive got good?

[Drak]

Are there any wood suppliers local to you?

The problem is the place your looking, don't look at -any- 'guitar-oriented' sites, you'll pay thru the nose at those places.

You need to look under raw lumber, try that.

[JohnnyG]

ah thats a good point lol. common sense should have pointed that out to me. to the best of my knowledge there is nowhere near me that would do but i'll have a look in the telephone book for cabinet makers and lumber yards within a reasonable area.

[tirapop]

If you're near any manufacturing or transportation businesses, you ought to look for discarded wooden pallets. Depending on the point of origin, they can be made out of hardwood. A co-worker found a pallet made of mahogany that he turned into shelving in his house.

[S.Dodding]

While this is'nt actually a lumber merchant, and as such is'nt the cheapest way to buy there is, Craft Supplies do maple neck blanks for 6 pounds (you'll need to go to their instrument section and download the .pdf catalogue).

Their Fingerboard woods are pretty good prices also. Definitley worth a look. They're fairly quick and customer service is good, i've used them for a couple of bits and bobs so far.

Edited December 12, 2004 by S.Dodding

[JohnnyG]

6 quid?? hhmm, this i shallcheck out. thats actually a reasonable price as far as im concerned. ill go have a look now, cheers man

[JohnnyG]

wow, that place has some really good prices. the body blanks are a pretty good price as well. looks like ill be grabbing a few neck blanks of them for practising on. seriouslly thanks forthat link man

[S.Dodding]

No problem

[Setch]

Craft supplies are a great choice for your first few instruments, but are less satisfactory once you start to get more demanding. Whilst their wood is pretty good, and the prices are the best I've found, they can't really make selections for you other than grabbing the first blank off the shelf, and the QC isn't great. The maple top I ordered from them for my Les Paul was *very* cupped, not surprising since it was planed on one side, and straight from the bandsaw on the other. I've also not been impressed with the head veneers I've ordered from them - very variable in thickness, and usually have to be thinned well below ideal thickness to get the planer marks out. They also occasionally have supply issues with fretwire, I've waited months for some on back order. That said, the one time they forgot to include part of my order they were very quick to rectify the problem, and didn't argue or quibble, which earns points in my book.

Overall pretty good, and very cheap. I was about to suggest them when I noticed someone already had.

[JohnnyG]

right, wellthats me set for a while....after ive finished this PA amp conversion....and the fix up les paul copy i bought off ebay.....and made a decent PSU and pedal board.......and...oh bugger it. ill start it half way through january, no messing about lol

cheers again guys.

my bank balance hates you

[Batfink]

I find Craft Supplies a bit hard to deal with. Phone's permanatly engaged, they nver reply to emails and although they list many body blanks at very good prices they tend to have, according to thier online shop, bugger all in stock. Saying this i notice that several people give them a glowing report so perhaps i'm just un-lucky and the fact that i'm only half an hour away from David Dyke's and less than a mile away from Timberline does mean that i have plenty of material on my doorstep. Always try your local woodyard, you can sometimes get a bargain which is more than suitable for neck / body construction.