What Would You Do?

[Moreau]

Ive got some long 6 foot or so pieces of mahogany. about 5" wide by about 1/2" thick. its flatsawn, so i was thinking about a neck thru. i have about 6 of them. What would u folks do? what woods would u use to laminate them? some walnut strips? id love to hear your ideas.....

[westhemann]

cut all your 6 foot pieces at 42",this will leave 30 " left over

then rip all of them down the middle of the 5" face...this leaves 2 pieces at almost 2 1/2" wide(of course)

now you get all the 42 " pieces together,and same thing for the 30" pieces.

the longer pieces are long enough for neck throughs,and the shorter ones for bolt on and set neck,they will have enough room for headstocks as well.

but see now,here is the strange part.you have the wrong size of stock optimally(1/2"),because for a six string you really need a total width of 2 1/4" at least, but you can do a couple of things...one of which i like better than the other.

the one i do not really prefer the thought of.

take 4 of those pieces with complimentary opposing grain,and glue them side by side(2 1/2" faces glued together) with 1/8" laminates of another wood in between all of them(possibly ebony?maple?depends on the color contrast you want).this makes a 7 piece laminate neck,which can be very nice if done with aesthetics in mind.you may have to adjust the thickness of the 1/8" strips if your wood faces being glued together are not already planed flat.

here is the thought i like best.buy some 8/4 (1 1/2")flamed rock maple,and some 1/4" bocote(all 2 1/2" wide faces,like the other wood) and use the flame maple in the center,with the mahogany on the outside(opposing grains on the mahogany now)with the 1/4" bocote pieces in between all of them.this is what i would do

presto...5 piece gorgeous neck blank ready to cut,thick enough for a neck through with no angle and about a seven degree headstoock tilt(depending on whether the headstock is six inline or 3+3)

or you could do both...and mix and match laminates as you wish to make different contrast and such.by itself,that mahogany you have is completely the wrong size(1/2"),but with other woods for lamiates,it would be great.

there re alot of things you will have to think through before cutting.but hopefully i have given you some ideas to springboard off of.

by the way,turning all the woods sideways like this and glueing the faces together makes the grain run in effect quartersawn...and this is how i have made ALL of my necks,except i use 4/4 lumber and make 3 piece necks

http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/neck%2...haping_0002.jpg

http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/neck%2...haping_0003.jpg

http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/neck%2...haping_0005.jpg

http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/neck%2...%20rod_0005.jpg

http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/carved...%20set_0004.jpg

can you see what i mean through these pics?on the last pic the neck is not all the way visible,but you can JUST make out that it is a 3 piece

[Drak]

Can't get much better than that.

A one post thread.

[Devon Headen]

Good grief. I think we've found Wes' soapbox. I sure hope that answers your question

[westhemann]

whatever do you mean?i have made much longer posts than this one in the old slam topic...and they were just as useful in their own way

[Devon Headen]

I just meant that this topic never made a lot of sense to me. I guess wood selection is important, but that's almost my favorite part of making a guitar. I'd rather just decide on my own. I've never seen anyone go very in depth on the topic. It was a VERY good post, though, for anyone that's wondering about such things.

[frank falbo]

You could also make a 3 piece back to a semihollow. I've wanted to do a double-depth semi for awhile, where instead of hollowing out the back you'd have to use cut sides, or you'd be routing for months, wasting wood and dulling your bits. Actually, if you're doing a neck thru, those 5" wide pieces are wide enough for a top and back if you did a neck thru semi hollow. Although you'd probably prefer a fancy top.

Wes, are you saying that if the mahogany is flanking the maple center that you should still oppose the grain? Wouldn't that encourage a twist? I mean once quartersawn, it'll be pretty stable either way, but say it wants to bow on one particular direction, then the bass side will "oppose" the treble side. On a 3 piece neck from the same board you'd want the middle to oppose the flanks, but that still creates symmetry of sorts. With Maple in between, your movement tendency has no relation to your outer pieces.

Or perhaps when you say "opposing grain" you mean open the cut like a bookmatch, in that case, you're saying the same thing I'm saying.

[westhemann]

Or perhaps when you say "opposing grain" you mean open the cut like a bookmatch, in that case, you're saying the same thing I'm saying.

yeah...that's what i am saying