egdeltar Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 I picked up some Birdseye maple, Ive never worked with it before. I laminated 2 pieces of it with a slap of Purple Heart down the center for a neck. The maple has ALOT of eyes on it. Are there any tips or tricks for working with it? The guy at the wood store told me I couldn’t plane it because the eyes rip out...and I thought yeah whatever. But he wasn’t BS'ing. I’ve started to get a bit of the eyes tearing out when I hand plain it, but then again I don’t have the best hand plan. Also, the reason I laminated the Purple Heart in the middle is because I’ve heard that the Birdseye can be a bit unstable at times and may have a tendency to warp. I’ve had this Purple Heart for a while and it is straight as an arrow and rock hard so I figured it might help out a bit in keeping it all together. So I was just wondering how some peoples experiences with Birdseye are?. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!!METAL MATT!! Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 Well I've had Good experiences with Birdseye Maple It's strong stuff nice to work with And It looks Great. I did Have A hard Time planeing it As well so I just Used A BIG thickness sander and It came Out great!! And I dont Think Birdseye warps all that Easy But the Purpleheart should Keep you safe and Look DAM good with the maple !!METAL MATT!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Rosenberger Posted July 11, 2005 Report Share Posted July 11, 2005 SHARP TOOLS!!!! And Birdseye doen't warp easily (As long as it's Dried Properly) If your Planer has multiple feed speeds send it through on the slow setting and the eyes won't tear out as long as the knives are sharp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 SHARP TOOLS!!!! And Birdseye doen't warp easily (As long as it's Dried Properly) If your Planer has multiple feed speeds send it through on the slow setting and the eyes won't tear out as long as the knives are sharp ← You should keep all your tools sharp, especially the tool you use to plan a guitar (i think its called a mind or something?? ) That neck should look schweeet! Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank falbo Posted July 12, 2005 Report Share Posted July 12, 2005 I use a file toward the end of final shaping. Then I'm guaranteed that the eyes are level with the rest. It's just like fretboard leveling with inlays. Even sandpaper on a hard block sometimes leaves those eyes "up" a little. Watch when you're sanding that you don't drive a bunch of Purpleheart dust into the birdseyes, too. Work with compressed air, or keep a vacuum going all the time. Last time I used Birdseye it was with two ebony stripes in the neck. It's such a pain in the butt keeping that ebony dust from going everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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