Wood Quality, Would You Complain?

[Desopolis]

So I spent 42.55 on a 9" x 24" x 5/8" piece of AAAAA quilted maple, one below musical(perfect) from Northwest timber and I have to say Im not that happy with it..

the figuring is not what I imagined it to be and there are what looks like knot holes that are rough on the edges and I doubt will go completly smooth.

Second, its warped to all hell.. definatly twisted.. I dont even know where to start to try and straighten it..

I only need a 9x9x1/4 piece for what im doing, but it needs to be straight..

heres pics:

cant really see the knots, and im allways suprised how my camera pulls figure out.

warp is probobly 1/2" on one side, and 1/4 on the other...

what would you do?

[prs man]

put this on a flatt surface then put some weight on top of it for a few days

that might do the trick.

the figuring is not bad looking to me but I know what you talking about this is not what you had in mind.

Edited September 7, 2006 by prs man

[Desopolis]

heres it with alittle water

I put some clamps on the edges and im putting some books on it...

[Ben]

I love that figuring!

I can see why you may be disappointed, since AAAAA seems to usually mean it has regular uniform figuring, but personally I think the more random figuring is much more interesting

[Digideus]

Im no expert, but ive seen AAA tops that look as nice as that, tho the figuring pattern is completely random. Thing is, if youre not happy, complain! If you cant get your money back, I guess you could always sell it on via ebay or something.

[mammoth guitars]

That is definately not 5A quilted maple. It is quilted though.

[erikbojerik]

Wet the side that's bowing up, then weight it down and leave it a few days.

[Drak]

On the figuring, tough call. Certainly not real 5A, but that term gets misused a lot in the past few years.

But the warping is a COMPLETELY different matter, warping that severe is definitely worthy of returning it and complaining like hell, that is almost unusable wood, although I could straighten it out, that's not what I paid for unless it was listed as bowed that bad.

Figure is negotiable, but the cupping is far too severe for expected standard retail sales in my book.

[Desopolis]

Im calling tomarrow(today) to talk to them.. im going to let it sit untill monday under tha clamps and weight..

if it doesnt straighten Ill try and exchange it..

second, the large oval figuring reminds me of knots in regular wood.. is that just the apearance?

the camera really pulls alot of figure out... its not that pronounced in person..

if it flattens out we'll see though..

they have a 15% return fee, and Ill bite it for the first one.. I doubt I ever order from them again though..

[Desopolis]

irritating to go from that to see this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Quilted-Maple-Bookmatc...1QQcmdZViewItem

I didnt even think of ebay becuase I couldnt find swamp ash there..

never doing that again

[RGGR]

Get your stuff here next time. Great products, great service.....and what you see is what you get.

http://www.3dhardwoods.com/

(This is actually the website of Durawoods.)

[Desopolis]

im considering just holding on to this and buying another piece..

Id hate to attach this and not like it in the end.. it could ruin the whole thing for me

[Supernova9]

im considering just holding on to this and buying another piece..

Id hate to attach this and not like it in the end.. it could ruin the whole thing for me

Don't hold onto it. Send it back. Drak's right, that's awful cupping. Consumer rights ahoy!!

[fryovanni]

I have actually been to NW Timbers, and have bought from them before. First comment would be- They have a system that grades 3a,4a,5a,Musical. They also list pictures of each board they sell on line (was the board you picked out by picture not the one you ordered?). I am pretty suprised they would sell a warped board. They actually surface wood better than any company I have ever run across. They are very expensive in general, so I am not supprised by the high price (that said the best of the best of their stock is very good wood).

As far as what you are doing to flatten the board. DO NOT place books on or press it on a flat surface. You need to allow air flow around the board. Place sticks between it and a flat surface, then place sticks on top and lay weight across the sticks on top. Any board period has the potential to warp if your humidity levels are very different from the place it came from. You need to weight and sticker as a precaution anytime you bring new wood into your shop.

I would give them a call and let them know happened. If that is not the board that was pictured I am sure they will take care of this. As far as the warping. Try to weight and sticker it properly and see if it comes back where it is supposed to be. If it doesn't let them know what happened. It is a good family owned business, and I can tell you they do know what they are doing (this is not a fly by night Ebay'R).

Chuck at Durawoods has some great wood and prices. Definately a good choice. If you only need a 1/4" piece (9"x9") just ask for an off cut (a cut that was the uneven number leftover when re-sawing 1/4" sets). The price will be less than half of the price a full bookmatched set would run.

Peace,Rich

[Desopolis]

there wasnt a picture of the board I wanted becuase it wasnt full size.

I have it clamped right now, ill change the setup when I get home..

[Xanthus]

Good luck, Des, sorry to hear about your board

[Desopolis]

Ok, so I called and talked to Lewis..

he told me that my board is some random cut off and I guess, shouldnt of been sold to me.

two things he suggested:

1, cut the wood to the dimensions I need instead of 9 x 24 and it will be easyer to flatten. If that doesnt work, he said pick out another board from them and he will deduct the price of the board I bought..

I wonder if he means the $20 or so shipping cost as well.

[fryovanni]

Ok, so I called and talked to Lewis..

he told me that my board is some random cut off and I guess, shouldnt of been sold to me.

two things he suggested:

1, cut the wood to the dimensions I need instead of 9 x 24 and it will be easyer to flatten. If that doesnt work, he said pick out another board from them and he will deduct the price of the board I bought..

I wonder if he means the $20 or so shipping cost as well.

Sounds like he is trying to make it right. You would have to ask him about shipping. Did you ask him if he might have an off cut with great figure that would suit your 9x9x1/4" requirement?

Peace,Rich

[Desopolis]

yeah I did, he said try flattening mine first.

if not Ill ask for a 9" 4/4 1' or 2' board... i figure he can cut that...

[fryovanni]

yeah I did, he said try flattening mine first.

if not Ill ask for a 9" 4/4 1' or 2' board... i figure he can cut that...

Let me take a look when I get home. I may have an off cut that will suit your need. If so you can use that credit for something you could get more use out of.

Peace,Rich

[Desopolis]

Let me take a look when I get home. I may have an off cut that will suit your need. If so you can use that credit for something you could get more use out of.

Peace,Rich

That would be awesome!

[nwtimber]

I'm not one to post on forums much but I respect this forum and we receive a lot of support from people who come here for information. He made this purchase on 9/5/2006 so this is very fresh in my mind. I must clarify this situation so you have both sides of the story. He told me he didn't want to buy a piece of lumber but needed a "scrap" piece that would yield 9x9 to put on the face of the guitar for the pic guard. The piece I picked out was 23" long (and 5/8 thick, I charged him the actual board footage not 4/4 scale which would be standard practice) it did have a twist in it but with a little woodworking his desired size, flat could be achieved. He also spent $28 for the piece and the rest was shipping and handling which I warned him would be equal to the money spent on the wood. As for grading... there is no industry standard for grading figure making it very difficult for the consumer who purchases from multiple dealers. Each dealer has their own grading system, one man's 5A could be our musical or vise versa. Also, and this is the reason for our online store with the thousands of pictures, Quilt on maple has a huge scope of variation from one board to the next. You can have very tight "popcorn" figure, deep "tubular", very fluffy pillowy figure. It changes so one must be very specific to the dealer if you have a vision of what you are expecting. The owner of Northwest Timber has offered to replace the item without discussion. The fact that he would come onto a forum were we are know is very unfair to our company because we strive to provide great customer service and to maintain a reputation of quality. Posting negative comments on a forum is discrediting and very hurtful to our family business on an issue that hadn't been brought to our attention.

Sara J. Judy

Northwest Timber

800-238-8036

[Desopolis]

Sara,

First, the word "scrap" never came out of my mouth in our discussion.

I said I didnt need a full length board(most of yours are a few feet in length) or a body blank(2" thick and usually 24x14) I said in the end I needed a 9 x 9 x 1/4 piece for my project. You told me that you didnt have anything that was 1/4 thin. I said anything would work really, as I could allways just cut it. I was going to take the fact that I would have to buy a full size board from you. You told me you'd go look.

You called me back, said you had a perfect piece for me, that was 9x24x5/8, 5A and had a "uniuque" figure to it.

I said perfect!

you also told me you had a $10 processing fee, and shipping wouldnt be that bad as you could USPS it.(and it wasnt, $13 isnt that bad)

I accepted that fact, because I ordered a 7x2x48 piece of swamp ash for the same price as this board only 20 minutes before first calling you. and also had to pay more in shipping then purchase price.

The end result was what I got.

the Twist was not discussed, and if it were, I would of simply asked you to cut me a 4/4 piece and went with that. EVEN THOUGH I DIDNT NEED THAT MUCH.

You were very friendly on the phone, and very helpfull. I thank you for making a effort to help me, also how quickly lewis responded to my e-mail. I am not attacking you or your company. You cary many pieces that are of superior quality and your customer service was very helpfull.

That being said, the piece I recived was questionable to what we discussed, and what I could use. The piece must be flat, and honestly looking at a edge of this wood, I can see the side and both faces.

YOU DID charge me 4/4 BF rate. actually Alittle less, I got .8ishBF and you charged me for .7. I was disapointed and didnt know really what to do in this situation..

if you notice the title, I asked what to do. and the awsner was to contact your company and search a resolution.

In my e-mail I even said I asked on a forum what to do.

lewis responded very quickly, so quick in fact I couldnt call him back from work I was so busy.

You can see his response^^^

Ill wait untill monday and see how the piece looks

He also said, that the piece I recived SHOULDNT of been sold to me, and that you just found it somewhere and I agreed that you were trying to help.

I NEVER came in a attempt to bash you or your familys company, I simply asked other builders what they would do in this situation. and as you can see, I did exactly that.

I should of asked for a picture, or you should of said it was twisted, or I should of asked for a standard piece,or you should of said it wasnt possible, or I should of asked here first, or or or.. heindsight is allways 20/20

the biggest companys in the world let out a few bad products, its how they handle the situation that is the measure. and yours has done very well.

I havent left anything out, or changed the story..

and come on its only a $28 piece of wood. I just dont like lighting $42 on fire.

Edited September 9, 2006 by Desopolis

[Desopolis]

a copy of my email

> To whome it may concern,

>

> Recently I purchased a smaller piece of AAAAA quilted

> maple (9" x 24" x 5/8")

> and the customer service was great, she found a piece

> that suited my needs and was very simple..

> sadly though the quality of the board when it arived

> was not as great.

> The grain of the wood was not what I had assumed was

> 5A based on your website and a few others, I took

> pictures and compared them. This I can live with, and

> have learned a lesson about buying wood without seeing

> it.

> The main issue is the level of warping in the wood. It

> is twisted like a ribbon and I dont know if I can

> straighten it.

> I set it on a flat surface, one side twists up at

> least 1/2"(enough for my finger to go under) and the

> other side at least 1/4"

>

> Currently I dampened the bends in the wood and clamped

> it to a flat surface, then applied roughly 80lbs of

> workout weights on top in a attempt to straighten it.

> Monday I will check to see how flat it is.

>

> I dont know what to expect from you, but I asked on

> the guitar forum Im on what to do, and the average

> response was to contact you on the issue.

> Http://www.desopolis.com/guitar/warped.jpg

>

Http://www.desopolis.com/guitar/quilted1.jpg

>

> any thing would help..

[Southpa]

It would be prudent for mods to close this discussion. Any negative mention of a company/business in a web forum always makes me a bit edgy. Desopolis got his answer as to whether or not he should contact the supplier in question about his purchase, nuf said. NW Timber cares enough about their product quality and customer service to register and post in this message forum. When reputations get "slighted" there can be repercussions. Word of mouth works both ways. Its very easy for the consumer to hear only ONE negative thing about a business to make them buy from somewhere else. It can be very damaging.