spazzyone Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 (edited) whats the best way to maximize its use The back http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/femf.../Picture003.jpg this peice is 8"x23"x2 1/2" im trying to get two tops could i get two good tops and how thick could i expct them to be? please i need to figure this out HELP!!!!!!!!!!! Edited October 3, 2006 by spazzyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanb Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Find someone with a GOOD resaw bandsaw and you should be able to easily get four bookmatched pairs out of that 1/4" thick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
guitarzan Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Nice chunk of quilt! How many tops you can expect to get out of a piece of wood this size depends on several factors, but most importantly the tools you have at your disposal to cut through the 8" dimension ACCURATELY. If you have access to a large bandsaw, specifically set up for resawing with a good wide stiff resaw blade and accurate guides you could probably cut 3 tops that would finish out to .250" apiece. That's assuming the wood is flat, square, dried to under 10% moisture content and doesn't warp out during the cutting process: the ideal. Realistically though, you should probably go for 2 tops. How thick they'll end up depends on how accurately they can be cut in the first place. After that, you can sand them to whatever final thickness you want on a large belt/panel sander. Obviously, the tools mentioned above are way, WAY outside those typically available to the average person, but you might be able to find a WW shop in your area that can do the resawing & sanding for you. One significant caveat: DO NOT attempt to hand-saw the tops. That's a guaranteed disaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desopolis Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 with a good resaw job Id say 3 tops out of it safely... you could get more, but then I wouldnt expect much of a carve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted October 1, 2006 Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 The advice given is pretty good. That is a nice piece. First question that comes to mind is what does side #2 look like(hopefully the figure is strong throughout)? Now I am assuming you wouldn't be asking what you could get out of it if you were experienced with re-saw and had a good set up. You should have it re-sawed and surfaced by someone with good experience (and a good re-saw rig to minimize losses).Before it is sawn you need to be SURE it is well stabalized(at a min. tested with a moisture meter). The lowest loss and smoothest cut will be with a woodslicer blade. Western Maple is soft and you do not need a stiff blade,but the blade needs to be set up to cut dead square. If that is a solid 2-1/2" (and is square at this point). You should be able to get (4) 1/4" drop tops without difficulty. Actually getting less would tell me the re-sawing is sloppy and going to give poor bookmatches because of excessive surfacing(due to crooked cuts). A woodslicer is capable of 1/16" waste per cut (final surfacing included). If you burn twice that due to sloppy cuts you still yeild 2 sets in 1-1/4". If the person you take it too does not trust their set up enough for that they may want to give you three thicker sets. Four 1/4" sets (2") plus 7 cuts & surface (@1/16"per.=7/16",),Three 1/4" sets(1-1/2") and 5 cuts(@1/16"=5/16")(to burn a full inch in 5 cuts=about 3/16" per.cut). If they want to aim for three 3/8" per.piece(1-7/8") and 5 cuts (@1/8"=5/8"). The last leaving room in case of a crooked cut and using standard blade and kerf. Find a great re-sawer and pay them well to get the most out of that billet(you will win in the end). Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spazzyone Posted October 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2006 thanks t all that replyed and yes the figure is that strong front to back and Rich thanks for the math class lol i gives me a much better idea to what is resonable drop tops are ok but i want at least one carve top out of this now i just need to find a resawer that can handle the task ill post more latter thanks to all Shawn aka Spazzyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 If you want a carved top as well out of that, then you should be able to get one 3/4" bookmatched top for carving, and a drop top set no problem. Cause like Rich said, that'd be 1.5" for the carved top, plus 1/2" for the drop top, and that's only 3 cuts (3/16"), coming to 2 3/16" meaning you've still got 5/16" room for any errors. I'd say do the carve and 1 drop set, and then that little 5/16" piece that comes out, chop it up into a bunch of 7" x 4" pieces, and then resaw those again and get a bucket load of headstock caps... I'm sure you could get a pretty penny for highly figured headstock caps around here. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 That is taking for granted, of course, that there is no bow, warp, twist, or curl in the board, that it is dead flat, which I find (typically) these boards normally are not perfectly flat nor are they (typically) dry enough to -stay- flat once cut. So be prepared to keep your pieces clamped between some thicker boards or have some other method ready to go, or be prepared to do your glueups as soon as you get your pieces back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 That is taking for granted, of course, that there is no bow, warp, twist, or curl in the board, that it is dead flat, which I find (typically) these boards normally are not perfectly flat nor are they (typically) dry enough to -stay- flat once cut. So be prepared to keep your pieces clamped between some thicker boards or have some other method ready to go, or be prepared to do your glueups as soon as you get your pieces back. I agree with you** depending. If the wood has been properly dried(on that piece I would absolutely meter it), and the wood was surfaced after drying. After the wood has been dried properly it will not move a great deal. If it is still green or case hardend(trapping the moisture inside) you will have the exact problem you mentioned. It really depends a lot on who he bought the wood from. A 2"+ piece like that should have been cut and left to air dry for about 2 to 4 years(2 years dryer climate at least 4 in a wet climate). Then it should have been surfaced. The problem is that many people that are selling this kind of wood don't want to take the losses during drying or hang onto wood long enough to let it dry. If it was kiln dried. The process needed to be slowed down to prevent discoloration which would cost more. If it is done too agressively it can case harden the wood trapping moisture(but time is money, so no one like to dry slow). So depending on how it was dried and surfaced he may want to leave it alone for a couple years before re-sawing. Most people just look at the price of a piece of wood, and don't even think about drying. There is a huge difference in the value of a well dried piece of wood and a piece that is still drying. The fact that most people are ignorant about this makes it advantagous for people to dump the wood as soon as they can (people don't really adjust the value down forcing the seller to opt for selling well dried more valuable wood). It is akin to buying a log to mill. Logs do not have the same value because they may have greater losses or defects. Dealers much prefer to sell logs if they can get a price anywhere near the value of dried cut wood(they drop all risk and make huge profit). Of course all that said a Luthier should be one of the most knowledgable buyers out there. It should be the corner stone of building instruments. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 (edited) After slicing up the big slab of bubinga with the Woodslicer, I now have a pretty good idea of what goes into this. For one thing, that blade is the cat's meow...it ate up the entire slab and is still going very strong. The blade was almost $50 shipped, but worth it. Even if the piece is dry-flat-square, you will still get some cupping of thin slices (1/4" or less) after resawing simply due to the heat of the blade (expansion on one face). It is best to sticker & weight the 1/4" slices and leave them for a day before trying to finish sand it. This way, I could resaw a piece that was at 0.6" to start and end up with a finished boomatch at 0.25", so just under 1/8" per cut. Not quite as good as Rich's 1/16", but good enough for the girls I go out with. FWIW, don't get it anywhere near a thickness planer, you need a thickness sander for this. The planer will tear it out. Edited November 6, 2006 by erikbojerik Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJD Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 whats the best way to maximize its use send it to me for free sorry, that's an amazing piece of maple you have there, good luck whatever you do with it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 After slicing up the big slab of bubinga with the Woodslicer, I now have a pretty good idea of what goes into this. For one thing, that blade is the cat's meow...it ate up the entire slab and is still going very strong. The blade was almost $50 shipped, but worth it. Even if the piece is dry-flat-square, you will still get some cupping of thin slices (1/4" or less) after resawing simply due to the heat of the blade (expansion on one face). It is best to sticker & weight the 1/4" slices and leave them for a day before trying to finish sand it. This way, I could resaw a piece that was at 0.6" to start and end up with a finished boomatch at 0.25", so just under 1/8" per cut. Not quite as good as Rich's 1/16", but good enough for the girls I go out with. FWIW, don't get it anywhere near a thickness planer, you need a thickness sander for this. The planer will tear it out. You like that Woodslicer . It is the stuff for low loss cutting, and smooth cuts. For what it is worth. Erik is correct that the heat of the blade will dry the surface of the wood a bit right after re-saw. I have also noted that sanding(cleaning up the surface) will also heat up the wood a bit, and dry a bit. I usually run the wood through to surface the blade scratches after re-saw. Then I weight and sticker the lot. I like to wait at least a week to mess with them after that. If the cuts are thick like 1" re-saws it is best to keep them stickered for a month before looking them over. All is really contingent on how well dried the wood is before re-sawing. P.S. Erik; If you start with .6" and re-saw to two .25"(.5" worth of finished material). You have wasted .05"on kerf and .025" per suface to clean. That is awsome cutting. Your saw and feed rate must be dialed my friend. I don't think I could beat that . Great to hear you are happy with your re-sawing. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spazzyone Posted November 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 well it is dried dead flat and as good as it looks as far as resawing i have a good job now "hint hint" and all the required equipment to handle any build (a full shop) including a 24" thickness sander,a jointer,planer, 18"bandsaw,CNC machine yeah im ok now and in very good hands once thanks too all. Rich,erikbojerik,Drak and Chris now if i could only get drak to do my finnish i would be in heaven "magma attack" P.S what shall i make with it a Strat,Tele,LP,PRS suggestions anyone? i cant draw so original is out the window Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted November 6, 2006 Report Share Posted November 6, 2006 Here's my idea then, if you can't draw like me. Take pictures of google of guitars you like and scale them all to the same size. Then in photoshop mash them all up together using parts you like from each, then smooth them all together, print it out big, and BAM! GUITAR DESIGNED. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 P.S what shall i make with it a Strat,Tele,LP,PRS suggestions anyone? TELECASTER Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted November 7, 2006 Report Share Posted November 7, 2006 well you WILL have a drop top and a carved top... why why not a tele and a LP/PRS something carved top that way you get both types of tops... and both single coil and humbucker sounds Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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