Huge Maple Blank. Just Got It And I Love It.

[soapbarstrat]

Where do you live and where did the wood come from?

Uncharted Island. Driftwood that washed ashore. My best guess.

[orgmorg]

This kind of wood is called "planinski klen" where I live.

This literally translates as "rock maple".

Where do you live?

Best I could come up with, it means " mountain chub " in serbian.

[fryovanni]

I thought you had no doubts about the information from the source?

This kind of wood is called "planinski klen" where I live.

This literally translates as "rock maple".

It has been growing on a rather dry and rocky soil in the mountains and the wood is very, very dense and hard.

The fact that it was ordered by a violin maker does not mean that he ordered it becuse it was soft (and I know for sur ethat it is not).

I guess the violin maker busted his ass to find *ANY* kind of maple (just like I did) and when he found this one, he gave no damn if it was soft or hard because he knew it that it's not the right time to be picky and that buying hard maple is much better than trying to make violins out of pine (and pine and beech is all you can find here).

Everything else is not used and thus - pretty scarce to find.

Yes, I am absolutely sure that the log has been air dried for 8 years.

It is marked on the log.

Maybe it would be a good idea to confirm the source of the information was reliable(might be worth double checking that moisture content to be sure). Anyway, you have a big chunk of wood there that needs to be sorted out and cut up so you can use it for something. Good luck with your it

Rich

[MiKro]

A better pic with endgrain and resawing to get past the stains might help?( maybe cut off 6 to 10 inches, the split ends, then reseal them) the off cuts may give us a better clue, looks somewhat like silver leaf maple but hard to tell from the pics. Does it have any bark at all to use a a reference as well? Just my guess and .02cents.

[DrummerDude]

OK, here goes the complicated and long but, hopefully, not so boring story of this log.

It was ordered, cut and dried for making violins out of it.

Then the violin maker guy who ordered it simply did not buy it and it was reserved for some big shot who intended to buy it and make flashy Maple furniture out of it. For use in his own office that is.

This did not work out too because my friend (the guy who got it for me) simply took it away before any furniture building projects got near it.

He is a close friend to the timber yard owner - he knows a lot of people, dealing with timber but still, he told me that it was pretty hard for him to actually find any maple.

The timber yard owner himself was pretty surprised to find this piece of maple among the other woods in the yard. It was marked and stamped as Rock Maple some 8 years ago when it was actually cut and put aside for drying.

By the way, the log did not cost me anything.

I did not pay for it.

Only paid about $15 for the courier service which is a pretty low price on its own, considering that the log weighs about 40 kilograms.

I should have videotaped the faces the courier guy was making while he was trying to understand why the f*ck anybody would order an ugly 40-kilo wood plank from 350 kiliometers away and pay for same day express door-to-door delivery.

Edited July 12, 2007 by DrummerDude

[DrummerDude]

By the way, I was reading orgmorg's thread HERE and I saw that he decided to cut up his Maple log and store it in many blanks.

I once again would like to ask if it would be better to do the same with mine?

[fryovanni]

I appreciate what you are saying about the difficulty in finding this wood where you live(I am not sure where that is?), but here where I live Maple is not hard to find at all(lumber, slabs or logs). So I see a lot of it and I may not be as distracted by the story behind the wood. Either way You have the wood(Maple, Ash or whatever it is). If it is fully dry, then there is no reason per-say to mill it to thinner stock. You need to figure out what you want it cut for. Look at the defects, and try to get the sizes you need out of it. If you don't know what to do with it, set it aside and wait till you do(it will probably keep some of the mystique you seem to get a kick out of). Maybe sticker it like orgmorg's and let it set for a few more years(a few more years of seasoning won't hurt a thing).

Out of curiosity, can wood be shipped to you from the US? If so you can buy Sugar Maple, Silver Maple, Red Maple, Bigleaf Maple or whatever you want(if it is unfigured wood, Maples are generally dirt cheap). That has already been purposely cut to avoid flaws(not in slab form). Slabs are good for building tables, but they are just generally wasteful or more risky for instrument wood(it requires a little experience and equipment to get good cuts out of them). I buy split bolts for soundboards because I want to control the quality of the cuts. I may buy figured Slab wood again to control the figure(but that is generally more wasteful, and expensive). I buy dimensional wood for most other uses, because I can inspect the wood, and get the most useful pieces I can(why pay for a live edge that you are going to cut off?). If you are logging that is different story. In your case you recieved a gift, and you are just trying to make the best use of it . If I were you I would avoid this type of cut in the future(at least for necks and body wood).

Peace,Rich

[Dan.]

when i first ooked into makeing guitars, i figured it best to get a used body and work my way up. then i saw peope se||ing uncut bodies, and i thought to myse|f, wow, thats dedication. and know i see some one going to the next |eve|, taking a big chunk of wood and working his way on down. the next step, i can ony imagine, is to buy and axe and start chopping down your own trees.

[DrummerDude]

when i first ooked into makeing guitars, i figured it best to get a used body and work my way up. then i saw peope se||ing uncut bodies, and i thought to myse|f, wow, thats dedication. and know i see some one going to the next |eve|, taking a big chunk of wood and working his way on down. the next step, i can ony imagine, is to buy and axe and start chopping down your own trees.

I have actually done that when I was 13.

And I did not even know anything about guitar building at that time.

I saw a Kramer guitar in a magazine and the specs read: "Neck - Maple"

So I opened a book on trees and found what Maple looked like.

Then I took an axe and a saw and went to the woods.

Found a huge Maple tree. Took me 5 hours to hack it down.

It fell down the slope and it was impossible to move it. it weighted like 5 tons, probably.

Then I called my father and he cut down an ash tree for me. The axe's handle was already broken but my old man cut it down by just holding the blade with his bare hands.

Precious memories...

I have had thoughts to go out there and find that maple tree that I cut down but it must be eaten by insects and totally rotten by now.

Edited July 12, 2007 by DrummerDude

[orgmorg]

By the way, I was reading orgmorg's thread HERE and I saw that he decided to cut up his Maple log and store it in many blanks.

I once again would like to ask if it would be better to do the same with mine?

Well, in my case, the log I had was a full round log, probably cut a day or two before I got it.

It needed to get sawn up as soon as possible, as does any log.

Yours was sawn and stacked 8 years ago, so you are way ahead of the game.

Fryovanni is absolutely right. Leave it alone until you have a real solid idea what you want out of it.

Then, and only then, cut the pieces you need out of it. Cut them a little oversize, as it will still be likely to bow a little, even if it is thoroughly dry. Then let it sit a few weeks more before you true it up.

Believe me, I have been through this, getting all amped up about a big chunk of wood, and tearing right into it, only to end up with a bunch of little pieces of wood that would no longer work for the intended project.

[DrummerDude]

Alright, thanks guys.

I have a clear idea what I will be needng the slab for.

After I finish my first build (which will be using a readily built bolt-on neck, tkaen from a BC Rich guitar), I will be heading for a neck-through guitar completely from scratch.

The first thing I will try to cut out of the slab would be a neck-through blank.

So, you say, I will just have to cut out what I need for the neck-through and leave the rest of the slab untouched until I need anything else?

Cool, this would save me trouble.

If it turns out that I don't have a suitable place to store this huge slab, I will just have to cut it up in smaller pieces anyway.

Hopefully this would never happen but if it does, I hope that it won't hurt the material that bad.

[orgmorg]

So, you say, I will just have to cut out what I need for the neck-through and leave the rest of the slab untouched until I need anything else?

Ya, that way you can cut around the defects and get the most out of it.

the next step, i can ony imagine, is to buy and axe and start chopping down your own trees.

Well, I much prefer my Stihl 046, but I do that every now and then. I try to stay out of that end of the business, though.

[Woodenspoke]

First off I will take any hardwood (poplar is an exception)I can from any neighbors tree that falls. It's really hard to cut first you take a chain saw and cut it. the rest its knowing what to do with it. With a chain saw you should expect larger board thickness or you will waste wood. If its a big tree call a local mill and have it cut for you.

Maple in the NE USA is cheap and plentiful. If it wasn't for guitar wood suppliers and manufacturers buying on mass some of the figured woods would be affordable. Honestly I can go down to my local hardwood dealer and buy instrument grade wood at half of what you can. why because they are just selling the wood by the SQ foot and not cut or made for instrument use which is the way it has always been. Do you think a cabinet maker would pay some of the catalogue prices you see for guitar wood, they would laugh at you and say a few nasties to boot. No not every piece is great but it is called looking through the pile for the best board. I can find a large piece of maple with enough figure to split into several tops and if 3/4 of the board is plan I still get a better deal than some of the pricing you see for figured lumber.

Makes me mad when people spend hundreds for wood because they are too lazy to find a local lumber source and do some board moving. It also reinforces the high prices you pay. Like swamp ash 5 years ago it was just ash now its more expensive than some nice figured woods. Its just ash, ok so its lighter in weight that doesn't justify the the price being astronomical. Its hype you are paying for on that one. Price hype dont have a fit if you use the wood I dint say it wasnt a good wood.

Sorry about the bitching but everyone get real, hardwood should be sold by the sq foot (cut acoustic wood is an exception sorry if I offended acoustic wood buyers). If you buy a pre cut electric body you are only paying someone else a lot of money to cut a piece of wood to size, Food for thought.

Ok now to mystery man who lives somewhere where the metric system is in use. Unknown piece of wood, unknown thickness. You asked for advice and showed pictures but who can help you when you dont want to talk about the board.

All I really want to say is I dont care how old it is, who it was for, how many knots are in it, what's the radius of the curve, or what wood it may really be. I am glad you only paid for shipping a bargin if I ever did see one. I want to point out several terms you should know about when working with wood, Flatsaw vs riff cut (or quartersawn) my reason to want to know the thickness of your flatsawn board. If you are not following my point here it is time to look on the web about wood movement and cutting wood and grain direction. A violin neck is much smaller than a guitar neck and if it was for this use he would be working from the edge of that board not the top cutting neck blanks, or sides or what ever the intended use was.

Is it me or is Rich (fryovanni) the only one who is getting the point here about this board or any board you use. Its wood and requires knowledge to make use of the material no matter what species it is. Knowing grain direction and its effects is knowledge.

End of bitch session and my last post on this topic before I explode.

Woodenspoke

Edited July 13, 2007 by Woodenspoke

[RGman]

The first thing I will try to cut out of the slab would be a neck-through blank.

I wouldn't make a neck blank out of your wood, maybe some bodies.

Your timber is not maple, but is Ash or Sen or similar, not neck woods..

[DrummerDude]

I am getting really confused.

One thing is for sure - ash or not, this wood will be used for guitar necks. I don't have any choices left to be picky.

I've heard that bass makers like ash as a neck material, Neal Moser even likes oak, so the heck with this - I will build a neck out of this log anyway.

By the way, some hours ago I spoke in ICQ with the guy who gave me the log and he swears that it is Maple.

Anyway, it's not important anymore.

I think I know how to judge the grain and how to get "quartersawn" pieces out of flatsawn timber. Well, never done that but I have read how it is supposed to be done, so I'm OK with this for now.

Hopefully, I will be able to cut the wood the way I want to using my circular saw.

Or is a bandsaw an absolute must for this kind of job?

[fryovanni]

I am getting really confused.

One thing is for sure - ash or not, this wood will be used for guitar necks. I don't have any choices left to be picky.

I've heard that bass makers like ash as a neck material, Neal Moser even likes oak, so the heck with this - I will build a neck out of this log anyway.

By the way, some hours ago I spoke in ICQ with the guy who gave me the log and he swears that it is Maple.

Anyway, it's not important anymore.

I think I know how to judge the grain and how to get "quartersawn" pieces out of flatsawn timber. Well, never done that but I have read how it is supposed to be done, so I'm OK with this for now.

Hopefully, I will be able to cut the wood the way I want to using my circular saw.

Or is a bandsaw an absolute must for this kind of job?

We don't have a clue as to what you are going to do with the wood(in terms of cut dimensions). Nor have we seen what flaws you have to work around.

I use a bandsaw to cut slabs, logs(small), bolts. However I have made slide tables and jigs to get square cuts(well that and my bandsaw is dialed and capable). I have some familiarity with reading wood and how to get yeilds(this is something that takes experience-you can't read and expect to be able to do this well). A person with milling experience has way more experience than me(and I look to them for a lot of good advise). If you want to fall a tree talk to an experienced logger. If you have a buddy that mills, but does not know what is needed for intrument wood. Tell him what you need in the wood and he can get the wood to dimension lumber that you can use. Most people don't have the tools to mill, or even process large raw stock. If you want or need to play with smallish large stock(like me) then, be prepaired to pay for tools and pay your dues(with lessons from the school of hard knocks, and wasted wood).

Peace,Rich