Flat Sawn Walnut Neck.

[MP63]

Does anyone foresee any problems if I laminate three pieces of wanut to make a tenon neck?

The center piece is close to quarter, but the two outside pieces are flat grained.

If viewing from the neck end with the fingerboard up, the center piece will have up and down grain (good for strength)

while the end pieces will have side-to-side grain.

The pieces are too thin to make a one-piece Fender type neck, so I am gluing them together.

Mike

[killemall8]

Does anyone foresee any problems if I laminate three pieces of wanut to make a tenon neck?

The center piece is close to quarter, but the two outside pieces are flat grained.

If viewing from the neck end with the fingerboard up, the center piece will have up and down grain (good for strength)

while the end pieces will have side-to-side grain.

The pieces are too thin to make a one-piece Fender type neck, so I am gluing them together.

Mike

i think you will be fine. what kind of walnut are you using? i am positve it will be strong enough. i dont think you will have any problems.

[MP63]

what kind of walnut are you using?

It was given to me by a friend and he said it was black walnut.

They were originally going to be used for cabinet making, so they aren't that thick.

Not sure what variety of walnut they are, but it is walnut.

Thanks.

[fryovanni]

As far as strength, I have still never seen any documentation that there is a notable difference in strength in quartersawn vs flatsawn(FWIW). As far as using quartersawn in the center lam and then flatsawn for the side lams. That sets up the worst possible combination of shrinkage rates(radial to tangential). You would do better to align then all in a similar orientation(if that is all flat due to thickness). Certainly my first and for most concern would be ensuring the wood is very well dried and stable. Black Walnut is very acceptable for neck wood in terms of strength(of course you should always evaluate on a piece to piece basis, because wood even from the same tree varies in terms of properties.).

Peace,Rich

[MP63]

Thanks for the heads-up Rich.

That wood has been sitting in his garage for years.

At least 8 years.

It is very dry and light.

I thought about the orientation of the grain too.

My Rickenbacker is maple and walnut combinations on the neck and it is doing well so far.

Do you think I should use all flat cut then?

I have about six neck pieces.

[fryovanni]

Thanks for the heads-up Rich.

That wood has been sitting in his garage for years.

At least 8 years.

It is very dry and light.

I thought about the orientation of the grain too.

My Rickenbacker is maple and walnut combinations on the neck and it is doing well so far.

Do you think I should use all flat cut then?

I have about six neck pieces.

It would probably help more if I give you this link so that you can understand shrinkage ratios better.-link

Now the percentages that you will see on that page are refering to percentages from "green" to fairly dry something in the 12% range. Keep this in mind, because dry wood will not shrink a full say 5% in one orientation from 12% to say 8% in the perpendicular orientation(these are green to dry percentages). This means you will not see as much shrinkage in fairly dry wood, but you will see shrinkage and expansion with seasonal changes in humidity(on a smaller scale). The reason that it is still important to think about the changes(even though they will be much smaller) is that the rates are not equal(actually maple, Walnut are closer to 2-1, some woods like Mahogany are actually extreamly close*something like 3% and 3.5% no where near a 2-1 ratio). If you glue the wood together you may not have a lot of movement, but glue joints don't like to move(or at least we don't like them to move), so you will wind up developing tension that will be abnormally high. It is hard to say if that will lead to twisting, warping or joint issues, but why build it into a neck when you don't have to. Some people believe it is better to laminate wood to "counter" each other if the wood trys to warp. I see that logic, but don't know if it is a really good idea if you want to have a stress free neck(you are setting up or building in intensional stress effectively). I would say though that if the difference in orientation is not too extream then the stress from shrinkage and expansion would be much less severe. I am going to say that this is MY OPINION, and I would point out in fairness that there are a lot of people who would not agree with me(and you should seek out those opinions, and evaluate based on what you believe with all the information at your disposal).

Good luck with your neck,

Rich

Edited August 30, 2007 by fryovanni

[SwedishLuthier]

As far as strength, I have still never seen any documentation that there is a notable difference in strength in quartersawn vs flatsawn(FWIW).

Frank Ford made a test that proved that a flat sawn piece of wood (all other parameters equal) is actually stronger than a quarter sawn. It is somewere on frets.com but I cant find it right now

[MP63]

So, I shouldn't foresee a big problem with the three pieces being flat sawn?

There are many guitar necks that are one-piece and flat sawn.

Three pieces laminated together to make one flat sawn piece should do me good then.

They are perectly flat sawn pieces. 90 degree.

Thanks for the help.

[Jon]

I use perfectly flatsawn laminates for necks, so when I glue them up they're perfectly vertical (quartersawn). Is this how you plan on going about making the neck?

[MP63]

I use perfectly flatsawn laminates for necks, so when I glue them up they're perfectly vertical (quartersawn). Is this how you plan on going about making the neck?

No.

Actually, mine is the opposite of what you do.

I normally do your technique also, but the wood selection limited me.

It was free, so I'll make the best of it.

The pieces I have are too thin for a one-piece, quarter-sawn neck.

So, I glued up the pieces to make one big flat-sawn neck (all three glued together).

It's a shame that they weren't thick enough for a one-piece.

They had a slight bow to them, so to get them straight enough, would mean having just only 1/2" thick pieces.

I used two bowed pieces to glue together against themselves.

Mind you, they were only slightly bowed.

The are beautufil pieces and will still make a nice neck.

I was trying to salvage as much as I could.

They were originally going to be used for cabinetry.

Edited August 31, 2007 by MP63