Squaring Wood Blanks

[DrummerDude]

I just got this beech blank that I will be using for the body of my project guitar (see pictures below). It is Precious to me.

The blank will be cut up in three even pieces and the pieces joined together via gluing.

Is there a way to square the narrow sides of this blank for gluing?

I mean, at the home shop.

With "standard" power tools.

I have no huge stationary planers, no table saws, no circular saws.

Tools available: plunge routers, jigsaws, drills, angle grinders, a hand-held power planer, a Dremel, a stationary belt grinder, a bench grinder and other pretty ordinary and common power and hand tools.

[brutas]

I have seen people clamp a straight edge to the board to act as a guide for a router. The then trim up the end with the router. The end result turned out very nice. Hope that helps. Good luck.

[brewu22]

I have seen people clamp a straight edge to the board to act as a guide for a router. The then trim up the end with the router. The end result turned out very nice. Hope that helps. Good luck.

+1 to this, worked really well for me. use a new piece of mdf for the edge.

[DrummerDude]

Thanks, guys.

I have thought of doing this and I have done it on small blanks, but I was afraid that my router will burst if I try to square this huge blank.

It is 5 centimeters thick and 180 centimeters (1,8 meters) long.

And beech is such a PITA to route. It's damn hard.

[Setch]

I'm not sure you're on the right track using beech for a body - it's very heavy, and not particularly pretty. It may sound fine, but it'll be a very heavy instrument. I'd advise going for a more tried and tested timber, which can probably be found for a similar price, and in a chunk which will require less preparation.

However, if you want to go ahead with the beech, the best tool to use for jointing it is a handplane. A jack plane is plenty big enough to joint guitar bodies, and it's pretty easy once you get the technique down. There is a bit of a learning curve though.

[DrummerDude]

I know that beech is not the best choice.

Where I got this blank from, there were HUGE cherry blanks, some of them wide enough to accommodate 3 Stratocaster bodies next to each other. They were just monstrously huge, probably from 50,000,000 years old cherry trees.

I thought of buying a smaller cherry blank for a second but then I remembered those mambo-jambo stories about how beech is supposed to deliver a sound close to maple and decided to go for beech.

And the funny part is that I don't even believe in wood being that important for the sound of a guitar.

But somehow the mambo-jambo theory prevailed and i bought the beech blank.

Anyway, I took the blank for squaring to a carpenter and I hope that the guy will not screw it up. I guess all he has to do is put the blank in one of the many bigass machines he has in his shop.

We had a small conversation on woodworking and guitars ant it was really hard for me to explain this guy (who has at least 20 years of woodworking experience) that it is not OK to use a gummy, elastic glue on a guitar body blank.

I guess I left him wondering "Why the heck not?"...

So, I am at the mercy of this carpenter.

Hope that he squares the blank alright. This is all that is required from him.

[zyonsdream]

I used beech a while back and sandwiched it in-between a piece of spalted maple and Wenge. I could feel the weight difference but it wasn’t too bad. The guitar was a Tele and had a beech neck..

Ugh, I hate how beech likes to tear out! It wasn’t fun to work with at all.

[DrummerDude]

I used beech a while back and sandwiched it in-between a piece of spalted maple and Wenge. I could feel the weight difference but it wasn’t too bad. The guitar was a Tele and had a beech neck..

Ugh, I hate how beech likes to tear out! It wasn’t fun to work with at all.

This is cool.

I hear that beech is not good for necks, though. it warps too much, even when it is steam dried and even without any pressure applied to it.

How does your Tele's beech neck behave. Does it tend to warp?

Also, do you notice any difference in the sound as compared to a regular Telecaster that has its body made out of alder or ash?

[fryovanni]

Beech is a very strong and heavy wood. It is not easy to dry because it shrinks quite a lot, and not very evenly. It also has a large volumetric change between 6%-14%, with the Tangial change being twice the Radial change in volume(That would be really less desirable for a neck). Its stiffness is similar to Black Walnut, but much heavier. It is about the same weight as Sugar Maple, but not as stiff. So your getting a lower stiffness to weight ratio with Beech, and generally you look for the best ratios you can. I doubt strength will be an issue at all, seasonal changes in humidity will move the neck around much more than other more commonly used neck woods.

For a body, Stiffness is not really an issue. Weight will be about 15-20% higher than Hard(Sugar) Maple. The high degree of volumetic change with seasonal moisture is not good, but is probably less notable in a body.

I thought of buying a smaller cherry blank for a second but then I remembered those mambo-jambo stories about how beech is supposed to deliver a sound close to maple and decided to go for beech.

And the funny part is that I don't even believe in wood being that important for the sound of a guitar.

But somehow the mambo-jambo theory prevailed and i bought the beech blank.

All the data on wood that is out there will give you some idea as to general properties for a species. Every piece can be a little different. There are good reasons why some woods are commonly used over others. On occasion a wood may not be commonly used because of limited availability (on a factory level), and these woods can actually be really great instrument woods. Beech is available, but just has some charictoristics that make it less of a good bet (again "in general", the bit you have may be abnormally light and still have good stiffness).

Peace,Rich

[DrummerDude]

he bit you have may be abnormally light and still have good stiffness

I am afraid that my piece is not one of those light beech blanks.

It weighs a bloody ton. Can't tell about stiffness yet but it looks damn rigid and rock hard.

I got it from a company that sells kiln and stream dried wood so I keep my fingers crossed that it is dry enough and survives without any warping.

It is going to be a V-shaped guitar, so I hope the horns don't go corkscrew.

[SwedishLuthier]

I made this:

http://peternaglitschluthier.com/H_custom_bas/custom_bas.htm

body out of beech. The customer whanted a "native wood only" instrument but had to back down on the fret board...

That bass is heavy! And I did hollow out large portions of the body! The sound is OK. Not really similar to maple. Much less of that "twang" you would expect from maple. I would describe it as a solid "in the middle" sound, meaning not very accented highs or lows. I would say that is is similar to oak, both in weight, tone and workability. Having said that the bass turned out.

Oh, by the way. Burns used beech for their necks in the 60s.

[DrummerDude]

^ We have a guitar company here that used to make the necks on their guitars almost exclusively out of beech.

Actually, I am not sure if they ever made any maple necks.

I have one of those guitars and the neck warped on the back side. It is more correct to say that it kind of bulged.

If beech produces a sound that is more on the "neutral" side and in the middle between bright and warm, then it must be close in sound to alder?

Do you think that it is a good idea to hollow out the body of my future beech guitar? It's for a Randy Rhoads copy. Pretty long body overall (but kinda sleek and narrow) and it's going to have only a bridge pickup and no electronics, so this would make it even heavier than a standard RR.

By the way your beech bass looks killer.

[Setch]

For the record, you could do far worse than use cherry. It's great for necks and modies, and has properties half way between maple and magohany. It's also really nice to work with.

[jaycee]

Is there a way to square the narrow sides of this blank for gluing?

I mean, at the home shop.

With "standard" power tools.

I have no huge stationary planers, no table saws, no circular saws.

I was in a simillar situation with some timber, so I took it to a local joiners shop ( which I searched for in the phone book) he squared and put it through his thicknesser for a couple of beers. Well worth a try

[Rick500]

Good idea.

Send it to me along with some beer and I'll square it up for you myself.

[Metallion]

I made this:

http://peternaglitschluthier.com/H_custom_bas/custom_bas.htm

body out of beech. The customer whanted a "native wood only" instrument but had to back down on the fret board...

You know of any Stockholm Woodsellers who can sell Rosewood planks (~50x125mm) as short as 1 metre and for a decent price?

Looking for a dark wood suitable for a fretless bass fingerboard, Indian Rosewood, Venge or something.

Holm sells only whole 3m planks and their wenge is Ridiculously expensive.

Can get some Walnut for a good price, but it seems too soft for a fretless.

Heard that http://www.hulten.nu/ sells some Rosewood, but only in Bulk.

[DrummerDude]

Send it to me along with some beer and I'll square it up for you myself.

I already took it to that carpenter, but I guess it is OK to send you just the beer?

@Setch you say that I should have picked up a cherry blank. Did I get it right?

I have worked with cherry and it was almost as soft as basswood. I didn't know that people were making necks out of it. :D

[Rick500]

I already took it to that carpenter, but I guess it is OK to send you just the beer?

That'd be acceptable. Bell's Expedition Stout would do nicely.

[mattharris75]

I already took it to that carpenter, but I guess it is OK to send you just the beer?

That'd be acceptable. Bell's Expedition Stout would do nicely.

Ahh, we have another beer advocate. Good choice, good choice. Although my preferred method of payment would be Terrapin Big Hoppy Monster.

[fryovanni]

Send it to me along with some beer and I'll square it up for you myself.

I already took it to that carpenter, but I guess it is OK to send you just the beer?

@Setch you say that I should have picked up a cherry blank. Did I get it right?

I have worked with cherry and it was almost as soft as basswood. I didn't know that people were making necks out of it. :D

You probably have purchased and used a different species of Cherry(possibly "wild Cherry" which tends to be softer). Black Cherry is EXACTLY as Setch describes it, and is an outstanding instrument wood. It is an exellent neck wood, as well as body wood.

Peace,Rich

[DrummerDude]

I have used "domestic cherry" or whatever it is called.

It's was kinda cool looking but was very soft and was easy on the tools.

[isaac]

I have used "domestic cherry" or whatever it is called.

It's was kinda cool looking but was very soft and was easy on the tools.

I have some cherry that Im using for a neck laminate. The rest of the neck is made of maple. Both wood seem to be similar weights and stiffness. I think the cherry is black cherry, but Im not certain.

[Mattia]

Cherry's very easy on tools, pleasant to work with, moreso than maple, but it's a far stiffer, harder wood than any poplar I've got. Workability is an entirely different property than hardness or stiffness. Not sure how you'd test 'softness' based on working the stuff with tools, but none of the cherry I have (some european, some regular american cherry, I suspect Black) is what I'd call soft based on a fingernail dent test. Less so than limba or cedrella, both of which are fine/great for bodies and necks.