Mr. Preston Swift Posted April 15, 2008 Report Share Posted April 15, 2008 I know it's been done before but for those of you who have used it, with a neck, where does it rank with stiffness according to maple and mahogany. How does it shape and finish? (i know it's oily). Would it be good for a neck thru electric guitar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 15, 2008 Report Share Posted April 15, 2008 Padauk shines up a treat. I can't see why it wouldn't make a fine neck-through. It seems to be in between the two in terms of stiffness, if you are thinking of rock maple as your reference point. It shapes nicely, and isn't as coarse as the monster pores suggest. I would bear in mind that padauk dust contaminates lighter woods very easily. I love the stuff, however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Yep, it should fall somewhere between Sugar Maple and Genuine Mahogany. With its oil content, weight, stiffness and texture. It seems to compair more favorably with a rosewood than Maple or Mahogany (just my opinion though FWIW). Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Same bending stiffness as rock maple, oily (the dust sticks to everything), about 20% heavier than rock maple and not quite as hard. Big pores, be ready for grain filling. I'd have no reservations at all using it for a neck-thru. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Same bending stiffness as rock maple, oily (the dust sticks to everything), about 20% heavier than rock maple and not quite as hard. Big pores, be ready for grain filling. I'd have no reservations at all using it for a neck-thru. I know we are just speaking of general properties(so these are not set in stone). African Paduak averages 45 lbs per. cu ft. vs sugar maple averaging 44 lbs per. cu. ft. I know that is a general property, but I think they are pretty similar. Andaman Paduak and Burma Paduak weigh in a bit higher on average. The bending strength of the Sugar maple and African Paduak are pretty close, but the stiffness of African Padauk is lower than Sugar Maple. Bending strength is a good thing to look at, but modulus of elasticity(stiffness) seems more useful as you are not going to push a neck beyond a recoverable point. African Padauk has a lower modulus of elasticity than Sugar Maple(again all general properties, but I find African Paduak does seem a little less stiff than Sugar Maple *at least in the bits I have run across). It is a messy wood. Man you are forever cleaning that dust, it seems to sneek into every nook and crevis in the shop and likes to stay put. It plays havoc on my sand paper on my drum sander(as bad as Cocobolo). All said and done though, it does have a lot of the charictor I find in rosewoods, and it is very resonant. Nifty wood for sure. I think I have heard it is used with good results for Marimbas also. Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Worked great for the last two set necks I did (bass and guitar), a joy to work with, but like Rich said, the dust is a mess, and mucks up your sandpaper. Basically, a +1 on what everyone else said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Ergh...I forgot about how it loads paper...plus I had to use a stiff brush to clean the nooks and crannies in the bandsaw despite the extractor... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Preston Swift Posted April 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 thanks guys, just looking at the huge piece downstairs i could tell it was going to be a real mess. Because it's so oily do you think it might be a little trouble to glue? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 OK, my data was for Andaman Padauk (not African) and Sugar Maple....14 GPa MoE for both, ~15,000 psi bending strength for both. Specific gravity 0.72 for padauk, 0.68 for rock maple. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inisheer Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 It is a messy wood. Man you are forever cleaning that dust, it seems to sneek into every nook and crevis in the shop and likes to stay put. It plays havoc on my sand paper on my drum sander(as bad as Cocobolo). I have used padauk and the dust does manage to get everywhere like Rich said. Makes me wish I had a nice dust collection system since I had to spend lots of time cleaning when I was done working with that wood. It does polish up and look nice though. Good luck! On a side note....I am interested in pronunciations, so how does everyone say the word "padauk?" I'm not sure how to say it correctly, so I purposely say it wrong--"paddy whack." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 puh-duke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Spoken like John Wayne? ;-D Never had problems glueing it up, apart from the pores robbing me of glue a little beading through the pores when clamping up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick500 Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 There's another thread somewhere about pronunciation. I always say "pa-dawk" but according to dictionary.com it's correct either that way or as "pa-dowk." But, personally, I'd just say it however it sounds best to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmrentis Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 On a side note....I am interested in pronunciations, so how does everyone say the word "padauk?" I'm not sure how to say it correctly, so I purposely say it wrong--"paddy whack." I always say Pad-uck. Its strange because I learn so much on the computer and if I don't quite know how to say something I just make up something to call it when reading. Thats all fine and gravy until I head out to the lumber shop and begin to ask about a wood and all of a sudden realize that I don't know how to pronounce it, then I fumble like an idiot for a while and end up spelling it for them, lol. Some of those exotics have crazy spellings and pronunciations, I generally just search the stores for those instead of asking, quicker that way I think, lol. Another problem is often the names are spelt differently by different places, countries, stores, etc. One wood I've seen 4 or 5 spellings for is ziricote, don't know why, but I've seen it spelt so many different ways, thats another wood I don't really know how to say. I guess I say it like "zeer-e-coat-te"?? or something like that, which I'm sure is way off. I guess I'm one of those guys that won't stop and ask for directions or pronunciations! J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 The oil content really isn't noticable overall, at least not to me. However, when you start fine sanding that stuff will stick to everything and stain your clothes / hands in the process. African Padauk is an incredibly resonant wood and is my favorite to work with, the color and grain variation are quite beautiful. I have seen some one piece necks made from African Padauk on 7 and 8 string basses, so it's definitely strong enough for an acoustic neck! http://owo10.free.fr/plume7C(8).jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 The information on African Paduak seems varied acording to the dept. of Agriculture. They provide two values for a range of 1560-1790(1000 PSI), with Sugar Maple coming in at 1828 (1000PSI). Weight on the African Paduak varied with the stiffness between 42-51lbs/cubic ft. with Sugar Maple coming in at 44lbs/cubic ft. These bits of info are nifty, but other variables of course application make such a difference in what you should take from them. Sugar Maple and Brazillian Rosewood are extreamly close in these two catagories (BRW/S. Maple, 1859/1828(1000PSI), 43/44(lbs. cu. ft)). Of course we have experienced how different these woods actually are depending on the application. Then again looking at woods like Khaya and Genuine Mahogany you can see how the charictoristics are very similar, and that translates pretty close to what we experience. I think it is handy that we have the information redily available, even if it is very generic. This is a great little database with handy info and a nice searchable database- link Peace,Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. pierce Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 One thing I've noticed about Paduak is that it's color can very greatly with finish - some natural finishes, which only slightly darken most of the woods I work with, (about as much as wetting the wood) changed Paduak from almost bright-orange to something akin to a Gibson heritage cherry finish colour. So test your finish of choice on scrap. I got bit by this once - it ended up being a cool look in the end, but not what I was planning at all. And this is all before you figure how the wood reacts to UV light over time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Puh-duke duke duke, puh-duke of oil oil oil... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anderekel Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 Puh-duke duke duke, puh-duke of oil oil oil... oh man, that's just bad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erikbojerik Posted April 17, 2008 Report Share Posted April 17, 2008 It's not just the finish JP...freshly sanded, padauk looks bright orange but then it gradually darkens with exposure to UV. I've got a padauk-ebony 5-piece laminated neck blank I made a couple of years ago waiting patiently for me to start on it, and it has developed this dark burgundy (but still red) color to it that is very cool....like the back of a Les Paul, but darker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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