Nolita Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 (edited) Hi, Well, so far I only have experience with electric guitars. I haven't built one from scratch, but did familiarize myself with the parts in order to adjust a poorly set up Fender Strat. Difficulty level - 0, tedium level - 8. So I'm at the very least patient. I have some soldering experience and a bit of woodworking experience as well. I'll need very little of the soldering experience to install a piezo pickup so on to the big question. What do you all think of green wood end sealer swabbed onto the inside of the guitar before assembling the parts? After reading that a regular household curling iron reaches the same temperature required to bend wood I gave bending a try using just that, a regular old curling iron. I doubt it's sturdy/solid enough for use in a shop, but for an occasional build, why not? Anyway, I was successful, and am now hopeful. Since you can't be too sure about how well wood purchased from anyone but a seller who specializes in wood for building instruments has dried, I was thinking that green wood end sealer might be the answer. The last thing I want to do is splurge on high quality bookmatched top and back + sides, just to have the darned thing fall apart on me due to a lack of experience. I feel it would be less heartbreaking with less expensive wood. I know that wood turners will turn a green wood bowl until the rough shape is in and the bowl is a certain thickness then apply the sealer and allow the bowl to cure for a length of time before completing the project. So I was thinking that because the green wood sealer breathes, it would allow bending stock to age and cure nicely and so my guitar would be less likely to fall to bits. Bending stock's 1/8 inch thick so it should be perfect for a first guitar. Anyway, thoughts on green wood sealer? Has anyone here tried it? Would it interfere with the binding process? I just need to know before I get to ordering under a possibly delusional belief that it's the best thing since sliced bread. Thanks for your thoughts. Sorry, I forgot to mention that the sealer prevents cracking. I'm guessing it would help to prevent warping as well, but that's only a guess. Edited February 19, 2009 by Nolita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 Some ideas we dream up are meant to nest and take root and grow (the good ones), and other ideas are meant to lazily drift into consciousness, be enjoyed and tossed about for awhile, and just as lazily drift right back out again, 'neer to be heard from evermore. My take on your idea would be Door #2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I don't know where to start or what to say... Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I don't know where to start or what to say... Chris +1 I think the part about sealer breathing LOST me? MK Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foil1more Posted February 19, 2009 Report Share Posted February 19, 2009 I'm pretty sure the sealer prevents cracks by SEALING the ends of the wood so that it dries slowly. If the end is left unsealed, the end will dry up quickly and shrink. Sealer is not supposed to breath. A seasoned piece of wood will not need that. And I would say never build a guitar out of green wood unless you want to be setting it up and fixing cracks for years. And I've never seen an acoustic guitar or other acoustic instrument with any kind of finish on the inside. If you're building an acoustic, you want as little finish as possible so the wood can resonate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nolita Posted February 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 "Breathes" seemed to be an appropriate term since a customer said that it didn't seem to repel rainwater. So to her naked eye, water wasn't just beading up and dripping off like it would with other products. Mind you I think she must surely have purchased the wrong product as I don't see how you could very well season wood outdoors during the rainy season. It's obvious I'm not an expert, but the rain seems like it would at least invite warping of even seasoned wood. The product does say it's to prevent rapid moisture loss during seasoning. But that's not what makes me an absolute fool. What makes me a fool is that I jumped the gun based on one customer's review of Spanish Cedar(which I'm not even considering, d'oh). They complained that it was a bit sappy on arrival and needed to dry out more. Only Spanish Cedar's meant to retain moisture so, I'm even more confused by the review now. So I got all carried away based on one person's complaint about sappy wood. When all these other people wrote glowing reviews, and for projects where green wood just wouldn't work. Yep I'm a moron. For crying out loud the stuff's machined to 1/8" thick. I'm not even sure you could get quality control for that without the wood being properly dried first. And if I'm not mistaken no wood's supposed to get bone dry. Not even for furniture. Wouldn't it just go all fragile and break? Heck, what would be the point of conditioner if the stuff's supposed to dry out completely? I'm sorry for letting my imagination get the better of me. I own my ignorance. But then what's the point in asking a question you already know the answer to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted February 20, 2009 Report Share Posted February 20, 2009 No such thing as a bad question. And about Spanish Cedar, just because it's producing sap spots on the surface doesn't mean it's not properly dry. It's just an intrinsic part of that kind of wood. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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