Wood Measurements

[MrValentine]

Any ideas on how to get a piece of mahogany with the measurements of 2.5" thick, 22" long and 11" wide to 1.5" thick, 20" long and 12" wide? I asked my dad and grandfather (both know a fair bit about woodworking) and they said saw it down and piece together...would this work?

[killemall8]

Um... Yes... That is how 90% of guitar body blanks are made...

[MrValentine]

thanks...thats what i told them but they said it might be weak...

[mattharris75]

If the joinery is good, the glue joints will not be any weaker than the rest of the wood. Make sure to use Titebond 1, or other similar alphatic resin glue.

[Woodenspoke]

Its nice to know that they are giving you expert advice. LOL

Most guitars are around 13 " so taking into account the kerf and a cutoff that is 7/8" thick on a good day you will need to glue on several pieces. You would be better off taking a body pattern and see where you would need the wood added rather than do what you are describing.

[MrValentine]

okay...so your saying to only add wood where its needed? the guitar im building is an SG replica and they always seemed somewhat smaller to me..

[Moth]

laminates are added to necks for stability, as well as asthetic design. Some people say that the strongest part of the guitar is the glue joint. Others will tell you that the glue joint will ruin the sound of the guitar.

I say if you make your joint properly, and choose your wood wisely, you'll be able to:

match your grain so it looks good

make your joint line invisible

not lose any resonance due to gaps in the joint

and most importantly, your guitar will be solid.

You'll also notice that people will add "ears" of wood to the headstock in order to make it wider to accomodate a shape. Somewhere on the forum in the "in progress" section, someone made an SG out of random scraps of wood they had lying around. I think it was called "The Ugly Guitar" or "Ugly SG" or something like that. It looks like a Picasso, but its a successful guitar, and I'm sure it plays!

[RDub]

I'll add to watch the way you glue up the pieces. If you take the bottom 2" of then turn it 90 degrees and glue it to the sides, you'll end up with the end grain being the glue joint, and that's a weak way to do it. End grain will soak up alot of the glue and you could end up with a poor joint.

Kinda seems to me you're a little short on Material with that board. If you have a way to resaw the wood, and can take the thickness down to 1.5" and end up with a piece @1" thick, you could cut that to strips1"x1.5" and add that to the sides to get your width so you don't use endgrain.

Hope that makes some sense to you

[MrValentine]

I'll add to watch the way you glue up the pieces. If you take the bottom 2" of then turn it 90 degrees and glue it to the sides, you'll end up with the end grain being the glue joint, and that's a weak way to do it. End grain will soak up alot of the glue and you could end up with a poor joint.

Kinda seems to me you're a little short on Material with that board. If you have a way to resaw the wood, and can take the thickness down to 1.5" and end up with a piece @1" thick, you could cut that to strips1"x1.5" and add that to the sides to get your width so you don't use endgrain.

Hope that makes some sense to you

yep that makes sense and ill think that will be the method i try.

[brian d]

Or rip the 11" into 5 pieces at 1.5" wide and turn all of them 90 degrees (giving you 5 quartersawn pieces 2.5" wide and 1.5" thick). You can then glue up a 5 piece quartersawn blank - not ideal but may be better than having pieces at different orientations.

Brian

[MrValentine]

Or rip the 11" into 5 pieces at 1.5" wide and turn all of them 90 degrees (giving you 5 quartersawn pieces 2.5" wide and 1.5" thick). You can then glue up a 5 piece quartersawn blank - not ideal but may be better than having pieces at different orientations.

Brian

Would this sound okay? or will it make a difference at all?

Edited March 31, 2010 by MrValentine