bob123 Posted March 14, 2012 Report Share Posted March 14, 2012 Found some awesome woods... but they have splits in them. Would it be viable to finish the split, glue, and go from there? And what would be the best way to "finish" the split all the way through the wood? (pending this is indeed a workable solution). Half my mind says put it in a vice and pull Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juntunen Guitars Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 What are you using the wood for? If it's for anything on an acoustic don't bother. Electrics would possibly work depending on where and how bad the splits are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 It is best to cut the splits out if possible.Every time I buy a board I look at the dimensions and I check them against the types of guitars i want to build to see what I can do with it.If I see a 30" by 16" board with not much grain runout and what looks to be a 3" split,I will buy it and as soon as I get it I will cut that 3" off to the split on the side closest to the split,then take 3" off the side,because 3" by 30" is enough for a set neck with a 3 by 3 headstock (using wings on the headstock from other drops)and the remaining 13" by 26"-27" is enough for my single cut design.If it is 1" thick I will assume after stabilizing and planing that it may go down to 3/4",so I will start looking for a top about 1/2" or thicker for a thin guitar,or of the wood I bought is top wood,I will look for a 1" or better piece for the back. The short answer is that there is no short answer...sometimes I buy boards just to make binding and fretboards(very rarely).I bought a piece of Gaboon ebony big enough for a neck and more a couple of years ago and I have only found a use for 3" of it so far(on the heel of my last V)..I could make fretboards,a neck,or several laminations,or some super awesome scarf jointed headstocks on a maple neck...I just don't know..or a crap-ton of fretboard binding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob123 Posted March 15, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 I should be more detailed in my questions haha. Thanks for the responses so far. Its a peice of quilted maple, and theres a split running straight up the middle. The top is split completely, but it doesnt go all the way through. It seems like it would be ok for a top for an electric, but i'm not sure if it would be prone to "re cracking"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
demonx Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 Unles you can cut around it and get the timber you need from the off cuts - I wouldn't touch timber that has checks in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiKro Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 Unles you can cut around it and get the timber you need from the off cuts - I wouldn't touch timber that has checks in it. +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WezV Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 yeah, if you do break the split completely in the hopes of glueing it back together you will almost always find it wont quite fit. once the split is done the tension is released and the wood will move as its been trying to all along - in different directions, hence the split Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattia Posted March 15, 2012 Report Share Posted March 15, 2012 What the others said. Billets for small stock such as fingerboards or purling, no problems. Just think of a piece with a split as being sized slightly smaller than the chunks after breaking it up. Or you need to be able to cut off the split section. I'll buy rosewoods or ebonies that are priced right and have checks or splits if I think I can get sound chunks out of them for binding, bridges, head plates and other decorative trim, but won't use them for large structural sections or the like. Small checks can sometimes be repaired and are almost unavoidable in some woods (such as Ziricote, and to a lesser degree macassar ebony), in which case I'll stabilize with superglue, suck it up and keep on moving. But that's certainly a minority position, and pricing has to reflect these kinds of flaws. Quilt maple should be easy enough to find in un-cracked pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lespaul123 Posted March 26, 2012 Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 If depends on the crack. If they can be closed easily they can repaired with CA or something like that. If they cannot be closed but are not a giant hole they can be filled with dyed epoxy or something like that and made to go away. A lot of it depends on the wood. Most dark stuff you can be sneaky with, but the lighter stuff is pretty tough to get away with it. I have seen some characters use the crack as an accent by filling with a different colored epoxy, which can look cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenspoke Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 A crack in a billet and a split in a thin board are two different entities. You will never get a billet crack back together again says Humpty Dumpty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prostheta Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 It is like approaching the Japanese government and telling them that wicking a little CA into the subducting continental plates will fix the problem of earthquakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Drinking a bit,are we? :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
verhoevenc Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 If you REALLY want to use it... and it goes STRAIGHT up the middle. Why not send it through a table-saw right along the split to cut it out. Joint it up real nice, and re-glue it. Split gone, and isnce your kerf was only a 1/16" if you use a diablo blade, the figure shouldn't have changed THAT much across the new joint. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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