bob7 Posted June 3, 2004 Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 I have a piece of 1" thick wlanut, which i would like to cut into two ~.5" pieces for a nice les paul top. What would I need to make this kind of precise cut? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truerussian558 Posted June 3, 2004 Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 what your asking for is bookmaching, and i dont know exactly what you use.,but more then likely it wood prove to be expensive to buy the saw. I would call around cabinet shops and wood suppliers around your area and ask if they can book match a 1" thick slab of walnut and ask how much it costs. Btw book matching (in case you didnt know) is when the saw the wood along the side and open it up like a book, and the grain turns out to be mirrored which looks particularly nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted June 3, 2004 Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 It would take a band-saw to cut it in half, but then the cut would still be rough enough, that the pieces would have to be planed, so I doubt you can get two 1/2" pieces. You'd probably lose an extra 1/16" (maybe 1/8") to get them nice and flat, but it could still work for a top, although maybe not for as much as an arch in the top as you might want. I guess a lazer could do it perfectly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guitarfrenzy Posted June 3, 2004 Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 Just like Soap said, your gonna have to resaw it on a bandsaw (wider blade) and rip fence to keep it straight. I would then personally have someone run it under a planer to get it all leveled correctly before gluing the tops on. Planers are very handy.. someone please buy me one.. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted June 3, 2004 Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 The router-planer mentioned in a recent other thread would do fine for planing it smooth. It's cutting in half with minimal material loss that kind of makes it impossible to think of anything else other than a band-saw. But I've ripped boards in half with a handsaw , then router-planed them and they turned out great. At least 3/16" material had to be lost to get to that (probably up to 5/16" loss), and I never hand sawed a piece half the size of a guitar body. I could see doing it that way on bigger pieces with the help of a table saw, but again, a lot of material loss. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob7 Posted June 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2004 I dont plan on having a drastic arch in the walnut itself. Its going on a piece of ~2inch thick limba, and i plan to have the arch extend into the limba, for a drastic color change type of look. I dont need it to be exactly .5".....I wouldn't mind working with as little as a 1/4 inch thick top much either. The way it is now, 1" is too big for a top, I thick it will overpower the limba, and maybe a 3" thick guitar is a bit much. I guess I could always plane 2 pieces of the 1" and get an unbookmatched .5" top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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