Gnome Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 Can one take a trek into the woods and find nice woods? I have a rather large wooded reserve near my house, and perhaps there are some old Maple trees that have recently fallen, or have been hit by lightning, etc. I'm not against paying money to a local or online wood shop, but why not take advantage of local resources if I'm not destroying any trees? If a fallen tree is just going to sit there and rot, I might as well break out the chainsaw.Which leads me to the question: Are the nice flamed and quilted pieces that are seen online, generally from older growth trees, meaning, I guess, are these nice samples usually from trees that are gigantic in diameter? Also, I'm finding pretty nice flamed and quilted maple pieces online for reasonable prices. I will probably go with lesser grade flamed pieces for my first attempt at carving and shaping a top. Sorry for my ignorance, Im an absolute beginner and I'm trying to get educated on wood types and varieties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a bicycle made of anarchy Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 wood that you will use will have be dried, either with a kiln ($$) or with time (lots of it) i'm in the same boat as you, going to buy a lesser grade for my first attempt.. good luck! hehe, wish me the same Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted July 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 I havent been able to find a comprehensive page which has links to various wood distributors. Doe you know if one exists? good luck with your project. Im getting a list of needed tools together right now. Im going to start stocking up on wood soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a bicycle made of anarchy Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 where are you located? I'm in Ontario, and i've found a good walk-in distributor in Burlington (it is like Christmas in there!) and also there is www.forloversofwood.com I think that site has american prices too... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 If you find wood it needs to be cut and then dried for about a year or so... Wood needs to be around 5% humidity to be stable. I have started to look for trees that have been cut down in my area, but I would need a trailer. Most flammed woods come from older trees, that are dying. Also spalted woods come from sick trees that are infected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 I havent been able to find a comprehensive page which has links to various wood distributors. Doe you know if one exists? I don't know if you've already looked here on projectguitar (the main pages) or not but here's a link to the supply section: Supply I've mentioned this before to others - the only place I think you need to watch out for with figured wood is exoticwoods.com. They do have soe great stuff but I have had mixed luck when buying figured wood from them. Some of the pieces were marked 5A but I was unable to see any figure at all. It's a risk you take when you buy from a place that doesn't show pics of the wood. One place that does provide pics is gilmerwood.com. They have a high minimum order price though. GalleryHardwoods is my favorite when it comes to top quality instrument wood. There's also many companies/online stores on Ebay that sell good wood. Hope that helps, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gnome Posted July 22, 2004 Author Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 hey daveg, thanks for that link. thats one of the most comprehensive wood supply sites i've seen so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
truerussian558 Posted July 22, 2004 Report Share Posted July 22, 2004 . Also spalted woods come from sick trees that are infected. doesnt spalt mean that its half rotten, i though birds-eye was the infection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkey69962000 Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 dude you live in onterio i live in northridge. Dude awsome. Dave and Busters rock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 Can one take a trek into the woods and find nice woods? I have a rather large wooded reserve near my house, and perhaps there are some old Maple trees that have recently fallen, or have been hit by lightning, etc. It would be kind of crazy not to. Then if you take away the fallen trees, new tress can start growing in those spots sooner. Waiting one year for it to dry might seem long to some, but not me. It would take me a year to finalize my decision of what I wanted to build. You'd probably end up with extra wood, that you can sell. Use that money to buy hardware, pickups, etc (or at least help get some of the money to buy that stuff). Even if you would go ahead and buy online wood now, it would still be a good idea to keep an eye out for fallen trees to sell later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
a bicycle made of anarchy Posted July 23, 2004 Report Share Posted July 23, 2004 yeah i live near hamilton, but go to school in kingston Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southpa Posted July 30, 2004 Report Share Posted July 30, 2004 Its funny how useable guitar wood can turn up. If you keep your eyes peeled you can get it for free! I was doing some work on a friend's property and found an old mahogany headboard in his junkpile. He gave it to me. The wood is 13/16" so I can just squeeze out a couple guitar bodies when sandwiched together. He also has a huge maple log covered in burls. He promised it to one of the local native wood carvers. But since I'll be bucking up a bunch of logs for him this weekend he will let me have a sizeable chunk. Just can't wait to see whats inside! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddler68 Posted August 3, 2004 Report Share Posted August 3, 2004 Yeah, I am giving an old bed to Goodwill and checking to see if there's any good neck wood under the painted headboard posts! I find myself looking at dead trees along the highway on my way home from work. I am acutely aware of anyone cutting down trees in my neighborhood. My friend (also a guitar player) has a dead Maple tree in his yard which needs to come down soon before it lands on the house. He promised me some of the wood if I laminated a neck for him. Joy! I was in Pennsylvania when a tornado came through and I found myself wondering what was going to happen to all those snapped-off trees! It's a sickness I tell you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapbarstrat Posted August 3, 2004 Report Share Posted August 3, 2004 It's a sickness I tell you. Sickness, my foot. It's called treasure hunting. Not only can you find nice wood if you keep your eyes out, but it's also nice knowing you kept some pieces of it from becoming landfill along with bags of dirty diapers. Often you'll just find plywood and particle board, but then you got material for biulding jigs and whatever you're going to need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silvertonessuckbutigotone Posted January 6, 2005 Report Share Posted January 6, 2005 I've got a maple tree... dying... by my driveway, its the kind that puts out the little helicopter things, is this any good for neck work, I would dry it properly I jsut need to know if this is bad or good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SawDust_Junkie Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 (edited) Hey guys, I have thought about this myself (as I am afraid this site has exposed me to a lifelong addiction, so what is time to me ?). Haven't really found any suitable timber locally. I think most of the types of hardwoods used in guitar building are found in more northern climes. Although Ash would not be a stretch. Anyway, I found this site to help with identifying different tree species if anyone is interested: http://www.arborday.org/trees/treeid.cfm Check out the tree guide from the home page. Edited January 7, 2005 by Fender4me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Sorbera Posted January 7, 2005 Report Share Posted January 7, 2005 heres a good one that has good prices and wood that is FOR guitar (ie has good figure and is very strong and well cured) They have pics of all there stock and you just tell um which one you liked the most! gilmer wood. Only downside is there is a minimum order of $100 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fryovanni Posted January 8, 2005 Report Share Posted January 8, 2005 Just a quick note. The stuff you see on the Gilmer site is not all of their stock. I drop in occasionally to look for wood and they have lots of stock that Marc has not had time to put on the site. If you are after something let Marc know what you want and he will dig out what you need. He is very experienced at finding quality pieces for what you want to use them for (plus I know he has little stashes about their yard of hard to find stuff). Super nice group of people to deal with IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadmike Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 since trying to build my guitar ive become some what addicted to checking wood in furniture and so on. since my guitar is just a pine jobbie, ive been scanning constantly for any wood that could be useable. the local yards round my way are completely rubbish and dont deal in a lot of hardwood. 2 places refused to even let me near it because i told them i wanted a couple of feet of it. very poor customer service... so ive been checking out furniture because im positive i can find a dining table or coffee table that will be the right thickness and will already be glued up. all i'll need to do is take off the finish and cut out the body. i have a great looking indian rosewood dining table which is perfect, but the misses's might be a tad upset to find a guitar shaped hole in... so ive resisted. its good to know there are others out there like minded. my mate builds bows and hes just the same. "seen any good wood lately?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted January 26, 2005 Report Share Posted January 26, 2005 Its funny how useable guitar wood can turn up. If you keep your eyes peeled you can get it for free! I was doing some work on a friend's property and found an old mahogany headboard in his junkpile. He gave it to me. The wood is 13/16" so I can just squeeze out a couple guitar bodies when sandwiched together. ← Hey, I just remembered there's a nice old headboard sitting in the loft of one of the garages of this place --we "inherited" it when we bought the house...this thing is at least 50 years old... So how do you tell what kind of wood it's made of? Also we've got tons of oak here...it's been cut into sheets (don't know how to say that otherwise) and has been drying for years...at least 10, maybe longer...hmm, maybe there's some other types of wood mixed in there...hmmm.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gigabyte Posted January 27, 2005 Report Share Posted January 27, 2005 I havent been able to find a comprehensive page which has links to various wood distributors. Doe you know if one exists? good luck with your project. Im getting a list of needed tools together right now. Im going to start stocking up on wood soon. ← I didn't bother reading thru all the posts but if no one has posted it yet here's a handy link to have if there might be local places around you: Woodfinders I usually look by zip code but you can look by species too I think........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRVCustom Posted February 11, 2005 Report Share Posted February 11, 2005 too bad woodfinders only gives canadian provinces!! canucks.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 I thought I would jump in here, since I have recently started cutting and drying my own wood. First off, for instruments, don't bother with any log under 12" in diameter. You will not get anything out of it that will be stable enough, even if it is properly dried. Do not confuse dead trees/logs with dry wood. logs hold moisture a long time, and dry unevenly, causing checks and other defects. Logs should be sawn as soon as possible. The exception, of course is for spalted wood. Spalt does not occur in the standing tree. It is a fungus that affects timber on the ground, often cultivated by the ambrosia beetle. Rule of thumb for air drying is 1 year per inch of thickness, but that will rarely get it down to a moisture level acceptable for instrument building, and is dependent on proper stacking, relative humidity, and air flow. Drying must be controlled until the wood reaches 20% moisture content to prevent checking and cracking. It was said earlier that 5% is best, but you are not likely to find wood that dry. Actually, drying to 5% is risking other kinds of degrade. Most hardwood is kiln dried to 7 or 8 percent, and by the time you get it, it has usually crept back up to 10 or 12 unless it is kept in a humidity controlled environment. I'm not trying to discourage anyone from producing their own instrument wood from salvaged logs. I just want to point out that, unless it is done properly, the results will be dissapointing. I hate seeing good timber go to waste, and I try to saw up as much as I can, but only a small portion of even the logs I buy proves usable for instrument building. That said, file that chain and let 'er rip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
x189player Posted February 15, 2005 Report Share Posted February 15, 2005 And speaking of scrounging good wood, check your local Kubota tractor dealership. Amazingly, many pallets are made of very nice mahogany that is often yours for the asking, or for a six-pack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
es335td Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Hey I have a 90 year old (or so the house was built in 1904 and the earliest pix I have are from around 1915 and the tree was there) Hard maple in my front yard Huge tree. Well it is going to have to come down because they are making the street wider. I was thinking of hving them leave me some large peices to save for future use. How big should I have them cut to and how do you go about drying it so on and so on. I am reeal new to this. I have been playing for about 40 years i have a friend who has made several guitars so we are going to do one this year (not with this wood tree won't come down for another 18 months). Any input would be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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