es335td Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 So orgmorq the tree is huge I cannot get my arms wrapped around 1/2 of it, I am 5'9" tall. It stands 45+ feet much taller than the 3 story Victorian with 10 ft walls on the first 2 floors. Is ther some place that will dry it for you? What thickness and length do you cut to? Any input. Do you think this tree would be suitable. It has a very straight trunk and the bottom set of branches are massive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mickguard Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 Here's another question: a friend of mine was building bookshelves from some nice looking slabs of ash. He had a bunch of scraps left over, and he gave them to me. The wood was dried enough for making furniture--does that make it dry enough for making a guitar? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orgmorg Posted February 24, 2005 Report Share Posted February 24, 2005 idch, if it was kiln dried, then yes, should be just fine. 335, there should be several hundred bf of good wood in a tree that size, but you can never tell until you open it up. Big, old, yard trees frequently have bad spots in them. Keep in mind that most sawmills will NOT saw yard trees because they often contain metal, and even concrete which causes expensive downtime when run thu the saw. If you find a sawyer with a portable mill, you will probably be charged around $20 for each band that gets chewed up, and a trunk that size may have to be ripped into quarters with a chainsaw just to fit on the mill. As for log lengths, talk to whoever will be milling them, or, if you will be doing it yourself, whatever you can handle. Some dry kiln operations will dry small lots for the public, as long as they can combine them with other lots to make a full load, and there are also individuals with smaller kilns in the business as well. Just gotta ask around. Prices are usually 30 to 60 cents/bf. Sounds like you have some time to line stuff up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stolb3rg Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 I feel sooo luckey right now. I have 2 8x20x1 inch birdseye maple slabs glued togeather and fully planed right now. That will be the front of my guitar, finished in natural. The back of my guitar is going to be 2 piecs of cherry with extremley curly well... curly maple sandwiched inbetween the chyerry. All around the guitar where the birdseye meets the cherry there will be a thin little black pinstripe where the woods meet! The best part is-- I got the wood free! All of it! with lots of birds eye to spare!! ( My grandfathers property just gave out 3 nice full birds eye trees... Talk about cash for the family eh?! (Im not using the birdseye from thoes trees though, the wood im using has all been drying for around 20 years.. It was found in an attic somewhere.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdguitars Posted May 17, 2005 Report Share Posted May 17, 2005 idch, if the wood was placed in doors and stacked correctly and left to stabalize then of course. I would assume that if furniture was being made then it was kiln dried but if not stack it and let it sit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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