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Ya, It's kinda hard to come across holly in any decent size. You might actually get some decent fingerboard stock out of it, though. Do you have a bandsaw and a jointer? If so, you can try cutting a 2 foot section, straight and clear ( no knots ) coat the ends with wax or latex paint, square it up on the jointer, and take a 1" slice off each face on the bandsaw. Stack them on a flat surface with strips of wood between them for airflow, and see what happens. It will probably twist a bit, but so does ebony. When it dries out, you can true it up again and resaw it. It's certainly worth a shot, and would be good experience. You could also take it to someone with a bandsawmill, but if you do, remember that small, short logs are a pain in the butt to saw on one.

Smoking wood chips in the backyard? That explains alot!

6" is too small for anything but firewood. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but it is true. It just isn't old enough to have developed good stable heartwood. What kind of wood are we talking about, here? I currently mill and dry all the wood myself for all my woodworking projects, but I have been at it for several years now, and am still learning. There's a lot more to it than one might think. As stated before, even tough the pieces you end up using are small, they need to come from logs big enough to contain enough good, mature wood to get them from. Keep in mind that the middle 4 inches or so of the log is not suitable for instrument use. You really need logs bigger than 12" diameter ( small end ) and 16"+ is preferable. ( this is not figuring for the wide quartered stock mentioned earlier. ) You can buy attachments for a chainsaw to mill lumber, but as stated, if you don't have chainsaw experience, it can be quite dangerous. You also need a big saw to do it. Ripping a log from end to end with a chainsaw takes much more power than crosscutting. A 65cc saw is the smallest you will want to use, and that will be really pushing it's limits. most homeowner types are around 45cc or so. I started out with a jig I built for my Stihl 090, 137cc. It worked but it was loud, slow, and hard work. And, yes it wastes a good bit of wood- 3/8" kerf, compared to the 1/16" kerf that my Woodmizer bandmill takes out.

I think he means Nov. 2, 2007. In many parts of the world, they put the date before the month when notating it as such.

It got you to post... Welcome!!

I don't think I've ever seen a planer that didn't snipe the ends at least a litle bit.

I agree on the wasted resources issue. Firewood is getting expensive these days. I put mine in my woodstove, it is important to conserve resources. Plus, that way I get to smash them to kindling, first.

Ah, but the SG has a ebony or rosewood fingerboard. Gibson did make a bunch of all maple guitars and basses, though, like the RD series and ripper basses.

What kind of locust? The two main varieties are black locust ( also called yellow locust ) and honeylocust. Honeylocust is the one with the insane clusters of thorns. Black locust is incredibly strong, very hard, and has a wonderful sound when struck. Greenish yellow in color. Honeylocust is not quite as strong and hard, and pinkish in color. Both are quite stable if you find a good, straight grained piece, but look out for ring shake, especially if the log has been sitting for a while.

The other problem with drawer slides is they will get filled with dust and the ball bearings won't work so well then.

Yes, but it would work just as well in a miter box type jig with a hand saw. Maybe I wasn't too clear. What I was trying to describe was a piece of wood tapered to bring the centerline of the neck parallel to the fence of the jig. It would be half the total taper of the neck, or the taper of one side of the neck, which is why I mentioned the centerline of the fingerboard.

Wow.. You have every right to be confused. That part of that tutorial is just plain wrong. That truss rod needs a straight, flat channel. Wonder where he got the idea to curve it like that?

If you draw a line down the center of the fingerboard, you can find how much the sides taper. Then you can cut a strip of wood with the same taper, and temporarily glue it to the side of the neck stock with the thick end of the strip at the nut end of the fingerboard. Now, when you put the neck in the jig, the centerline will be parallel to the fence.

I would steer clear of any Harbor freight machinery. It is generally the worst of the chinese stuff. Newer chinese machines are getting pretty good, but this is not one of them. If you are jointing wide faces, the tables really need to be aligned perfectly. This can be tricky even with a good quality jointer, sometimes impossible with a crappy one.

Crataegus=Hawthorn I've played with a little bit of it once, just whittling. I've never seen any big enough that I would consider using for instruments. Aside from that, it would probably work well. It is fairly hard, close grained, and strong. Has been used for tool handles. How big do they get where you live?

By "they", I meant butternut and walnut, which are very different from hickory. Sorry for the confusion. Butternut is very soft, and works very nicely. Hickory is wicked hard, tough, stringy, and splintery.

Not sure where you heard that. My experience with hickory is quite the opposite- it sends every bit of vibration back into your hands. One of the reasons I hate working with it. That and the stiletto-like splinters that fly at your face when you put it in the table saw. Butternut, on the other hand is very nice to work with. Softer, and lighter in color than Black walnut, with the same grain. These woods do absorb vibration well, which is partly why walnut is used for gunstocks.

Here's some slices of cherry I brought home the other day. another pic I've been sawing cherry and walnut for a logal log buyer/seller and one came thu very burly looking. Graded as a #3 sawlog, so I paid them the princely sum of $9 for it.

Shirlely we can't forget the chick from "Garbage", now? What was her first name, anyway? Aluminum.. it's the new brass.

What were the other four neck joints?

Woodmizer ( sawmill manufacturer ) has a sawmill locator service. You can call them at 1 800 553 0182. Other manufacturers may do the same, try looking up timberking , baker , or Peterson $250/hr sounds like a big commercial sawmill. Portable sawyers typically charge between 20 and 35 cents per board foot which translates to around $30-$60/hr Many variables in there, though. If it is larger than an orchard or ornamental tree, it is black cherry (Prunus serotina). That's really the only species of cherry that occurs naturally in the states of any size to produce marketable timber.

On the more obscure species: Hackberry ( celtis occidentalis ) has open grain like ash, but much whiter. It is very prone to blue/grey staining while drying. This can be bad or good depending on your taste. personally I like it. Tends to warp and twist a bit. Spalts very nicely Cottonwood (populus deltoides)usually warps and twists a lot, but can be rather pretty if you find a piece that doesn't. Fine grained and very plain looking with grey/brown streaks. It is a true poplar, and not to be confused with yellow (tulip) poplar, which is the wood most commonly called poplar, though it is not one. Hickory ( carya species ) Hard and tough as nails. Quite stable, as well. Sapwood is pale pink/tan with darker, reddish heartwood. Something I have been interewsted in using for a neck. Most commonly used for tool handles, ( hammers, etc. ) Sycamore (platanus occidentalis) is another one that tends to twist and warp when drying, but as you said, very pretty quartersawn, like lacewood, but with smaller ray fleck. Gets nice color and spalts well. Locust- which one? Honeylocust ( gledetsia triacanthos ) is the one with the insane thorns has open grain and deep pink/orange color, very pretty. Very hard. Black or yellow locust (robinia pseudoacacia) is similar, but even harder and heavier. Darker color, more yellow/green. Rings out beautifully when tapped. I have a friend who has used it for xylophone keys with fabulous results. Both have a deep luster to the wood, Both woods dry very easily with very little warping/twisting, but tend to have ring shake. Definitely get some of either if you can.

Some further clarification: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycamore_maple This is what is called "sycamore" in the UK. As stated earlier, it is indeed a maple. American sycamore ( Platanus occidentalis ) is more like what you would call a planetree ( Platanus orientalis ) in the UK. Though it is not native to the isles, it was introduced centuries ago, and has become quite naturalised there. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_sycamore http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platanus_orientalis

Nope, a uke is even shorter. 22.5 would be a long scale octave mandolin, a short scale bouzouki, or possibly a baritone uke. All very fun instruments to play.

Tennessee I've been out sawing in it every day this week. Walnut, too, coincidentally. My hands are practically black. Got to bring home a nice pile of slices from the humps of the really crooked logs, though. Glad to see you got it sawn up! I would be more enthusiastic, but right now, it just looks like more work to me. Have fun stacking!