fyb

I work at Home Depot (hey ... ya gotta make a living ) and I ran across this funky piece of maple the other day. It's got some unusual looking (at least to me) figure, so I thoughI'd snag it. Here's some pics ... http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/769/hdmaple2jn6.jpg http://img523.imageshack.us/img523/3557/hdmaple3ln4.jpg I'm pretty sure it's hard maple (it works, feels, and smells quite a bit like the hard maples I've used before though I'm no expert) so I was wondering if I could use it for something guitar related. It has a bit of twist it in it so I can't use the whole board at it's present thickness, but I figured that I could joint & plane it down to a more managble thickness and flatten it out. It looks like it's sorta birdseyed, but with hints of quilting (sort of) and almost 'fishscale' patterns. I though't it'd make a crazy looking fretboard if it'd be stable enough. It's almost like it'd be birdseyes if it were farther out from the center of the tree. It's neither flat/rift/quartered ... you can see a part of the growth rings' arc like it was only 5-7" from the center. What do you think? Is it usable?

I just wanted to let you guys know that I gave StewMac a call and get through in 1 1/2 rings! The woman on the phone sounded apologetic about the funky boards, and told me she'd send a new one (which should be better selected) out ASAP with a shipping label to return the others. I'll keep you posted when I get the new board (hopefully by Saturday), but I must say that so far I'm very pleased with how they dealt with this.

Thanks for the quick responses folks! Here are a few pics so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about... http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3446/tearout2qw8.jpg http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/3181/tearout1ii2.jpg What do you think? Should I call and complain? Do you think they'll ship me a new one free? I'm a little worried about filling it with dust, because if I screw it up, I'll just have to buy another board anyway I have a 12" radiused sanding block, but how much can I take off before the frets won't sit right? I also don't want the board to take on an uneven shape/thickness on top

I'm wary of radiusing & slotting my fretboards, so I've tried to get some from Stew Mac. I got one a few months ago that was pretty nice, so I ordered 2 more recently and they're both very disappointing. The first was half pink, half brown with spotting and the second (actually a replacement for the first) was nice other than some rather severe tearout at the second fret. Is it usually this hard to get a decent board from them? Should I just keep trying (and racking up the shipping charges )?? Is there a way to fix some tearout in Indian Rosewood? The only problem is that I'm wary of sanding it too much and screwing up the radius or making the slots too shallow. Can I steam it out like you would a ding in other woods? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks folks

I'm actually trying to iron out some stuff on the fullsize plans I'm drawing. Thanks though!

Hey all! I'm finally have the loot to order my next batch of parts from StewMac and I'm going to be picking up a 25 1/2" Fender style preslotted board. They give the dimensions of the board, but I was hoping I could get the measurement from the end of the board to the end of the nutslot. Any help would be great! Thanks!

Is the bottom of the fretboard on the same plane as the top of the guitar, or the top of the bridge plate? (or something else??) I only have a MIM to go by, so I don't take that as bible On that guitar though, the fretboard sits maybe 1/16" of the body. Does that sound right? There's something funky about that pocket though . . . I don't think the neck ever sat quite right in it (the treble side of the neck is a bit higher than the bass). Thanks

I've been thinking of doing a neckthru or a setneck with a really long tenon (maybe back to the bridge), and I'd probably to it with 2 HB routes and a strat-type trem route. Would all of this routing make doing a neckthru/long tenon moot because so much would end up getting routed out anyway? Maybe I'm just worrying too much What do you think?

Good ideas guys Thanks.

I was thinking of using some wood for the (dot) position markers on a project I'm doing. I figure I can just drill the holes and use a compatible plug cutter to get the markers, and then cut them pretty flush with a flush cut saw. What do you think of this idea? Has it been done before? Concerns though . . . If the saw doesn't get them perfectly level with the fretboard, can I sand them OK without taking off too much fretboard material? What should I worry about here? Do you think differing expansion/contraction properties will make this a bad idea? (I'm thinking maple markers in a rosewood board). Should I just use regular wood glue or something else? And if you can think of anything else . . . lemme know Thanks

I tried a search, but 'koa' was too short I was toying with the idea of using koa for a top on on a flat top LP style one of these days. I've only seen it online but I've seen some beautiful pieces and I think it'd make a beautiful top. What's it like to work with? Does it need grainfilling? Does it take an oil finish well? Thanks for the help! And the obligatory drool-inducing pic . . .

It's a 13" Ryobi (I work at Home Depot and my paycheck was burning a hole in my pocket!). I think I may use this blank for an LP DC, instead of more of a strat style as I was planning. That will hopefull let me cut around the spots.

The wood's perfectly flat across the spots and the grain continues through it, but discolored.

I rubbed it a bit and it didn't go away ... granted I was too afraid to make a dent or something How can you avoid burn marks? I try to keep my planer dust free (as much as possible anyway) and it only has 1 speed setting. Thanks for the info though, Desopolis!

I just can't win lately I was planing my sapele down to size to glue up a body blank, and I notcied these spots appear. That are they? Is it something cause by my planer? It's a brand new (though inexpensive) planer so the blades should be decent. There are a few spots on the front like these and the back! What can I do about these? I can't plane down too much more or my guitar will be too thin. I had originally planned on doing the guitar all in sapele @ 1 3/4" thick . . . and I don't have much room to play with (the wood was 1 7/8" when I got it anyway). Any help would be appreciated!!! One more pic of another spot here. And the blank would be beautiful if not for these spots.

I bought some 8/4 sapele a few days ago (with some BEAUTIFUL ribbon stripping!) and the board looked decent when I got it. After some planeing and cutting it down into pieces for body blanks, I noticed a crack in the wood. It's not too thick (thinner than the black lines on a ruler for example, so it's small enough that I can't measure it) but it's noticable and it runs about halfway down the side and about 2" into where the body will be. What's the best way to hide or fix this?? The body blank is just about a perfect size for the bodies I want to do, so I can't just cut the cracked part off. Help!

I think that I should point out that this is over a VERY LONG time. The same sort of time that it takes a window to get thicker at the bottom than at the top. ThanksToneMonkey !!!!

I'd love some plans! You can get me at michaelkdonahue@gmail.com Thanks ToneMonkey!

I was wondering the same thing. Any other info??

As far as the joining of two different woods we do this all the time so it is possible. As far as wood glue joints being stranger than the wood around them. This is not a given. I see people post that glue joints are stronger than the surrounding wood. It can be, but that joint has to be made properly for that to happen. Wood glue has to get good penetration(glue needs to be forced down into the fibers and pores), but not so much that you get a dry joint and lose the connection(endgrain can suck up glue and cause this situation, and too much pressure can also starve a joint). You can also have issues with wood that has a wet surface basically shielding the glue from getting good penetration. So a very dense wood or oily wood needs more pressure to force the glue in getting that penetration vs a less dense wood. Again you have to be careful because a less dense wood joint can become starved if you use too much pressure. These are things to think about if you choose to join a very dense or oily wood to a lower density wood. As an exptream example; you would have a bear of a time glueing Lignum Vitae with Balsa. Most of the woods we use can be joined just fine, but it is smart to pay attension to what you are doing(especially on a critical joint like a scarf). I think the idea is a cool one and could look great. Give it a shot. Peace,Rich Good info Rich. I was thinking of building a double cut LP type (special is it?) with some P90s, and I was thinking of doing the main part of the neck out of maple (maybe some birdseye that I have lying around anyway) and using either sapele or mahogany for the body and headstock. I thought this could be cool if I could pull it off . . . What do you think about bonding maple and mahogany or sapele?

This is probably a noob question but . . . Could you make a scarf jointed neck with different woods for the neck and the headstock? On one hand, it seems that it could work because wood glue is supposed to make a stronger joint than the original wood itself. I've also heard though that glue joints between different woods aren't as strong as those between similar pieces, but people glue rosewood to maple and mahogany (for example) all the time for fretboards. That do you think??

But the bearing will miss the template for the first few passes unless you have a really thick template

I know woodcraft has one with a 1.5" cutting length. Do you think that will work for body sides? Even that's almost $w30. I saw another with a little more length, but it was closer to $50. I'm already going broke trying to build a few guitars! Thanks for the info. I know it seems like a simple answer, but I just wanted some more info before I do anything drastic!

Hey all . . . I've heard that people use piloted/bearing router bits and templates to smoothe out guitar bodies and what not. I have one (with a 1" cutting length) that is good for simple jointing type operations and cutting patterns in thinner stock. How do you use these bits for the body though? I know you should take multiple passes, but if your cutting length is too short, you can't do a whole 1 3/4" side. If it's too long, the bearing will miss the template on the first passes. How do you go about cutting/routing with templates? Any info would be great. Thanks