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03-01-2006, 10:10 AM
| | | | Help, tonewood dealers
Dear Luthiers (pro and amateur)
A while back I posted a thread because I am interested in buying willow.
Jeff Bollbach was kind enough to supply with the contact info of AM Wood.
Unfortunately AM and many other dealers just don't carry seasoned willow, they might have unseasoned willow, or veneer, or lining and blocks. I have called many places.
Nobody I contacted had seasoned poplar, pearwood, or walnut either. Only maple, in all it's flavors.
Is there a hidden market there that I don't know of?
I know in some parts of Europe there is almost like a mafia for the best seasoned wood, is that the case here?
Could somebody give me some info please?
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Last edited by Dr Rod : 03-01-2006 at 10:13 AM.
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03-01-2006, 04:37 PM
| | AES Fine Instruments | | Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Brewster, NY, USA | | | "Seasoned" is a nebulous concept. One person's seasoned wood is another's green wood. I would almost never use wood I've just acquired. The questions you need answered are "how long has it been cut?", and "what's the moisture content?". There is plenty of walnut and poplar around, but willow is not a commonly harvested wood. Have you perused the Woodfinder at the MIMF forum? |
03-01-2006, 05:14 PM
| | | | Thanks Arnold
For our project we were looking at wood that was at least 4 years old (of cut), on the moisture content perhaps you can help me out for I don't really know what I should ask for.
I'll check out the woodfinder this evening, I didn't know of it's existance. |
03-02-2006, 06:25 AM
| | AES Fine Instruments | | Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Brewster, NY, USA | | | Most woodworkers like to work wood at 8-10% or dryer. Getting wood super-dry (6-7%) makes it more stable. Wood that has been taken to this level of dryness will swell and contract less than wood that has not. Age is irrelevant. However, it's important that the wood is dry throughout, and this takes time if you are air-drying. By the way, wood that has been air drying outside in a damp climate like the Pacific Northwest will never attain the dryness level you want. To best stabilize large pieces of wood, cut them to approximate size while partly dry. Then dress the pieces to final dimension when fully dry. When making a bass, that means roughing out the pieces, letting them settle, carving some more, settling, etc. As you carve thinner, the wood gets even drier (unless the workplace is humid). As it acclimates it will tend to bend and twist to release its internal tension; that's why you leave it oversize... |
03-02-2006, 10:01 AM
| | | | is it Poplar or Magnolia
That's good to know Arnold.
Now, If the willow thing doesn't work out, should I look for poplar or magnolia? I heard that the north american poplar is nothing like the european one (magnolia), does NA poplar sound anything like magnolia. |
03-03-2006, 04:52 PM
| | AES Fine Instruments | | Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Brewster, NY, USA | | | The greenish stuff sold in the U.S. as "poplar" is tulipwood. Stable but ugly, probably a mediocre tonewood. Real poplar and cottonwood are similar. I've never seen magnolia. Gordon Carson In Valemount, B.C. has Canadian Black Poplar in bass size. Aspen is also a good poplar-family tonewood. |
03-03-2006, 05:02 PM
| | | | That's really good info, I think he has willow as well. |
03-04-2006, 07:02 AM
| | Supporting Member/Luthier | | Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Cincinnati, Ohio | | | Is Black Poplar hard to bend? |
03-04-2006, 10:32 AM
| | AES Fine Instruments | | Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Brewster, NY, USA | | Quote: |
Originally Posted by nicklloyd Is Black Poplar hard to bend? | Very funny, Nnick  What the young whippersnapper is referring to is a problem I had with bending Black Poplar ribs. It has a tendency to crease at the sharp bends. Definately way more difficult than maple, which is more resilient. |
03-04-2006, 10:41 AM
| | Banned
Owner: Ken Smith Basses, Ltd. | | Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Perkasie, PA USA | |  Maple?
What's wrong with Eastern Soft (Red maple, acer rubrum) Curly Maple? I happen to have over 10,000bdft of it in 4/4 from 8-12" wide and 8-12' long. If you are making a Flat Back in 3 pieces, this would be great or even a shallow curved round back. If you glued up the pieces at a slight angle, you can get even a deeper 'bowl' in the back.
Arnold? You've used this wood. Keeping the secret all to youself or did you have a problem that makes you not want to use it? |
03-04-2006, 10:46 AM
| | | | Nothing wrong with maple, I just want some variety. I remember Albert Laszlo's poplar IOUO, just thunderous.
Thanks for the kind offer to sell me some wood though, greatly appreciated. |
03-05-2006, 09:50 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Canada | | | If you are looking for maple, a good supplier on the southern coast of BC is MVL Specialty Woods. A guitar building friend uses them regularly, their quilt is amazing. They buy logs and cut it them selves, so custom cutting is available (bass sizes), and they also deal in softwoods. PM me if you want the owners cell #. |
03-05-2006, 09:54 PM
| | Registered User | | Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Canada | |
Quote: |
Originally Posted by arnoldschnitzer To best stabilize large pieces of wood, cut them to approximate size while partly dry. Then dress the pieces to final dimension when fully dry. When making a bass, that means roughing out the pieces, letting them settle, carving some more, settling, etc. As you carve thinner, the wood gets even drier (unless the workplace is humid). As it acclimates it will tend to bend and twist to release its internal tension; that's why you leave it oversize... | How long should you wait while carving/settling? |  | Thread Tools | Search this Thread | | | | 
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