Compreg wood neck

[mheintz]

So after exploring pakkawood (http://www.fibronproducts.com) and dymond wood (http://www.rutply.com/dymond.htm), I was wondering about using these materials to create necks (not just fingerboards). Would a one-piece neck be stable? Would a one-piece neck be prohibitively heavy (even if low density sheets were used)? Would reinforcement rods be necessary? What special considerations would there be in using truss rods with such a strong/stable material?

[Hambone]

Originally Posted by mheintz

So after exploring pakkawood (http://www.fibronproducts.com) and dymond wood (http://www.rutply.com/dymond.htm), I was wondering about using these materials to create necks (not just fingerboards). Would a one-piece neck be stable? Would a one-piece neck be prohibitively heavy (even if low density sheets were used)? Would reinforcement rods be necessary? What special considerations would there be in using truss rods with such a strong/stable material?

All of this has been worked out by Greg Curbow of Curbow Instruments in using his proprietary "Rockwood" version of stabilized wood. He makes necks and bodies from it and has great success. He still uses all of the usual graphite stiffeners and trussrods and his necks are very stable. I have personally played an 8 string fretless from him that had a neck that was only ¾" thick for most of the length of the neck. Insanely thin! Check out www.curbow.com for more about this.

[mheintz]

Hambone, once again, many thanks.

[pilotjones]

Here's some USDA Forestry technical info on compreg, to give you some idea as to effect on density and strength. See page 19-5 and following.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fp...tr113/ch19.pdf

Note that the density is listed as 1.0-1.4, which if they're referring to specific gravity, is quite heavy. Off the top of my head (I'm not at my computer with the proper links), maple is about .6 or .7.

[mheintz]

Thanks pilotjones. I've been looking into the cost and it would probably be prohibitive for me to experiment myself. Although I'd be willing to buy enough wood to experiment, carbide or diamond cutters, blades, and drill bits are necessary to machine it. On work like this, I never expect to do it better or cheaper than a luthier, but there is a limit to how much I'm willing spend to ruin a piece of wood. So I contacted Greg Curbow to see what he could do for me, and if I didn't scare him with my request, hopefully he'll get back to me after the holidays.