Cheap fingerboard woods for prototype

[HogieWan]

I got a CNC router with the intention to use it for making guitar and bass parts. I have been prototyping with cheap pine just to make sure that my 3D models and the carving process are working properly. Pine is great to see the size and shape of a fingerboard, but it's unusable in even a test instrument and is way too soft to hammer frets into. Whats a cheap, easily-available wood that I could use for testing?

 

[mikeyswood]

Maple

 

[HogieWan]

Maple

wow - I'm an idiot. Of course - I can get it for $3/bf

 

[line6man]

Snakewood.

 

[tjclem]

Cheap and hard you can't beat Ipe.

Much harder than any Maple.

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[Rickett Customs]

Poplar, is a little harder than pine. Although you could use red oak, both of which you could obtain from HD or Lowes.
At least a little more convenient, if you have one nearby.

 

[mikeyswood]

Snakewood.

I just got a piece. It was only $110! What a bargain!!!

 

[HogieWan]

Poplar, is a little harder than pine. Although you could use red oak, both of which you could obtain from HD or Lowes.
At least a little more convenient, if you have one nearby.

I have a couple lumber places close enough. One is the main warehouse, but they don't carry much, and the other is a satellite, but can get almost anything I want in a couple business days. I'm going to ask about ipe. I wanted something hard without going to rosewood

 

[HogieWan]

Cheap and hard you can't beat Ipe.

Much harder than any Maple.

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Thanks for that link - I've been looking for a list like that. Pecan is easy for me to get cheap and that shows it to be harder than rosewood. It will probably still need a finish, though.

 

[tjclem]

Any hardwood floor places near you they should have Ipe?

 

[cocobolo-01]

If you Google for Janka hardness test and start checking the results, you'll find lots more.
I think on the wikipedia link you can get a PDF copy of the book "wood as an engineering material".
There's a world of information in there.

 

[Larry Davis]

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[Musiclogic]

If Larry is still searching for the Mother of all figures, who is the father, and where are all the little baby figures at?

 

[pilotjones]

Larry may be the father, but it'll take a paternity test to prove it.

 

[Larry Davis]

ummmmm.....mother of all figures? Mrs. Anderson...mother of Pamela

 

[mikeyswood]

I am of the opinion that Katy Perry has the best female figure. I mean Wow!!

 

[pilotjones]

ummmmm.....mother of all figures? Mrs. Anderson...mother of Pamela

Hmm, makes sense... sure seems like Pam's been Acrylized™.

 

[Musiclogic]

what did I start