local wood!

[FBB Custom]

Managed to track down a local guy with a family sawmill operation last weekend. Actually, it seemed like it was just him. Anyway, I can't recommend hunting down a local sawyer enough after visiting this guy. Sustainable and local = awesome and cheap.

While we're at it, we can play name that wood. Only the front row came from the sawmill, had to cut down the three boards on the right to fit them in the car (ouch!).

 

[Rickett Customs]

In what area in MD?

Most mills near me are amish, furniture grade lumber at that.

 

[pilotjones]

Butternut?

 

[FBB Custom]

In the Bel Air area. Google Maps is actually reasonably good finding sawmills but this guy posted on Craig's List and that's how I found him. I missed out on a burled box elder that would have made amazing tops. It helps to have a sawyer who is hunting for the unusual stuff, which this guy is. Though I imagine that the Amish bring down some wood suitable for body cores and necks.

I love butternut, highly recommend it but he did not have any. Sorry for the quality of the photo.

 

[JoeDeF]

Managed to track down a local guy with a family sawmill operation last weekend.....

While we're at it, we can play name that wood.

I'll play, front row L-R:

Cherry
Cherry
Ash
Maple (I hope! nice figure!)
Walnut

Even if I go 0 for 5, it's still a nice wood haul - congratulations!

 

[FBB Custom]

3 for 5, pretty good. The two on the left are sequence matched cherry slabs, yes. The one all the way to the right is english walnut. 3 and 4 are not ash or maple They are a little tricky. I have reverse buyer's remorse!

 

[Jason_A]

Very cool. It's fun to be able to get your wood locally. I'm fortunate to have several saw mills near by, from very large production places, to the mom-n-pop variety (to the guy with a Wood Mizer in a shed). The one thing that I learned the hard way was that not everyone is as skilled at drying their wood. The guy with the bandsaw in the shed "solar kiln" dries his wood, and despite what his moisture meter showed when I picked up the wood, it wasn't nearly as dry as he thought it was. Fortunately I realized that early and didn't put the wood into anything critical (like a neck). I let it sit in the garage for a year before I did anything with it, and it finished drying out fine. But if I would have immediately used it in a guitar I would have had all sorts of problems. I'm not sure if the wood you bought was kiln dried or air dried or what, but if you have any questions about the moisture content, it might be smart to shelve it until it's thoroughly "conditioned".

 

[FBB Custom]

Yes, I am prepared to wait. It's all air dried and 6/4. His moisture meter read 11% but I will wait until I am sure it is done. This is a Wood Mizer and Shed operation.

I had a customer buy a block of limba from Gilmer that split almost immediately after it got here. Nothing beats watching the lumber for a year or three in terms of being safe.

 

[ptm1diver]

Hey, No talking bad about me. I'm the poor #$$%^^#^@%$^&$% that got the crappy Gilmer wood. Never Again. But, at least I had the best to solve the problem. Matt took care of it and used his limba. Can't wait to see the final guitar. Yes a guitar. I have one of his basses and its fantastic. But he is making a special SG style guitar for me with a unique headstock shape and killer Voodoo pickups.

 

[JoeDeF]

3 for 5, pretty good. The two on the left are sequence matched cherry slabs, yes. The one all the way to the right is english walnut. 3 and 4 are not ash or maple They are a little tricky. I have reverse buyer's remorse!

Well, since no one else is guessing, I'm going again.

I'm going to try chestnut for #3 (yes, the domestic chestnut was pretty much wiped out by blight years ago, but some Chinese and hybrid chestnuts are doing well).

For #4, I am going to try birch this time. I have never seen birch with that loose of a curl at such a diagonal, but I can't figure out what else it could be. I once saw a presentation on an art case (one of a kind) Steinway grand piano that was veneered in anigre that looked a lot like your picture of #4, but that can't possibly be local, of course.

Hope I'm not breaking any rules by guessing again. And probably I'm not the only one who wants to know what #3 and #4 are....

Thanks,

Joe

 

[FBB Custom]

Good guesses, but not quite. Birch can have that diagonal "rope" curl, as intense as #4. Red Birch smells great in the shop, I love that stuff. But this is not birch. If I had a better closeup you could see the medullary rays, which are a giveaway if you've seen this wood before.

As for chestnut, that's a good guess, too. I just looked at some pictures of both and they are close at that distance. Chestnut is hard to get but I have been seeing it in lumberyards -- usually it's reclaimed and full of holes. I try to talk people into #3 as an inexpensive replacement for swamp ash. It's a little darker in color. It's another great shop wood that smells awesome.

Guess as much as you want, I think this thread would probably just disappear otherwise. If you want to narrow it down, both #3 and #4 are on my "woods" page.

 

[tjclem]

Local wood down here hmmm palm Oak pine orange trees?..... Happy hunting up there.

 

[Dean N]

Sassafrass, Basswood.

 

[floydman]

my guess for #3 is Catalpa

 

[FBB Custom]

#3 is Sassafras! Good one. #4 is not basswood, though.

We have Catalpa here in Maryland, but I have not seen it cut into lumber much and not as wide as #3. Come to think of it, this is probably the widest sassafras I've seen. Anyway, catalpa pretty cool looking stuff and a good match for the grain of #3 so that's a good guess, too.

Tom, I feel your pain if all you have is palm. I went to New Mexico and tried to find something to bring back and there was nothing within 200 miles.

 

[iamlowsound]

My guess for #4 is beech. As for the Amish, around here they take down old barns and saw the beams into wood. It is great quality, super dry wood, and fantastic for building. You can get wood wide enough for one piece tops, easily.

lowsound

 

[Musiclogic]

As I am only viewing this on my Blackberry, I'll guess #4 as being Sycamore, really can't make it out.

 

[FBB Custom]

Well done, #4 is sycamore! Is there an app for that?

Beech is a good guess. It's a good color match for the reddish half of the board and beech does have big rays. I'm not sure I've ever seen beech used in bass making, but I bet it would make a nice body back.

Sycamore is the only of the bunch that I have not yet used. I am not sure how I will use it. It's pretty enough to be a top, I think, and wide enough. I'll probably start there.

Thanks to all for taking an interest in Guess a Slab. Would be happy to be on the guessing end if anyone here goes on a buying spree.

 

[Mr. Majestic]

Sycamore is also known as lacewood......if it were cut quarter-sawn.


I found a picture of an older quarter-sawn sycamore door I built:
Link Removed

 

[Musiclogic]

No Matt no app for the crackberry yet, still standard web browsing. The color suggested Sycamore to me, I have a bunch(I had one removed here that got struck by lightning, and had it quartered). I love Sycamore, as posted above, it can look fantastic under the right finish. Can't wait to see what you do with that stuff after it finishes drying and becomes ready to work. Nice cache you found. Keep it Domestic, and sustainable...nice !