Redgum

[adderas]

Has anyone here ever worked with redgum when building an instrument?

I'm going to start my first project in about 6 weeks. (Going on a holiday to America for a month in 2 weeks)

I'm completely amateur, and am going to fiddle along slowly and enjoy myself. I'd like to use redgum for the body, but I am not sure if it would even be suitable.

It is a very heavy wood, from my woodcutting experience on the farm!

Thanks in advance

addy

 

[emjazz]

I had a bass with a redgum top once. It was gorgeous!...my favorite top ever. I'm not sure about using it as a body wood though.

 

[mikeyswood]

It is not a heavy wood. It's lighter than Poplar or Alders. It sounds very gummy.

 

[pilotjones]

In my first house, all the doors and the trim were gum.
- I'd say my doors were not ubearable heavy for a door, but definitely heavier than modern softwood doors.
- By published numbers, it is between hard maple and soft maple in weight.
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- It is very attractive, similar to koa.

So I looked into using it for building. What I found was
- Published data say that it is not stable, reacting a lot to ambient conditions.
- I found one article on building furniture with it. It said that you had to build frames etc. with pieces that are mirror-matched in grain otherwise your coffee table or chair would end up warped and twisted.

 

[Big B.]

I think there may be some confusion on the name here. Looking up Redgum I found American Redgum with a specific gravity of .46, very light. I also found Australian Redgum that has a specific gravity of .82, obviously a good bit harder and heavier. Seeing that the OP is in Australia I think it is safe to assume he has Australian Redgum. Just looking at the grain and weight the wood sounds like it is comparable to Bubinga. Personally I wouldn't want to use a wood that dense for the body but I have seen basses made of very dense wood that sound great. Australia has some very unique wood species that luthiers would die for. They just dont show up on the market very often.

 

[mikeyswood]

Is the OP buying Redgum in America? Why else would that be mentioned in the post?

 

[pilotjones]

OK adderas, so, which is it - Australian or American red gum?

 

[emjazz]

Austrailan Redgum was what I had on my bass. It was stunning.

 

[emjazz]

This is the bass that I had with it....the actual colors were more vibrant than the picture:

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[pilotjones]

I remember that bass. Beautiful. Australian redgum, unless it's some American completely unlike any I've ever seen.

I don't remember, is the that gradient natural to the wood, or did Carey do an understated burst?

 

[emjazz]

That was natural, nothing added to the wood.

 

[Larry Davis]

Redgum Eucalyptus grows in California, not just Australia. Guess that makes it American Redgum Equally unstable from wherever it comes from. It was planted in California to produce fast growing, hardy wood for rail ties, but the ties were to squirly and twisty for use.

 

[adderas]

Sorry guys! I will not be getting the wood from America, I was just explaining that my project will not be getting off it's feet for a while.

It will be from down under. I'm not too sure about how to go it, but I just I might just go chop some up. Sounds fun

So the comments that it will twist etc; My family has some furniture made with redgum. It's absolutely stunning. I will try get a photo some time too.

I can't comment on if it has 'twisted' though, because it is literally a slab of redgum that has been polished and lacquered, so the shape of it hadn't been changed for the end result.

Thanks for the help so far! The quest continues.

 

[adderas]

Another post:

Yes they use redgum for fence posts and railway sleepers. I have family friends who got a heap of discarded sleepers and made bits and pieces out of them. They were fairly old and fairly straight..?

In saying that, the tree is literally 1 big knot;

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This is the kind of table I have (grandparents gave it to me)
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Except I think mine is more beautiful. (I DO NOT want to use the table to made the body, in case someone was wondering! hehe)

 

[questionmark?]

wow, the tree is amazing...

 

[TomA1234]

wow, the tree is amazing...

Forget the tree that table looks amazing!

 

[adderas]

I was speaking to a friend of mine who I met through work. He sells wood, so it seemed fitting to ask him about it!

He reinforced a lot of what was said here. That since Redgums normally grow in swampy area, and riverbeds, they absorb a lot of water. He said if you had a piece of furnature that wasn't sealed very well even your air conditioner would mess with it.

So I suppose if I was really dead set that I wanted the Redgum, it is doable.

BUT, I do remember back in school a mate brought in a little slab to make a clock out of. He broke quite a few bits on it, and it took him weeks to sand it back. Some people here have said it isn't that heavy, well maybe it isn't, but I remember when we were working on that clock at school is was ridiculous.

I think a redgum body will be in the works next time, my friend has told me he has some Silky Oak that I can get off him to work with. Opinions?

 

[Larry Davis]

Silky oak.....GOOD!! Even makes good acoustic guitars. None of that is exported these days and all our North American imports come from plantations in Brazil. It's slowly being changed from Australian Lacewood to Brazilian Lacewood in the market, but decades of nomenclature don't change over night.

 

[Bill Whitehurst]

I have heard that oak is a terrible tone wood.
Plenty strong, though.

 

[adderas]

Yeah he said it will be a lot easier for me to work with, especially since I haven't really done much like this before, apart from what I did back in school. (Made a quite large work bench, a chair, etc. Stock stuff..)

Might be going to his house after work tonight to check out some woods. If I get a few pieces I'll throw some images up.