We did a friend's 12x20 guest cabin in the traditional style with cedar planks a few years back. Board and batten style. It looked pretty good initially but still looked like a building that has survived a fire.
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Wood choices and considerations
- Thread starter mrperkolator
- Start date
I'm too lazy to read this whole thread, but I recall hearing that the reason we rarely see oak used in solidbody instruments is that it is acidic and will rust steel fasteners quickly. Something to think of anyways.
I've done shou sugi ban (yaki sugi) a few times with mixed results. I've done softer woods like cypress, cedar and even bass wood; they tend to have a lot of texture after burning. I've also done harder woods like sapele (and something else, can't remember) where the burning blackens the wood but the texture is much less pronounced.
Lots of fun, whatever the result!
I have used it on some outdoor furniture and did a similar process on sycamore top I just made, but I sanded it smooth and followed it up with shellac because I wasn’t too thrilled with the results.
Interesting. I haven't read that before. Oak is used in other furniture, but perhaps with more wood joints and less metal.
Wet, green oak will corrode bare steel. Dried oak won't be a problem, especially considering how rare it is to use bare plain steel fasteners in instruments. Most of our fasteners are coated steel, or stainless steel. There isn't really a black and white reason to not use oak. It's just not really ideal, and there are other choices that are better in different ways. Too heavy to be used as a body wood, and the grain is too rough for what most people prefer in a neck. Ash or catalpa can give you a similar look with less weight in a body, and woods like maple can give you a high performing neck without rough grain texture to deal with when you're finishing. But if you wanted to design an instrument using oak it would certainly be possible to work around those factors.
I've retored and refinished a lot of old oak furniture, and havent seen any tendency of oak to rust steel fasteners, but steel sure as hell stains oak. Any place steel or iron touches oak, it will stain black. In fact soaking steel wool or iron in vinegar produces a pretty good black stain for oak. I think it would probably make a very rigid neck wood, but its heavy, and the open grain can be pretty coarse, almost like wenge.
Use This Incredible Technique to Waterproof Wood Furniture
Had never heard the term. Just briefly looked and there is also a process calle yakisugi. Not sure if they are the same.
Had never heard the term. Just briefly looked and there is also a process calle yakisugi. Not sure if they are the same.
Shou Sugi Ban or Yakisugi? | Popular Woodworking
Here is an interesting to me article on the misused word and the traditional technique.
Here is an interesting to me article on the misused word and the traditional technique.
I've seen people add dye after wire brushing to bring out this funky black grain to dye to wood look. A cool search on youtube for sure. I've watched too many videos of that over the years. Not sure how you could use that in lutherie though. seems like a rough top would not be comfortable to play on.
I think the "oak rusts steel" idea most likely came from the interaction with steel that turns the wood black.
Untreated steel fasteners will oxidize in any wood. The fake P bass I pulled apart to scavenge parts had a plywood body. Every steel piece of hardware on the entire bass had rust. The PG screws were the worst and there was no oak in the plywood. And the screws were plated at one point. And the bass was in a bedroom, behind a door for I'd guess at least 10 yrs, not played.
I guess my point is that it's more about the hardware and how crappy it is.
Untreated steel fasteners will oxidize in any wood. The fake P bass I pulled apart to scavenge parts had a plywood body. Every steel piece of hardware on the entire bass had rust. The PG screws were the worst and there was no oak in the plywood. And the screws were plated at one point. And the bass was in a bedroom, behind a door for I'd guess at least 10 yrs, not played.
I guess my point is that it's more about the hardware and how crappy it is.
You mean specific to the region? Persimmon is a light colored ebony. I've seen it used as a back and sides on an acoustic, but it is probably more amenable to fretboards.
And then of course peach tree which I've never seen used but I can't see why not. Pecan is one of the others people have mentioned on here.
I didn't mess with wood back when I was there in Grovetown. I remember a lot of pines. I'd assume there was a few different species near the Savannah river, but I don't remember them much. Plenty of logging trucks carrying pine though. Sometimes my wife and I talk about visiting there, but we have no ties except memories. Unfortunately, I'm sure the pandemic did a number on some of our favorite local businesses. Probably better left to memories.
Peach would be interesting. Might consider using it as a 1/4" top on a body if my daughter born there decides to start playing.
Has anyone used peach or persimmon?
Edit: peach isn't on wood-database.....
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I dont care what thread it is.... Fozzie bear humor is always welcome. Woodn't you say?
Good topic. The traditional tropical hardwoods are great, but I've become more interested in domestic alternatives.
Of the traditional woodworking varieties, Cherry is one I'm not tired of yet. And Sycamore is an unscratched itch for me. A hardwood I like that I never see used for guitars/basses is Butternut, which I think would be great for bodies. And then Douglas Fir... always watching for that. I've got some old pieces I'm hanging onto for when I get a real shop again.
I've been making small craft items from Mesquite for a while, and am always interested when it's mentioned for luthiery. Bonus if the usual bbq jokes are skipped. I have some scrap pieces of Mesquite flooring that were sourced from Texas, and some firewood logs from Arizona. Both are on the dark end of what I see online. The wood is hard but workable, strong, and stable. In fact, the flooring I rescued from a scrap pile that had been left outside for several years. It was still straight and in good condition. It can darken significantly with heat, and also goes almost black with iron acetate. Closed grain, similar to Pau Ferro. It would make a good fingerboard, and would also be good for a neck, if you can find a big enough piece. Heavy, yes, but I see people making necks from other heavy materials, like Rosewood and Wenge.
Decades ago, I turned a broken Thunderbird bass into a neck-through with laminated Hickory; chosen for it's high MOE. Not nice to work with, and tended to warp. Based on that limited experience, I'd leery of Pecan, but I haven't worked with it.
A few other oddball woods domestic woods I've used and like:
Arizona Cypress - the pieces I've had were lighter than Sitka Spruce, with straight grain. Not a commercial species, but they get large enough for boards.
Manzanita - very hard, and strong, but big pieces are rare. Loved seeing it used in the Tubscrod project.
Ironwood (Hophornbeam) - another potential candidate for fingerboards, I'd think.
Alligator Juniper - nice color and grain; dense and hard for a "softwood". Smells good too.
Of the traditional woodworking varieties, Cherry is one I'm not tired of yet. And Sycamore is an unscratched itch for me. A hardwood I like that I never see used for guitars/basses is Butternut, which I think would be great for bodies. And then Douglas Fir... always watching for that. I've got some old pieces I'm hanging onto for when I get a real shop again.
I've been making small craft items from Mesquite for a while, and am always interested when it's mentioned for luthiery. Bonus if the usual bbq jokes are skipped. I have some scrap pieces of Mesquite flooring that were sourced from Texas, and some firewood logs from Arizona. Both are on the dark end of what I see online. The wood is hard but workable, strong, and stable. In fact, the flooring I rescued from a scrap pile that had been left outside for several years. It was still straight and in good condition. It can darken significantly with heat, and also goes almost black with iron acetate. Closed grain, similar to Pau Ferro. It would make a good fingerboard, and would also be good for a neck, if you can find a big enough piece. Heavy, yes, but I see people making necks from other heavy materials, like Rosewood and Wenge.
Decades ago, I turned a broken Thunderbird bass into a neck-through with laminated Hickory; chosen for it's high MOE. Not nice to work with, and tended to warp. Based on that limited experience, I'd leery of Pecan, but I haven't worked with it.
A few other oddball woods domestic woods I've used and like:
Arizona Cypress - the pieces I've had were lighter than Sitka Spruce, with straight grain. Not a commercial species, but they get large enough for boards.
Manzanita - very hard, and strong, but big pieces are rare. Loved seeing it used in the Tubscrod project.
Ironwood (Hophornbeam) - another potential candidate for fingerboards, I'd think.
Alligator Juniper - nice color and grain; dense and hard for a "softwood". Smells good too.
