building/lumber purchasing questions - Page 2

LouieAtienza · #16 10-29-2016, 09:46 AM

Last year I paid about $8/bf for Sitka spruce... considering that, you get quite a savings if you consider your labor free. If you have a good resaw bandsaw your yield can be quite high.

I'm not as concerned with a board being dead quartered as low as the runout is minimal. It does take a bit of experience to know if a particular board has it, if ut hasn't been dressed on one or two sides...

redir · #17 10-30-2016, 10:00 PM

You have gotten some valuable feedback from some of the finest makers around and should probably heed their advice. I won't claim to have such esteemed experience but I will say that of the now 53 guitars I have built probably 40 of them have been built with reclaimed woods from floorboards, benches, barn wood and so on. Most of those were just for back, sides and necks with good quality tops but several were made from old quartered pine planks too.

I don't sell upward of $6k guitars either but I have found something that works and that people like. I guess my point is that imho it can be done.

PiousDevil · #18 10-31-2016, 06:47 AM

Thanks for all the advice. I just realized there is a subform for building and repair, I probably should have posted this there.

hat · #19 10-31-2016, 08:31 AM

besides the top and back wood, watch for nice binding and trim wood. I have picked up some just fantastic curly figured maple trim at the box stores. A short bit of time at the bandsaw turns out some really nice binding and trim. Local sawmills, and pallet wood shops are also good 'picks'. I've found some great figured Walnut, Sycamore, etc this way. And don't forget to scour the auctions, and used furniture stores for solid wood table tops. Some really good Mahogany and walnut can be found if you keep your eyes open and your head up!

Rodger Knox · #20 10-31-2016, 01:15 PM

Forget about resawing tops. Good tops are $50 or so, there's not that much room for saving.
I do resaw all the wood I use for everything except tops, it's a little cheaper and the wood tells you a little about itself when you're cutting it.

PiousDevil · #21 10-31-2016, 03:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodger Knox

Forget about resawing tops. Good tops are $50 or so, there's not that much room for saving.
I do resaw all the wood I use for everything except tops, it's a little cheaper and the wood tells you a little about itself when you're cutting it.

I see you're a Marylander. Is the humidity a pain?

printer2 · #22 10-31-2016, 07:23 PM

I have picked up some perfectly quartered 'pine' from Home Depot which I resawed. Baked a few pieces and it had no pine resin some may even be spruce.

Rodger Knox · #23 11-01-2016, 03:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PiousDevil

I see you're a Marylander. Is the humidity a pain?

Well, actually I'm a Texan living in Maryland. Yes, the humidity is a pain, particularly since my shop isn't RH controlled. I have to wait till the RH drops in the winter to brace tops & backs and get the boxes closed.