I like to use old wood because it is more stable, and probably sounds better. I am not a slave to using quartered wood for backs, sides, or necks, nor am I averse to using multi-piece tops or backs, so that opens up more possibilities for repurposing furniture and other wooden items. That doen't mean that I don't pay attention to grain straightness or freedom from runout. IMHO, besides the wood species, those are the main factors that determine suitability for instruments.
My repurposing (if you don't count my first few guitars that made extensive use of pallet boards), has come mainly from old pianos. The spruce soundboard braces often make excellent guitar braces, and the pin plank is frequently made of old growth sugar maple that is ideal for bridgeplates.
Re: tools
I built guitars for over a decade without any kind of thickness planer or sander. I would glue up tops and backs, and take those and the sides to a cabinet shop to be thicknessed on a wide belt sander. The price was always very reasonable, but the shop finally closed up.
I eventually bought a Ryobi 10" planer, which IMHO is the only one that will plane below 0.1" thick without sniping (or chewing it up and spitting out little pieces), assuming the wood is perfect and straight-grained.
Much later, I got a 16" open-ended drum sander, Ryobi's copy of the Performax 16-32.
I have always had a 10" Craftsman table saw, a 10" Rockwell bandsaw, a 4"jointer, a router, router table, and laminate trimmer. An old floor model Craftsman 15" drill press was also acquired early on.
Last edited by John Arnold; 08-28-2018 at 02:30 PM.
|