Soundboard Grain Orientation (Port Orford Cedar board)

[CMStewart]

I have acquired a piece of Port Orford cedar, which is long enough and wide enough to resaw into soundboards. Below is a photo of it. It is 13" wide and 1.5" thick.

I know we want out soundboards to be as close to quartersawn as possible. You can see from the end grain that on the far right, the grain is vertical, but as you move to the left it gets more skewed as the rings curl more and more. So I am wondering if this piece is suitable to cut into soundboards? Is it pretty normal for soundboards to have the grain skew a bit on one side or the other?

If this isn't suitable, I will use it for other purposes. I'd appreciate hearing everyone else's thoughts

[BradHall]

It’s my understanding that the more quartered edges should be the centerline. I don’t think it is that unusual in a board of that width for the grain to move off quarter. You will also be cutting off a large portion of the outer edges when you profile the plates.

[Bruce Sexauer]

I personally would consider it a desperate move to use that billet for a sound board. It would certainly work, but cross its grain stiffness is unlikely to be great. This can be allowed for in construction, but is an unnecessary compromise if/when there is better wood nearby.

That billet approached 30 degrees off quarter, and I squirm uncomfortably at less than 5 degrees off.

[CMStewart]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

I personally would consider it a desperate move to use that billet for a sound board. It would certainly work, but cross its grain stiffness is unlikely to be great. This can be allowed for in construction, but is an unnecessary compromise if/when there is better wood nearby.

That billet approached 30 degrees off quarter, and I squirm uncomfortably at less than 5 degrees off.

Hey Bruce, thank you for the comments. That's exactly the kind of guidance I was looking for. I've never re-sawn a soundboard, so that really helps me understand what to look for if I ever do.

Now, I did get this relatively cheap, so is there something else this may be useful for? (bracewood maybe?). I'm also a new builder, so would it be alright to use this to create bracing templates or something? Or just for practice? Anything else come to mind it could be useful for? It is 27" long X 13" wide... so it's a pretty good size piece. Thank you for the help.

[Bruce Sexauer]

IF I were to use that billet . . .the first 3 inches or so are finer ringed and quartered, relative to the faces, which makes that part more ideal for brace stock. The next 8 inches might render 1 nearly quartered top if resawn from upper right to lower left as shown. Better one decent top than 6 poor ones, IMO. Of course I don’t see length or run out, which could change my strategy considerably.

[CMStewart]

Originally Posted by Bruce Sexauer

IF I were to use that billet . . .the first 3 inches or so are finer ringed and quartered, relative to the faces, which makes that part more ideal for brace stock. The next 8 inches might render 1 nearly quartered top if resawn from upper right to lower left as shown. Better one decent top than 6 poor ones, IMO. Of course I don’t see length or run out, which could change my strategy considerably.

Thank you Bruce. I like that idea. It's worth a shot to get 1 set from it. I can't tell which side is actually straighter -- from right to left on the bottom or top. I don't see any runout to speak of on the face of it.

The rest of it I think I'll try to split for brace wood.

[phavriluk]

I'd lop off the quartered portion and set it aside for bracewood - - - first.