Advice about splitting panels for guitar top

[dean.s.wood]

Hello all,

Was hoping to get some advice about whether I can maximise the use of some reclaimed wood.
I have got my hands on some panels from a 200 year old door. They are pine (I think) but not pine as I know it. They have straight grain that looks quite tight for pine. They won’t look stunning but should make a decent top (although I am very novice at this so could be wildly wrong).

Anyway, they are about 8mm thick. If I could resaw them to half that it would still be plenty thick enough for a top and I’d get more from what I have. Now I only work with hand tools and I’m not going to achieve that with them. Is it worth me trying to find a local joiner or cabinet maker who may have the tools (I’m guessing bands saw with a relatively thin blade?) to reduce the thickness of these boards for me?

Really appreciate anyone’s advice.

Thanks

Dean

[Nahil.R]

Originally Posted by dean.s.wood

Hello all,

Was hoping to get some advice about whether I can maximise the use of some reclaimed wood.
I have got my hands on some panels from a 200 year old door. They are pine (I think) but not pine as I know it. They have straight grain that looks quite tight for pine. They won’t look stunning but should make a decent top (although I am very novice at this so could be wildly wrong).

Anyway, they are about 8mm thick. If I could resaw them to half that it would still be plenty thick enough for a top and I’d get more from what I have. Now I only work with hand tools and I’m not going to achieve that with them. Is it worth me trying to find a local joiner or cabinet maker who may have the tools (I’m guessing bands saw with a relatively thin blade?) to reduce the thickness of these boards for me?

Really appreciate anyone’s advice.

Thanks

Dean

I think your best best would to find a woodworker with the capacity to resaw if you want to maximise the use of the board.

Nahil.

[dean.s.wood]

So just to clarify, I’m not sure how possible it is to resaw an 8mm panel. Is it too thin? That is really the question. Is an 8mm think panel too thin to resaw? I know it’s too thin to do by hand. Or rather it is for me.

Thanks

Dean

[Nahil.R]

Originally Posted by dean.s.wood

So just to clarify, I’m not sure how possible it is to resaw an 8mm panel. Is it too thin? That is really the question. Is an 8mm think panel too thin to resaw? I know it’s too thin to do by hand. Or rather it is for me.

Thanks

Dean

Unfortunately I don't have any resawing experience so I can't say for certain. I am pretty confident with the right tools it can be done.

[mirwa]

8mm panel is a bit on the thin side to split in half for a top.

A typical resaw blade is 1mm thick, so a perfect split which is pretty hard to do will give you 3.5mm each piece undressed

Steve

[dean.s.wood]

That is what I thought may be the case but having no experience in power tools or resawing for tops I wasn’t certain.

Thank you. I’ll go back to matching two pieces together and then thinning. Shame but it’ll just be good to be reusing them For something

Thank you

Dean

[printer2]

Originally Posted by dean.s.wood

That is what I thought may be the case but having no experience in power tools or resawing for tops I wasn’t certain.

Thank you. I’ll go back to matching two pieces together and then thinning. Shame but it’ll just be good to be reusing them For something

Thank you

Dean

Antonio de Torres, unmatched top. Doubt if anyone would mind.

[redir]

I have resawn *almost that thin but it's really risky. I would probably not want to try that. As Printer suggested there's nothing wrong with a non book matched top. Especially when it comes from 200 year old wood

[Bruce Sexauer]

8mm can be resawn, but probably not for a top. In spruce, generally stronger than pine, a finished top is between 2.5 and 3 mm, and once you clean up your faces you won’t have that. To successfully Resaw a “billet” Into 2 pieces of top thickness, I’d like to start with 10mm. Also, you must have considerable skill to accomplish this. That skill is acquired through doing, so have at it.

[John Arnold]

If the piece is long enough, you can do a running match. Turn one piece end for end to match.

[Quickstep192]

Based on the description of the wood, I would guess it's Douglass fir. It can be beautiful stuff; I wonder why we don't see more tops made from it. And, 200 years of aging probably make it even more so, not to mention it was likely higher quality to begin with.