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#1
07-23-2022, 04:29 AM
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Douglas Fir - looking for ideas...
I recently acquired a beautifully figured piece of Douglas Fir (or I think it's Douglas Fir. I live on the east coast and would never have seen any before). Rough measurements are 4'x14"x1.5". And yes, I know it's not quarter-sawn.
Just looking for ideas and suggestions... https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/39476934225360450
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Seagull Coastline Cedar Folk Last edited by gilles; 07-23-2022 at 06:40 AM. 
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#4
07-23-2022, 06:14 AM
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It does not look like it's sawn properly for an acoustic top. What does the end grain look like? If it is vertical like this |||||||| that is what you are looking for but face of that piece looks like it's more flat sawn.
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#5
07-23-2022, 06:23 AM
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Quote:
(no disrespect intended, btw...)
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Seagull Coastline Cedar Folk
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#6
07-23-2022, 06:29 AM
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No disrespect taken, I would suggest you not use it for a top though. I wonder if those flat sawn tops that you saw on factory guitars were laminate tops?
You could get a lot of brace wood out of it.
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#8
07-23-2022, 09:37 AM
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Seagull Coastline Cedar Folk
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#9
07-23-2022, 09:47 AM
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Flatsawn would be too crack prone. You could saw into strips and do a multi-piece top. Or cut it into braces.
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#11
07-23-2022, 03:27 PM
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Quote:
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bonzer5
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#12
07-24-2022, 08:32 AM
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I have built a couple of similar small guitars out of pine when I first started building. One had quartered wood and the other flat sawn. The quartered wood cracked and the flat sawn did not. But I used the wood for back and sides, not for a top. Maybe use the wood for B&S's? But if it were to be used for a top the board looks ideal as it is pretty darn flat rather than changing angle. I think it was Alan that said flat sawn wood gets close to the stiffness of quartered, I did some testing on brace wood and found that to be the case, not that I would use it for braces but I just needed to know. So if it were used for a top I would mainly be concerned about humidity changes, stiffness not so much. I would join at the right hand side. The question of run out is a valid one if it were used for a top. If I were to use it I would use it for B&S's rather than a top. To bend it I would recommend getting a bottle of SuperSoft II, it helps bending softwoods. Softwoods do not bend well, although the bends would be less than I have done as my guitars were small ones. Just looking again at the grain in the first picture I think run out might be minimal on the right side, other than humidity concerns I think it may work for a top.
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Fred Last edited by printer2; 07-24-2022 at 08:40 AM.
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#13
07-24-2022, 11:44 AM
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Actually, my testing has confirmed that dead flat sawn red spruce is stiffer along the grain than quartered. I can only assume that is true with most softwoods. But cross- grain stiffness falls off rapidly when the grain is only a few degrees off flat (or vertical). Since getting dead flat grain over the 8" width of a guitar top half is nearly impossible, it may enter into design considerations.
Doug fir is easily identified by its distinctive resinous smell. It is one of the primary species used for plywood, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century. Last edited by John Arnold; 07-24-2022 at 03:02 PM.
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