Australian/New Zealand Luthiers Forum

yakka wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:18 pm

https://luthiersupplies.com.au/natural- ... le-veneers

thanks, I bought some, I wish they werent so expensive

Ric

I found this as Sequoia, It looks exactly like those tops I mentioned with white paint on the open wood.

Hi Ric ok i'll have a guess and say it's Tasmanian Myrtle Which is one of my favourites for backs, sides and sometimes necks There is a book by Keith R. Bootle 'Wood in Australia' which I find quite helpful for this sort of stuff. I have a workshop in Melbourne's South Eastern suburbs full of machi...

Last one, the one on the left has mistakingly written in pencil blackwood, but Is not, smells slightly like cedar and I believe it to be cedar. On the right similar in colour, a bit darker, but the grain is different, and has a generic warm wood smell. That is all my mystery wood for now. I truly ap...

This lot came in one pack and looks part of the same tree as it has a lot of holes and the exposed grain painted white. It is very very resonant when tapping, generic wood smell.

The second piece:

There is a pinkish hue that doesn't show in the picture. No smell or generic hot wood smell.

I hope this helps. going by smell, the left piece is neck material that I know is red cedar with a very subtle cedar-ish smell. The middle is the kind of cedar that inundates the workshop as soon as you touch it. very strong cedar smell. Now on the right is the mystery wood 1. no smell or very subtle.

Hello, Thanks for all that information. In the lot I bought I had: Fiji and Brazilian mahogany, Bubinga tops, Sycamore and Engleman spruce. I guess that the wood without a name could be from anywhere, no just Australia although 70% was made of Tassie Blackwood back and sides. I will bring the myster...

Just in case someone never saw this youtube video, please check it out. I am sure that if you give this luthier an axe and a log he could build you a classical guitar overnight. https://youtu.be/biWk-QLWY7U Btw, can someone tell me where to buy coloured veneer and just normal veneer too? I was build...

another piece, this one is very unique, I m sure someone will know this one.
Thanks for all your responses.
Ric

After looking at the picture closely, I can't tell if it is King Billy Pine or Western Red Cedar, but if I had to guess I would choose King Billy Pine. Cedar is usually darker, but some pieces I have are exactly the same colour as King Billy, and equally as fine grained. The only way to tell is to ...

That was 35+ years ago in Buenos Aires. I am not sure about the situation of rosewood and what restrictions apply nowadays in Argentina, but I am sure it would not be as expensive as it is here. I am in Lower Templestowe. coming back to this craft after more than 35 years, there is some muscle memor...

Hello All, Just a little intro first. I came across wood from an Aussie guitar builder many years back and bought as much as I could. Now that I have more time to start working on a guitar I would like to know the name of the species of wood that I bought back then. I worked at my grandfather's work...

Thanks for the offer, but I am all set now, I bought this set for $24 that gives me all the combinations I need for binding and purfling.
Again, thanks for offering.
Ric

Thanks Mark, I found this and for $24 and it had enough size combinations to solve my problem. I don't really understand the price discrepancy here. Buying it from a luthier supply shop it costs 10 times more. This set for $24 is Australian stock so it arrived in a few days. If you search this on eB...

Yes, I thought of wrapping something in the absence of a proper bush, maybe aluminum, but if the tape worked for you that seems like the easiest alternative.
Ric

Hmmm...that is why I need a metal lathe :) I have just found this: Search on eBay for "2pcs 1/2" Height with 6 Bearings Rabbet Router Bit & Bearing Set 1/4" Shank set" AU $21.59 you get a full set 10 times cheaper compared with what I found from well-known luthier suppliers. Thanks for your advise, ...

Hello, I decided to try cutting the channels using a couple of small routers that I have. I had the router bits and the bearing system for years but I always ended up cutting them by hand. This time I decided to persevere so I fit the routers with the cutters I have and I seem to be missing the corr...

Hello Allen,
My day job is 'Web design and development' I am not going to charge you any money for advice, don't worry
Please ask away.

Ric

I would like to share this video that I found a few years back.
I was tempted to try imitate his bracing pattern, but I never did.
Did anybody try it?

[youtube]https://youtu.be/EWDt-7gbiYI[/youtube]

Regards,

Ric

Thanks Mark, bracing takes me a disproportionate amount of time. I copied the model from John Bogdanovich and just for the sake of testing his system as accurately as possible I sized each brace according to his plan. Almost every brace is different in size. 5x5, 5x5.5, 5x6.5, 4x4 and so on, plus th...

Thanks Mark for the advice, I should pick dry days for gluing work, but this is the first time for me. I only do two or three guitars a year, I must have been lucky so far. Making braces for the top is the part of the build that I like the least to put it mildly. I might just leave it like that and ...

Hello Everybody! A perfectly normal Engleman spruce top that I made just a few days ago underwent a terrible metamorphosis. It was fine 2 days ago and this morning when I picked it up to start assembling the box this is what I found: Check attachment 20201117_101801.jpg Humidity in Melbourne has nev...

blackalex1952 wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 06, 2019 11:03 am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxvOMHoLRBY

They could be using some unknown force, their Chi or something to shave wood like that. I have an old Japanese plane that is just for show because the skill to set it up to do those shavings it is a lifetime learning process on its own.
Ric

Time ya got a bandsaw mate. Even with a 14" bandie you can do a surprising amount of re-sawing. I would love to see a video or read on how to set up a bandsaw to do its best work, how to fine-tune it for cutting even a 90 mm neck without sounding like a wounded animal or resisting like I am cutting...