buloke

[mlp]

Hi guys , today i picked up some well quartered buloke with the intention of using it for a fretboard and bridge. apparently this timber has the highest janka rating on the planet (5060 pounds/force). That being the case, i would have expected it to be quite heavy but to my surprise it would be in the same ballpark as some fairly dense tassy blackwood and lighter than gidgee.Has any one out there used this for a fretboard/bridge? Thanks
marcus.

[curly]

Buloke ( Allocasuarina leuhmannii ) is pretty special stuff . It has pretty profound surface hardness and yeah the density is lower than Gidg , about 1100 from memory , cant be stuffed looking it up .
I'd say great for fingerboards but too heavy for your bridge unless you do something radical like back it out .
One downside of true quarter stuff is that the rays are really wide , up to 30mm across ! which would look pretty odd in small sections . Look the pieces over really carefully for hairline cracks , it's really prone to fine checks in drying . Another thing to watch is that whilst having high janka it is weak across the grain , that is to say it's really fissile .
As an aside Buloke is completely awesome firewood , I once sagged the sides on a cast iron stove using it !
Pete

[mlp]

Thanks for the reply Pete, any idea's on what a decent weight for a bridge is ? This is only my 3rd build, so i've still got a lot to learn !The first 2 sound pretty good to my ear, maybe a little bit heavy on the bass side of things. Not worthy of putting in the gallery, but hopefully this next one is.
cheers
marcus

[kiwigeo]

Thanks for the reply Pete, any idea's on what a decent weight for a bridge is ? This is only my 3rd build, so i've still got a lot to learn !The first 2 sound pretty good to my ear, maybe a little bit heavy on the bass side of things. Not worthy of putting in the gallery, but hopefully this next one is.
cheers
marcus

I aim for about 25grams or less for my classicals. My bridges are Gore style laminates of blackwood and carbon fibre matting.

[mlp]

Thanks Martin, should i aim for about the same on a steel string?




marcus

[kiwigeo]

Thanks Martin, should i aim for about the same on a steel string? marcus

Marcus,

I build following the teachings of Trevor Gore. The emphasis is on high stiffness and light weight hence his use of a laminate of CF and wood. A cf layer is also incorporated on the bridge plate on his steel strings. Trevor favours narrow bridges particularly on classicals (gives a stronger cross tripole mode). Woods he favours are low density woods such as walnut, padauk and Tassie Blackwood. The bridges on Trevors contemporary designs weigh between 15 and 20 grams and he recommends 10grams as a "sensible minimum".

Hope this helps.

[mlp]

Thanks again Martin.

marcus.

[kiwigeo]

I'm about to make up a Gore style laminated bridge for the classical I'm working on. I'll put up some pictures once its finished.

[Wayde Christie]

I'm a week away from doing a course with Trevor Gore, and discussions like this fascinate me.

I've got an amazing King Billy Pine soundboard I'm itching to apply his science to

[kiwigeo]

Welcome to the Gore Army Private Christie...