neck blank question

[RobDyball]

Hello luthiers,

My father in law has offered me a bit of his timber stash: a 2m long piece of 150-year-old red cedar from an old church that was torn down in Box Hill, Vic, in the 70s. It's beautiful - perfectly quartered and a rich red chocolatey colour. Light as anything but very strong, carves and planes like mahogany.

The timber has a routed profile, but squaring it will bring down the cross section to 90x25.
I see neck blanks going between 610-650mm. Is that about right? How much would one typically use for a stacked heel?

Or if there's a better use than necks let me know!
Now I just need to convince him to surrender the other bits he has earmarked for a coffee table...

Cheers!
Rob

[56nortondomy]

Hi Rob at 25mm thick i'd use 3 pieces for a stacked heel, i normally have one at 100mm one at 80mm and one at 60mm, so about 240mm in length.
Wayne

[lauburu]

Assuming you are talking about western red cedar and you are making a steel string guitar neck? Even though you say it is very strong and works like mahogany, you might like to think about reinforcing it with a carbon fibre rod. Belt and braces.
Miguel

[curly]

G'day Rob ,
It'd be Aus Red Cedar , Toona citiala which is closely related to the true mahoganies . It's a very light weight and somewhat fragile timber , perfectly suited for nylon string guitars but marginal for steel string unless additional stiffness is added .
It's a gorgeous timber to work , and particularly lovely to look at . I just hope its had time to air out from the farts of pious people !
Pete

[RobDyball]

Thanks guys,

So 610 + 240 + kerfs and f*ckups should get me 2 necks out of the 2m length.
I'm intending it for a classical neck, or a gut-strung parlour. Hopefully the pious farts will have transubstantiated by now Pete

For reinforcing, is the jury still out on carbon fibre rods?

Cheers,
Rob

[jeffhigh]

Works fine for nylon string necks in my experience
That old stuff is beautiful so much more colour than the new regrowth.
I have a student using some recovered from old door jambs at the moment.

[56nortondomy]

I use CF in all my necks Rob, gives them that little bit of extra stiffness.
Wayne

[Kamusur]

G'day Rob ,
It'd be Aus Red Cedar , Toona citiala which is closely related to the true mahoganies . It's a very light weight and somewhat fragile timber , perfectly suited for nylon string guitars but marginal for steel string unless additional stiffness is added .
It's a gorgeous timber to work , and particularly lovely to look at . I just hope its had time to air out from the farts of pious people !
Pete

Thats very funny Pete The others have pretty much covered it all and it can make a great contrast when used with lighter/whiter coloured timbers, i love the stuff.

Steve.