Ancient Kauri

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Bob Gleason

Ancient Kauri

Post by Bob Gleason » Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:22 am

I have some swamp Kauri for the back and sides of a uke and some modern Kauri for the top. Never worked with this wood. The swamp Kauri is pretty stiff. Does it bend O.K. with the usual procedures? Typically I would bend uke wood at about 1.7-1.8mm thick in a Fox style bender. Hope you all have the best holiday season you can!--Bob/Pegasus Guitars & Ukuleles

quartpopt
Gidgee
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Joined: Wed Mar 05, 2014 4:37 pm
Location: Stanthorpe QLD

Re: Ancient Kauri

Post by quartpopt » Wed Dec 23, 2020 6:44 pm

I built a crossover using standard kauri for laminated sides; bent ok on the bender at 2mm thick...added WRC 1.0 as the inner. I have another QS board that I know was a cupboard shelf for 40+ years. I am planning to use it for a blanca neck (with cf centre insert) to keep it really light. I found that kauri has a very roughness to it...I don't think I would use it for a soundboard. But with a scraped finish it might be OK.

Bob Gleason

Re: Ancient Kauri

Post by Bob Gleason » Mon Dec 28, 2020 1:37 pm

Well, I guess I can answer my own question about bending the Kauri. After it was thinned to 1.8mm, it could almost be bent dry. Very rubbery. I just did the usual. Put the bender timer on 12 minutes and the temp controller at 320 degrees. Bent easy and came out very smooth. However, when I trimmed the ends after bending to fit them in the mold, I discovered that the ancient Kauri, at least the sets I have, is extremely brittle across the grain. With the grain, no problem. Across the grain, watch out! I don't normally ever need side stiffeners in a uke, but I'll do a number of them in this uke.-Bob

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