Working with Honey Locust wood

[peter_h]

I have reserved some honey locust wood. I love the natural look and want to use it in my guitar designs.

I am looking to use it in a guitar build. Guitar tops for it's figurative nature. In a lamination neck. Considering using it as fingerboard or if too challenging on the back.

I am not a wood expert, and this stuff is hard to source so really don't want to waste it.

I know it is not the easiest wood to work with but would really appreciate understanding this wood and any wood more available to practice with.

Also, can 19mm wide, 14" be ripped to bookend match?

 

[Droogs]

Check the wooddatabase for info

Re resawing, yes but be aware there is a very high probability rather than possibility that the wood will cup or go into wind after cutting. You may have to store it between some cauls for a couple of months after sawing to allow it to destress and acclimate to your surroundings before trying to work with it

hth

 

[sawtooth-9]

I

I have reserved some honey locust wood. I love the natural look and want to use it in my guitar designs.

I am looking to use it in a guitar build. Guitar tops for it's figurative nature. In a lamination neck. Considering using it as fingerboard or if too challenging on the back.

I am not a wood expert, and this stuff is hard to source so really don't want to waste it.

I know it is not the easiest wood to work with but would really appreciate understanding this wood and any wood more available to practice with.

Also, can 19mm wide, 14" be ripped to bookend match?

View attachment 140842

don't know this wood, but if it is suitable for fingerboards, I doubt it would be good for the soundboard.
Fingerboards require hardwood both for the wear and the tight fitment of the frets. Soundboards are selected for their tonal qualities - ( unless it's for an electric guitar )
It's easy to get a rough feel for the tonal quality - simply hold a piece between your fingers - at one end - place that end flat against your ear and then gently ( lightly ) stroke the other end with your finger. For a good soundboard you should "hear" every slight movement of your finger.
You wouldn't use ebony for a soundboard and you wouldn't use spruce for a fingerboard.

 

[peter_h]

Check the wooddatabase for info

Re resawing, yes but be aware there is a very high probability rather than possibility that the wood will cup or go into wind after cutting. You may have to store it between some cauls for a couple of months after sawing to allow it to destress and acclimate to your surroundings before trying to work with it

hth

Thanks for the info Droogs.

 

[peter_h]

I

don't know this wood, but if it is suitable for fingerboards, I doubt it would be good for the soundboard.
Fingerboards require hardwood both for the wear and the tight fitment of the frets. Soundboards are selected for their tonal qualities - ( unless it's for an electric guitar )
It's easy to get a rough feel for the tonal quality - simply hold a piece between your fingers - at one end - place that end flat against your ear and then gently ( lightly ) stroke the other end with your finger. For a good soundboard you should "hear" every slight movement of your finger.
You wouldn't use ebony for a soundboard and you wouldn't use spruce for a fingerboard.

Hi Sawtooth-9,
It is for electric guitar tops, so not as important tonally, but when I go back to the supplier I will see how it sounds.

Thanks for the info.

 

[Stigmorgan]

The knowledge on this site is amazing can't help but giggle at the thought of going to a timber merchants and asking how the wood sounds

 

[sawtooth-9]

Hi Sawtooth-9,
It is for electric guitar tops, so not as important tonally, but when I go back to the supplier I will see how it sounds.

Thanks for the info.

There are different responses of timber to touch. Some fast and some a little slower.
Some responses are " bright " and others " flat " Some are sharp and others dull.
This is the true artistry of what you do. Listen and respond, it's always touch and feel.
But there is always an extra. So much of the resonance and harmonics are found in the soundboard structural cross-sections and the soundboard bracing.
Having built instruments many years ago, the "artists" do just this.

 

[sawtooth-9]

The knowledge on this site is amazing can't help but giggle at the thought of going to a timber merchants and asking how the wood sounds

Giggle all you like - and thats good.
BUT it is what separates an amateur from an artist.

Hi Sawtooth-9,
It is for electric guitar tops, so not as important tonally, but when I go back to the supplier I will see how it sounds.

Thanks for the info.

Even with an electric guitar - the electrics only transmit what the timber vibrations supply
Usually, the electrics amplify only what they are given
Give them something to work with !