[OP]
Contributor
My brother has a 10 foot board, of Sitka Spruce.
It's 2" thick, 9" wide.
When I saw it was 2" thick, I immediatly thought that it would be good for bass.
Is Sitka spruce ever used for bass building?
Or would he be better off resawing it, for an acustic guitar/Uke/Mandolin backs and sides?
In other words, what's the best use of this board of his, for musical wood?
Member
Guitar tops, if it is quater sawn. Brace material if not.
Mike
Contributor
Soundboards in general. Masts and booms on sail boats. Wooden airplanes both competition models like hand-launched gliders and fully-sized aircraft. ( complete this phrase: " ___________ Goose" ). I've used spruce several times for the cases of Italian harpsichords. It is very pleasant to work, in my opinion. And while I'm prejudiced from staring into it's depths for many thousands of hours as a musician and as an instrument builder, it is intriguing and beautiful to behold. With a board that size I would run, not walk to my shop and throw together a truly gorgeous all-spruce cabinet.
Member
The spruce goose was made of birch plywood.
I have many such Sitka spruce planks that I bought years ago from Condon Lumber Co. in White Plains,N.Y.. These planks were intended for decking and other boat work. I spent a day getting very nice boards. Some of them are bearclaw.
An aircraft enthusiast advised me to call "Aircraft Spruce" co. in California. The young dumb a$$ who answered the phone did not know what spruce was!!!! Incredible,since it was the name of their stupid company!!! I had to speak for a supervisor. Then,I bought a piece of aircraft grade Sitka spruce at a high price. It wasn't any better than what I already had. Just some guy decided it was free of defects,and safe to use on aircraft.
I lived in Alaska for 6 years. One year was in Sitka.
Last edited by george wilson; 03-12-2011 at 2:15 PM.
Member
Argueably the best aircraft of WW 2 was the Dehaviland Mosquito. It was faster than the single seater fighters, could turn a tighter radius than the Me109, could haul bombs like the heavy bombers and could fly at 36,000 feet (a special pressurized model). The Mosquito was called the "plywood wonder" and its fuselage was made of sitka spruce. One of the Mosquito plants was in Downsview Ontario Canada where I lived. Hey it's one of the things that Canadians can be proud of so I had to run the flag up the pole!
Aircraft grade sitka is actually graded for use in airframes and the grading criteria are easy to look up. Aircraft grade sitka will have an ink stamp testifying to the pedigree and it is indeed very expensive.
Really good quality sitka used for instrument soundboards should begin its life as a riven billet - this eliminates most of the grain runout. You won't really get this with lumber but the aircraft grade does indeed have strict tolerances regarding runout.
It's not a cabinet wood per se but I have seen a number of cabinets made with it and they are very beautiful - good call Russell! Alaskan yellow cedar and douglas fir would be equally gorgeous in a cabinet.
Contributor
Some use spruce for neck blocks, and that relieves some of the criteria for grain. If you're going to use it for guitar tops, it really needs to be pretty straight grained and well quartered. Many will use only quarter sawn for braces as well, and some split their braces to insure this. Post a couple of good close up pictures.
At only 2" thick, it's not really thick enough for an archtop. You really want to end up with a 1" blank before you start carving, and if you're only 8/4 to start with, you'll never get there.
George: Back in my airplane building days, Aircraft Spruce used to get a lot of my business! I even flew down to their place once...it was only maybe a 40 minute flight from my home airport. If I remember right, I think they sent a car out to pick us up. They're only a few minutes away from the airport in Corona.
Member
Sitka spruce is supposed to have the best strength/weight ratio of any wood. Hence, its well known use for making airplanes. This spruce makes a very special canoe paddle, where the weight makes a difference for long sessions on the water. I've made several paddles and the one from Sitka is my favorite.
It's very expensive on the east coast. I once found a pile at a dramatically low price in a lumber yard in San Diego while on a business trip. I had them cut the 2x8 plank into two six-footers, wrapped them in paper, and checked them as baggage on the flight home.
Member
John is quite correct about the bracing stock being made from split chunks. Just saying I would not use it for tops if it was flatsawn. Looks awful, and would not be stable. There is a great thread on harpguitars.net about the building of a spruce harp guitar. But lots of realistic, informed choices need to be made regarding the various components of a guitar.
Friend of the Creek
Very interesting posts in this thread. Now I want to know what George was doing in Sitka, what John was building as a plane, some more stats on the Mosquito, and would like to see some pics of spruce cabinet/furniture.
Thread on "How do I pickup/move XXX Saw?" http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?p=597898
Compilation of "Which Band Saw to buy?" threads http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthre...028#post692028
Member
Ah, the strange stories of guitar builders. Yes, Sitka, Alaska. A place to raise a glass of Yeagermeister no less.
[OP]
Contributor
Yes, this board is not quarter sawn. It is flat sawn.
Sounds like that drastically limits its use.
I was going to suggest he cut it or resaw it certain ways, and piece sell it on eBay, but now it looks like it's not all that valuable.....
Member
Thats two bad. But people will pay for bracewood. The edge is probably between quarter and rift sawn. Cut that way, in 3/4" slices would yield excellent bracewood.
[OP]
Contributor
ok, if he cuts it into 3/4" thick slices, what lengths and widths should he cut them, for bracewood?
He'll probably cut a bunch of bracewood out of it then, and either put it up here in the classifieds, or on eBay.
Seems such a shame to reduce 8/4 stock, thinner, when such care was taken to dry it thick.
Member
I have bought quite a bit of spruce over the years from a fellow named Larry Trumble who owns a company called Wood Marine in Klawock Alaska. Fantastic fellow to deal with, great sitka that has been riven and he can supply violin family builders all the way up to double bass size as well as us guitar guys. google him and give him a call for spruce!
And for Dave: the Mosquito required a crew of two which had great advantages over single seaters as complex tasks such as night bombing, reconnaisance, low level bombing and extended flights were more easily undertaken. The Mosquito was recorded at speeds up to 437 mph and could sustain speeds in excess of 350 mph with only one engine, set multiple trans Atlantic crosssing records and was highly regarded and purchased by the US forces! The Mosquito was so deadly that as a bomber it did not require a fighter escort, infact there are many accounts of a Mozzy dropping it's payload on a ship or airport then turning around to destroy planes on the field with its 20mm cannons only to then finish off by engaging the German fighters with its Browning machine guns. They literary came, saw and conquered. The Mozzy was put out to pasture as jet engine technology was on its heels. They say that the only thing that the osquito didn't beat was time! All this with a wooden fuselage.
Contributor
I may be the outlier here, but personally I would prefer to have the wood in block form. Maybe 2" X 3" blocks 24" long. Then I could either use it as is, take the time to carefully split it, or whatever. You might get something like $5.00 or $10.00 a piece depending on the quality.
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