Posted on June 20, 2019February 6, 2024 by Dale Phillips Glossary of Basic Wood Terms Glossary of Basic Wood Terms by Hart Huttig (1975), updated and expanded by Nicholas Von Robison (1994) previously published in Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1994 See also, “Taxonomy and Nomenclature” by Nicholas Von Robison “Top 40 Wood List” by Nicholas Von Robison Guitarmaking of necessity requires not only a supply of various woods but also knowledge of their origins and methods of cutting and storing. A good luthier should have a considerable fund of information about the history of wood procurement. Lutherie is an ancient craft, and it is a requirement that the luthier should be well conversant in the entire spectrum of wood cutting and classifying. To this end I have made excerpts in the form of glossaries and explanations. This information has been compiled from several sources which will be listed in the “Wood Bibliography” (pp. 23–29). Some of the terms are now archaic but should be of interest from a historical standpoint. Trees used to be felled with axes and the logs snaked to a work area and cut into baulks with adzes and broad axes. Planks and boards were made by the sawpit method. They were also rived from the logs, that is, split from straight-grained pieces with froes (or frows) or sometimes with power wedges or go-devils. Rails were split with oak wedges or gluts, driven by a beetle or burl maul. Trees were cut into logs and rafted to mills in remote locations when rivers or streams were near enough. Until the 15th century, lumber was sawed by two men equipped with a large hand saw. The log was mounted over a great pit. One man stood below it and was showered with saw dust. The other man stood on top and had the heavier task of lifting the weight of the saw with each cut. Around 1420, near Breslau in Germany, the first saws were driven by water power in mills on river banks. These saws were made to move up and down the same as hand-operated saws. In 1781 Walter Taylor, a saw miller in Southampton, England, began to saw wood with a circular saw, the blade being driven by a water wheel by the River Itchen. In 1808 William Newberry of London patented a saw with teeth formed on an endless metal band revolving around two wheels. He was unable to make a satisfactory commercial bandsaw because the steel available for the blades at that time would not stand the strain. Practical bandsaws were first made by Perin of Paris in about 1855 Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 10, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Use Any Wood You Like Letter: Use Any Wood You Like by John Calkin Originally published in American Lutherie #25, 1991 Dear Tim, In 1981 I bought a new Alvarez-Yari 6-string, with laminated rosewood back and solid spruce top. Lots of guitars sound as good, but hardly any sound better. Lots of guitars are as playable, but very few play nicer. I’ve worked on or played dozens of high end, exquisitely made guitars and a bunch of vintage pieces, and not one has ever blown me away. Early in my career I helped do sound at a local folk benefit. Lots of fine talent turned out, sporting a number of classy guitars. But a low-end mahogany Yamaha blew them all away, no contest. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 10, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Veneer Backing Boards Letter: Veneer Backing Boards by Lloyd Zsiros Originally published in American Lutherie #30, 1992 Tim, The wood supplier I deal with for almost all of my materials (A&M Wood Specialty in Cambridge, Ontario — a frequent advertiser in American Lutherie) sometimes gets in quantities of backing boards. These boards are a byproduct of the veneer industry. As most of us know the veneer industry manages to get hold of some of the finest and most desirable logs of various species. These logs are then cut into manageable sizes, if necessary, and clamped into a massive carriage assembly which then moves the log past a stationary knife, neatly slicing off uniform thicknesses of veneer. The carriage assembly used large steel teeth to grab the log and the knife can only cut so close to these. What’s left is a piece of wood usually anywhere from about 1/2" to over 1 1/4" known as a backing board. Many of these are perfectly quartered and quite wide. They can often be purchased directly from the veneer mill or from suppliers like A&M at extremely attractive prices. I have obtained walnut, cherry, and beech this way at a fraction of the usual cost. The boards are often just thrown outdoors usually in the open so they may not be very attractive on the surface but I have obtained some of the nicest walnut I’ve ever seen from these. I’ve noticed some favorable comments in American Lutherie about cherry as an instrument wood. This is a good source for nice wide quartered cherry. Although I’ve never used this on a guitar I do have some 1' long, 20" wide, 1 1/4" thick quartered cherry I obtained a few years ago for $2 a square foot I’ve been saving for something special. It could be worth a try! Oh, and a word on A&M Woods. As they are an advertiser in American Lutherie, you may be interested in knowing I have had nothing but great service from them. They have been my primary source of materials for over 10 years and I can’t say enough good things about Andy and his staff at A&M.
Posted on January 10, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Osage Orange Letter: Osage Orange by Rion Dudley Originally published in American Lutherie #36, 1993 Dear GAL, I’d like to express my appreciation to all who have contributed to the GAL over the years. I especially want Rick Turner and Harry Fleishman to know that their knowledge, opinions, and ideas have been a great help to my lutherie work. The recent publication of the information on alternative lutherie woods has inspired me to share my own experience. A number of years ago (longer than I wish to remember), Ted Davis wrote an article about his experience using Osage orange for a small-bodied Martin-style guitar. I read that article with great interest, and purchased some Osage orange that was nearly quartered from Gilmer Woods. The wood sat around my shop and collected dust for quite awhile. Become A Member to Continue Reading This Article This article is part of our premium web content offered to Guild members. To view this and other web articles, join the Guild of American Luthiers. Members also receive 4 annual issues of American Lutherie and get discounts on products. For details, visit the membership page. If you are already a member, login for access or contact us to setup your account.
Posted on January 10, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Crystals in Wood Cells Letter: Crystals in Wood Cells by Bill Moran Originally published in American Lutherie #35, 1993 Dear Tim, In American Lutherie #33, Nicholas Von Robison has sent a signal, maybe unknowingly, that there are scientific activities related with lutherie that are not well known or yet fully appreciated as part of quality instrument assessment. I am referring to the growth of crystals in the wood parenchyma cells. Concern over acid rain also leads me to openly ask, what are the effects of acid rain on the crystal development and their performance, and who is doing the studies, if any? I hope this letter will catch the attention of the Wood Chemists and the true wood anatomists amongst the membership and that they also will respond to my questions. Mr. Von Robison appears to be well informed on wood chemistry and I hope he will publish related data or suggest sources for the details he has on these subjects. Microphotographs of wood samples taken under the electron microscope has shown that crystals are present, and separate spectrum analysis have been made of their mineral content. Information is sparse but I believe important since I am referring to the crystals in spruce and maple woods, although I do have reports describing the crystals in a number of other woods. This study includes unique measurement instrument construction, computer programs, resources, and time. I will be pleased to correspond with anyone pursuing study related to material in this letter.
