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.
Posted on January 9, 2010February 7, 2024 by Dale Phillips Letter: Engelmann Spruce Letter: Engelmann Spruce by Jan E. Callister Previously published in American Lutherie #53, 1998 Dear Tim: Just a few comments on Don Musser’s interesting article, “Rocky Mountain Tonewood Alternatives” in AL#51. Years ago when I was cutting Engelmann spruce and trying to market it for soundboards, I often found large logs of Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens) in the yards of logging mills. These trees were called “swamp” spruce by the local loggers since the trees apparently grow in high meadows with an abundance of water. I found the annual rings to be much too wide for guitar soundboards. I have since been told that this may not be a problem for luthiers who build cello or bass viol. Don Musser probably has a much better chance of finding ideal blue spruce in Colorado where blue spruce is much more abundant than in Utah. 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 2, 2010March 11, 2024 by Dale Phillips Sharpening the Stellite Teeth on the 3″ Hitachi Blade Sharpening the Stellite Teeth on the 3" Hitachi Blade by Bruce Creps previously published in American Lutherie #91, 2007 See also, “Resawing Lutherie Wood” by Bruce Creps “Grading and Curing Lumber” by Bruce Creps With a shop-made jig you can sharpen your blade in place in less time than it takes to remove and reinstall it. You save money, conserve steel, and don’t need to fuss with fine-tuning a newly installed blade. I sharpen blades ten times, making my “cost per blade” under $13. I discard the blade after that because I have found cracks on a few blades after 12–15 sharpenings, and because the Stellite teeth taper in width so you lose set when you sharpen the teeth down to nubs. With insufficient set a band can rub the stock and heat up or wander. The blade will generally stay sharp for eight hours of production sawing of dry hardwood. I don’t go much beyond eight hours because a less-than-sharp blade may heat up and work harden the Stellite tips. The all-Stellite blade has a cutting (rake) angle of 22°, a sharpness angle of 50°, and a back (clearance) angle of 18°. For my purposes this blade is just right. I once used an alternate-tooth Stellite blade and got better performance when I increased its cutting angle from 16° to 22°. Otherwise I have not experimented with tooth geometry. 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.