Posted on December 27, 2020May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Moisture Content Moisture Content by Gregory Jackson Originally published as Guild of American Luthiers Data Sheet #296, 1984 and Lutherie Woods and Steel String Guitars, 1997 Equilibrium moisture content (EMC) is the point at which wood is not losing or gaining moisture. This occurs when the wood is in balance with its environment. Since the environment changes from day to day, the EMC normally considered is the average EMC. It is very important to understand that this is a delicate balance between the wood and the environment. EMC is not a universal moisture content (MC) for all conditions. As conditions change, the EMC will also change. The water has a tendency to leave the wood and become airborne moisture, just as does the water in clothes hung out to dry. At the same time the wood has an attraction to water and will tend to absorb any available moisture. Water spilled on unfinished lumber can be observed to soak into the wood. The water in humid air, while not so obvious, is also available to the wood and will sometimes be drawn into the lumber. The two forces — 1) for water to be drawn into the air; 2) for water to be drawn into the wood — are opposing forces. The net effect is to create a balance which is called an equilibrium. Equilibrium is affected by both humidity and by temperature. As the humidity in the air is increased the wood will gain moisture. If the humidity is lowered the wood will give up water to the air. Higher temperatures will force water into the air while lower temperatures will let the wood gain moisture. 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 October 5, 2020May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips Dalbergia Nigra and Friends Dalbergia Nigra and Friends Luthier and author Cumpiano interviews famed wood scientist Bruce Hoadley by William Cumpiano Originally published in American lutherie #1, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie, Volume One, 2000 For over four hundred years, Dalbergia nigra has been considered the crown, jewel in the luthier’s creation. Its color, figure, and vitreous hardness has made it the sine qua non in the luthier’s inventory of raw materials. And so it has been among cabinetmakers: a book published in the late 1700s characterizes Brazilian rosewood as the “queen of the hardwoods.” Today a luthier can tack on something like $500–$800 to the sale price of a new guitar simply for the purchaser’s privilege of owning one made from Brazilian rosewood, never mind whatever additional qualities it may have. Part of this is unquestionably due to the material’s unique suitability and beauty but also is due no doubt to its great scarcity. Manuel Velázquez, perhaps one of the greatest living classical guitar luthiers, bemoaned this fact and told me that during World War II, when he was a salvage carpenter in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, he was required to dismantle ten-foot mess tables and benches made from two- and three-inch thick Brazilian rosewood — and this was on troop ships. He began his career in guitar making taking scraps home with him. When I started my own career about thirteen years ago, these same Brooklyn docks held piles of enormous Dalbergia nigra logs stretching as far as the eye could see. The docks are empty now. Back then a set of Brazilian cost $35. Today a set of lower grade Brazilian can run $150, the better stuff up to $200. For the equivalent of less than one board foot of volume, this means Dalbergia nigra is among the two or three most expensive hardwoods in the world. 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 July 6, 2020May 23, 2025 by Dale Phillips Questions: Summer/Spring Wood Questions: Summer/Spring Wood by Byron Will Originally published in American Lutherie #33, 1993 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume Three, 2004 Anonymous asks: I’ve heard people talk about “strong” winter grain in spruce and cedar and others talk about summer growth and spring growth, or summer wood and spring wood. Which is which? Does it depend on where you are? Also there seem to be different ideas about what is desirable. It seems as if violin makers want strong, dark lines and guitar makers don’t care so much. 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 June 1, 2020May 20, 2025 by Dale Phillips Indian Import and Export Indian Import and Export by Gulab Gidwani from his 1986 GAL Convention lecture Originally published in American Lutherie #11, 1987 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 The reason I’m up here talking about importing and exporting woods is that I’m one of the few people who have had the fortune, or you could say misfortune, of being on both sides. I have been an exporter in India, I have been an importer over here. So I can give you some idea of the problems involved. This whole thing started when I was living in the USA and I went to India on a vacation from my regular job. My younger brother sent me a cable telling me that the Gibson Company over here had problems getting a reliable supply of ebony. I said to myself, “That’s no big deal. I’ll go to the market and tell them please send some wood to the Gibson Company. Ebony is just like any other wood.” 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 May 21, 2020May 21, 2025 by Dale Phillips South American Rosewood South American Rosewood by John Jordan Originally published in American Lutherie #4, 1985 and Big Red Book of American Lutherie Volume One, 2000 See also, African Rosewood by John Jordan Rosewoods are among the most beautiful of all woods. Although they are native to tropical and semitropical climates around the world, we will deal in this article with those native to Central and South America. They are typically hard, very dense, and often resinous woods weighing 50–80 lb./cu. ft. One cubic foot (cu. ft.) is equal to 12 bd. ft. Because of their weight, they are expensive to ship; consequently the number of South American rosewoods available to the wood market in the U.S. will be greater than the number of African or Asian varieties due to our proximity to South and particularly Central America. To quickly dispel some misconceptions: rosewood trees do not produce rose-like flowers, nor are they close relatives of the Rosecae (flowering rose) family. The name rosewood is derived from the fact that the wood, especially when fresh cut, exudes a rose-like scent. Several varieties of rosewoods were being exported for furniture, fine cabinetry, musical instruments, fine carving, and turnery long before botanical identification was established in the tropics. A Swedish botanist named Nicholas Dalberg (1735–1820) was credited with discovering that these rosewoods were close botanical relatives, hence the genus is named Dalbergia. The genus Dalbergia has over 300 species. I have gathered information on over 100 species, 15 of which, including the most popular ones, are represented here. 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.
