Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Mark Lindsay on August 21, 2014 at 5:04pm

I've never worked Locust, but I love ash and walnut. I've very envious of that walnut stash. If I only had the space...

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Permalink Reply by Dan Mullen on August 21, 2014 at 10:06pm

The cheapest place to get a piece of wood is from a tree!  I got a couple of branches from an Osage orange (horse apple) tree and milled out the wood shown here in the fretboard and heel.  The neck is a piece of ash left over from a cabinet job my friend gave me.

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Permalink Reply by Dooder on August 22, 2014 at 1:22pm

Why not try setting something up with some of the folks on here?  I'm pretty sure that I am not the only one lurking about with an excess of perfectly useable wood.  An added benefit may be exposure to woods from different regions.  Here in the Northeast, we have all kinds of black ash, hard maple, and yellow birch, but not much for walnut, osage orange, or sitka spruce.  Plus, most of us have tons of offcuts and odd pieces we just cant bear to toss into the burn pile.

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Permalink Reply by Michael L. Castle on August 23, 2014 at 6:10am

Check out Rockler. I have a Bubinga 1/4"x1&1/2"x24" "true dimensional" fingerboard coming from them. They also have a local store down the road a piece from me. They have various domestic and exotic woods in those dimensions (among others). Total cost with shipping: $8.68 ($4.99 for the wood, $3.99 shipping and they sent me 20% off offer after I signed up with them. I'm lookin' 4ward to visiting their local store.

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Permalink Reply by gary herget on October 15, 2014 at 2:31am

Picked up an old picinic table setting by the street for free, had 6 1x6's for the top with many years of weathering. Got home ran a piece through the planner turns out to be redwood. "SCORE",I know what I'll be building with for a while.

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Permalink Reply by Joe Caruso on April 17, 2015 at 6:03am

Let's call this a tip / advice on handling of freshly milled wood based on a slightly painful lesson learned.

After being tired of not finding useful oak at the Home Depot or Lowes, I drove the extra miles to the closest mill and had a nice piece of 4/4 cherry 6-8% moisture milled and cut to dimensions - eight future necks. Brought it home, stacked it on the table saw, left one piece on the bench for three days (I can sense the groaning from our veteran woodworkers).

I now have 5 slightly warped pieces and 3 relatively straight pieces. Why? The wood was not stacked properly, with spacers (long skinny pieces of scrap wood) between the freshly milled lumber SO THAT all surfaces would be equally exposed to air and all surfaces would dry at the same rate. The milling and cutting exposed fresh surfaces which were still drying. The exposed surfaces dried faster. The piece on the bench, the exposed surface dried more than the surface contacting the bench, equals a slightly cupped piece of wood.

It is not a total loss - the warping is minimal and I can salvage with some planing/sanding or some creative gluing up and resawing on the bandsaw. Remember, spacers between freshly milled lumber to prevent warping. 

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Permalink Reply by Scott aka Farmer Ted on April 17, 2015 at 10:17am

.Try Ocooch Scroll Ready Hardwoods. Great prices and selection

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Permalink Reply by Greg Thompson on April 17, 2015 at 10:34am

For exotic woods, I go to Woodworkers Supply. It's about a 20 min ride, but they have a nice selection and the folks are very helpful. I like to spend time just rooting through the bins. Cut wood comes in very handy sizes, so I have minimal waste. Generally, I can get 2 finger boards out of one piece. I think you can order it online.
I was real lucky getting the maple I have been using. It came from old drawing benches. Old furniture is a great source...

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Permalink Reply by ce24 on April 17, 2015 at 11:09am

Google is your friend....if you livein a mildly populaed area there should be a supplier near you. I found one within a mile of my house. I bought one board of rock maple for 8 bucks enough for 3 necks and 6 headstocks.

good luck
Ce24

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Permalink Reply by Mark Lindsay on April 18, 2015 at 4:33am

What ce24 said! Let's not forget the old school method either - the good old phone book (remember those?) You'd be surprised at how many small-time operations aren't online, but still advertise in the phone book. I found 2 lumber suppliers and 2 scrap metal dealers listed in the yellow pages who don't have websites - both within about 20 minutes from my house.

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Permalink Reply by John Sawyer on April 17, 2015 at 11:18am

I found a local hardwood supplier for fretboards... $7 and I get enough for 6 finger boards. Cheaper than the 1/4" stuff at Home Depot, and far better...

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Permalink Reply by Marcus Darwell on April 18, 2015 at 4:56am

I use maple from Rona for my necks - you can usually find at least one straight piece and a 3/4X1.5 in a 4' length is about $8. I use 1/4 poplar for the fretboards....wish they did the maple in that thickness tho. Don't have the tools to do my own thickness planing so it works for me. I've used a local lumber supplier for ebony fretboards - Mexican ebony costs me $10 for a 3' 1/4 fretboard......he also has loads of really exotic stuff that I intend trying at some stage....love the idea of purple heart

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