some woodshops ban certain species due to them being so hard and dense they can break the bandsaw blades...other than that, I can't imagine why they'd ban them...
Dave Breault said:
Interesting, I assume you rent shop time. I've never heard tell of a shop banning a wood species, I can understand why they might due to the issues surrounding those species, but to be honest it also means you can't repurpose used products of that species either. I personally only use salvaged ebony and rosewood.
Alan Roberts said:
The two most popular woods for fretboards (rosewood and ebony) are banned from the woodshop I use. I just use a dark wallnut.
Interesting, I assume you rent shop time. I've never heard tell of a shop banning a wood species, I can understand why they might due to the issues surrounding those species, but to be honest it also means you can't repurpose used products of that species either. I personally only use salvaged ebony and rosewood. (Roars with laughter) Yep, I by a term pass at the local Univesity. The Banned Woods are on the list more for health reasons. I could tell you about the time I wanted to make native drums out of Alaskan yellow cedar, and found out that about half the people in the shop had strong allergies to that wood. Most of them didn't know that either, until the sawdust was in the air...
A lot of tropical hardwoods are mildly toxic. Some not even "mildly." I'm having a senior moment... not cocobolo, but a different bright red hardwood ... was making people SICK and staining equipment. If I came along a day later and used the belt sander on a piece of hard maple, it would turn PINK. Even the bansaw would hold onto the oils from that hardwood.
It really depends on where you live and how big of a piece you are willing to work with. By big I should really say small, I get my ebony from pianos headed for the tip, not all the black keys are ebony but the older ones are. You can even score some ivory if the piano is old enough. Rose wood is very hard to find and you really have to know what you are looking at, but estate auctions sometimes sell items of furniture that are beyond repair however you can salvage some usable stock from them.
I also will scan yard sales for rose wood pieces, but there again the finds can be few and far between.
Jason Nelms said:
Where do you look for salvaged pieces?
Dave Breault said:
Interesting, I assume you rent shop time. I've never heard tell of a shop banning a wood species, I can understand why they might due to the issues surrounding those species, but to be honest it also means you can't repurpose used products of that species either. I personally only use salvaged ebony and rosewood.
Alan Roberts said:
The two most popular woods for fretboards (rosewood and ebony) are banned from the woodshop I use. I just use a dark wallnut.
Replies
Craig Cox said:
Jason Nelms said:
nick tyson said:
nick tyson said:
Dave Breault said:
I also will scan yard sales for rose wood pieces, but there again the finds can be few and far between.
Jason Nelms said:
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next