Oak Flooring for neck?

Posted by T-Gripped on February 24, 2015 at 9:00pm

I am starting to form some leftover tongue & groove oak flooring into a neck. After planing it into a rough rectangle it is a tad wider and a 1/16" or so less deep than a 1x2.. My skills are not so very good, so when I say 'rough' rectangle that's exactly what it is. But I like the 'found object' aspect so away we go. Someone must have already done this... any words of wisdom from the Tribe?

Also: when I look at the end of a piece and I see the tongue I wonder if it could be sawn in such a way as to make the tongue a bridge??

Hopefully this illustrates what I mean. Is oak tough enough to handle string tension on a 3-banger?

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Replies

  • Matti Knockaert February 20, 2016 at 7:02am

    great idea for bridge yes ...but  u need to check how the lines of yer wood go ..basicly if u put a string on it the lines of the wood and the string should make a cross otherwis it wil defo break at one point

    • Paul Craig > Matti Knockaert February 20, 2016 at 1:30pm

       Many builders and some manufacturers have use laminated necks over the last 60 years. Depends on how good the glue and bonds are. Some guitar companies are known to have problems with broken necks(aka-the scarf joint), but others have a lot of success with it. Laminated necks are said to be stronger than solid wood necks and less likely to warp. I've even seen a plywood neck before and I remember that there's a member here that has a plywood neck on his CBG.

      Just need good glue, good bonding and a good adjustable trussrod.

  • Paul Craig February 3, 2016 at 5:12pm

    First Act made an all Bamboo guitar one year in a limited run and they sounded awesome. I considered buying a box of Bamboo flooring planks from Lowe's at 43 dollars to build a semi-hollow Strat. The boards are tongue-n-groove, but they are all 48" long x 3.5" wide x 3/4" thick. Plenty of material to do a full size guitar body and neck or two. Beware of the flooring that is veneer over ply or pressed sawdust though, make sure you get solid wood for guitar/CBG building.

    Although I have heard a good sounding guitar with a body made of MDF with Lipstick Tube pickups, I usually prefer solid wood for my builds.

  • T-Gripped January 31, 2016 at 8:25am

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  • Michael Hagen October 26, 2015 at 3:07pm

    The U.S. flooring chain Lumber Liquidators sells unfinished hardwood flooring in custom bundles, by the square foot. Has anyone ever bought from them? For "utility" grade oak, looks like three-string necks could be as little as a buck apiece, assuming the bundles aren't overloaded with shorts and you're able to rip wide planks into narrow neck strips. I suspect short planks and cut ends would make good headstocks and heels.

    Anyone ever dealt with them? I'm loathe to bother a sales clerk for a lot as small as mine without knowing how they make bundles.

    • QGolden > Michael Hagen October 26, 2015 at 11:24pm
      I have some issues with Lumber Liquidators, based on previous experience, I'm sure lots of folks have had a good experience, but I did not. They sell in Random Lengths. That is why it is cheap. Last lot of "Random Lengths" that I had to work with came in a box 84 inches long, there was one piece at 5 ft, Nothing else over 18 inches, and a bunch of pieces at 7 to 8 inches. Completely worthless for laying a floor. Beware of random lengths! Most of the Big Box stores all sell Hardwood Flooring in 21sq foot boxes (4' long box). The industry standard "Average length" in such packaging is 18 inches. So you will find a few at 36 inches, a few at 12 and 6 inches, a bunch at lengths in between. I suspect there would lots of 2 footers in the box. For your case of flooring you might only get one neck.

      I think that Cabinet Fill Strips from the big box stores would be viable for necks. Lengths of 3x36" to 3x96", in woods of Oak, Hickory, Cherry etc. prices from $10 to about $60 each.Since it is Cabinet grade, it looks very straight, nice grain, and finish.

      Also there are stores that sell Insurance Salvage building materials. Lots of times it is new in box, but damaged, broken boxes, or it got wet or similar. They might have broken boxes you could pick through. Architectural recyclers might be a source where you could pick through, and my favorite is to peek around in back of Consignment Stores and Antique Stores, I once found a large Oak Table that was damaged beyond repair in back of an antique store, they let me haul it off for the asking, I am still cutting pieces of Oak off that table for projects. Could probably build 40 necks out of what is left.
    • Michael Hagen > QGolden October 27, 2015 at 7:13am

      Thanks, Q, for the info. They seemed remarkably evasive about what's in those bundles, but apparently it's far worse than I feared. 

      I trashpicked a remarkably nice solid maple Craftsman-style headboard (inspected carefully for bedbug traces) and it's in quarantine in the back yard right now. Each of the two endposts should yield three or four clean necks, and the rails smell like heads, heels, biscuits, and bridges. There's also a huge panel that I haven't figured out what to do with.

    • QGolden > Michael Hagen October 27, 2015 at 7:19am
      Nice find, to me that is what it is all about! The Maple Panel might make good Fret Boards. Laminated on top of a piece of not so pretty oak or Maple neck? Might even be able to salvage the old finish.....
  • T-Gripped October 11, 2015 at 2:16pm

    Here's another build from leftover 306488170?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024oak flooring. Really like the Brickhouse box and will be searching for more. Unfortunately, the rest of the oak that I own is rather warped... unsure if I can get another neck out of it.

    • T-Gripped > T-Gripped October 11, 2015 at 2:17pm

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