Hey there everyone,
I’m trying my hand at building an electric guitar- basically copying a ’59 Gibson Les Paul. Stewart MacDonald (www.stewmac.com) has the plans for cheap, and all the hardware adds up to about $350.
Anyway, before I start hacking away at a $100 piece of curly maple for the carved arched top, I thought I’d practice a little first. If it comes out okay, then I can still use it.
So, I’m wondering if any of you have any off-cuts of curly maple sitting around your shop that you’d be willing to sell. I’m not asking for a bargain, just trying to save a little money by not buying a hunk of wood bigger than I need. Charge me whatever you want. Besides, the lumber dealers around here have terrible selections of curly maple.
I need it to be at least 18″x7″ and 1.5″ thickness if already S2S, and 7/4 if still rough.
Huge thanks in advance,
Kevin
Replies
7/4 or 8/4 so you can re-saw and bookmatch it, right? Gibson used mahogany for the body with maple for only the top and neck- are you going to do the same? If you want to practice, why not just use scraps of hard maple? For a carved top, I would probably start with a softer wood to get used to creating the contours, then go to harder wood.
Where are you located? I'm sure someone here can help with lumber suppliers.
If you only want some maple to practice with before you attempt the real thing then any maple from you local supplier should be good enough. It will have the disadvantage of not being as hard to work because of the straight grain but it will be useful for test cuts and template proving. The best grades are unnecessary with the lower grades having wilder grain more in line with the curly and would be the cheaper too.
Not knowing where you are posting from stops anyone from giving you wood from their scrap bin. If you fill out a bit of your profile it would help.
If you haven't already bought your figured wood you might want to look at this company.
http://fine-woods.com/index.html
I keep and use all my scraps, so i can't help you that way.
But... http://www.hearnehardwoods.com does an on-line business and specializes in highly figured, instrument grade woods.
They've got some gorgeous figured Koa listed on the front page. For those in the NorthEast that looks like a good resource.
Here in the NorthWest is my favorite resource, http://www.gilmerwood.com/
Kevin,
I've got a bunch laying around. It does have some ambrosia in it, but I'm sure it will work well. I have my own sawmill and its for personal use (not a business) so I think I can help. Let me know.
Jeff
KevinLBS
if you are in the twin cities area stop by I have a lot of fiddleback (OK you can call it curly maple)
Take a look at e-bay I have bought some quality wood this way and I seem to remember seeing several vendors that have had some that should work for you.
Troy
Kevin,
This is a piece I have but will probably not use. 7 1/4" wide X 21 1/2" long, 2" thick S4S. I paid $55 plus shipping, you can have if for the same if you are interested. One side is pure white, the other has just a light hint of heartwood (very,very light) that will probably not even show up when you resaw and bookmatch. Let me know if you are interested - [email protected]
Lee
KevinLBS
Bell Forest Products will sell you curly and birdseye shorts by the pound. google for exact address.
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