Interesting accident

finkdaddy

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I haven't built a uke in quite a while. So, I had a piece of wood thicknessed for sides that I had lying around and I decided to practice with it and make sure that my new bending form worked right.

I cut it into 2 lengths and put them into my bender, 1 piece at a time.
The second piece came out just perfect, but I wasn't paying attention on my first piece and let it go about 150 degrees hotter than I would normally let it go. I only noticed when my shop suddenly got hazy and the whole place filled with the scent of burning wood!

In a panic, I turned everything off, unplugged the heating blanket, and let it all cool down. In the end, no damage was done to anything. The clamps on the Waldron bender got a bit scorched, as well as the edges of my newly designed bending form, but it was all very, very minor.

However, the biggest surprise was how the bent side turned out. It looks gorgeous! If I had a way to control this effect, I might even use it for an entire uke. If I tried duplicating this with an oven, I wonder if I would do it before or after I bent the wood?

Anyways, here is some pics of the two pieces side by side. Keep in mind that they were both from the same piece of wood!

IMG_0511.jpg

IMG_0512.jpg
 
I know Timbuck has experimented with baking wood prior to use, e.g. for fretboards. I'm not a luthier so I have no idea about the long term effects of this practice, but seems like it would really mess with the moisture content if nothing else.
 
That's a "feature" that you can charge more for. Tell the customer that only one side was cooked to enhance the sustain <insert alternative BS lie> :D
... Or just break out the tin of dark stain and deny everything...
 
Put it together as is, looks cool, or hot if you prefer.
 
Ha! These were just scrap pieces for testing. But I think it would be cool to make a uke with drastically different colors of wood. You could mismatch the sides, like I did above, and also the book matching of the tops, bottoms, and headstock veneer!
 
You can buy 'torrified' maple like this.
 
Following timbucks tips I tried cooking pine like this for Petes 4x2 challenge. It works great but I doubt it's be fun to bend after
 
The Vikings used torrefied wood because it absorbs less moisture so size and shape are more likely to remain consistent after it has been sawed and planed. In other words it’s stronger and more stable as well as being lighter, which means it’s equally well suited to shipbuilding, wooden flooring and guitar making.

Guitar manufacturers such as Rickenbacker have long been using heat-treated timber for this very reason – while making no claims of tonal superiority. In recent years, Gibson has utilised torrefied maple for some fingerboards as an alternative to rosewood.
Read more about it here
http://www.theguitarmagazine.com/features/all-about/all-about-torrefaction/
 
The Vikings used torrefied wood because it absorbs less moisture so size and shape are more likely to remain consistent after it has been sawed and planed. In other words it’s stronger and more stable as well as being lighter, which means it’s equally well suited to shipbuilding, wooden flooring and guitar making.

But what did they use to make their ukuleles? ;)
 
Hemicellulose is one of the three main components of wood. It is also the main absorber of moisture and the reason why wood expands and contracts with change of moisture. Over time wood loses hemicellulose. When wood is torrified it is the hemicellulose that is first cooked off at a lower temperature than the other components. This is why torrified wood is more stable than regular wood. Contrary to popular wisdom in the instrument industry an inert atmosphere is not needed while wood is being cooked as long as the temperature does not go too high. So go too high and you get smoke, don't go high enough and you get no hemicellulose reduction.

Cooking the wood before bending usually results in cracked wood. A way around this is to bend first and then cook. I was going to try using the heat blanket but have not started a project where I wanted to bake the wood. Too many projects I need to finish first. Nice to see that it does work. I would bake the other side and then a back for them.
 
Have you sanded the 'tortured' side yet? Im wondering how the figure looks on that Maple(?) after the process?
 
Baked maple b&s.

UeZZqav.jpg


Baked sides along with non-baked flamed binding with some finish on them.

2qDHyDN.jpg
 
Have you sanded the 'tortured' side yet? Im wondering how the figure looks on that Maple(?) after the process?

I haven't yet, but I should, just to see how it looks. I'll do that and report back. The wood is myrtle, which is one of my favorites to work with.
 
Wow, that looks really nice! That looks very deep.

Two different instruments with the backs cut frome one plank and the sides from another. The finish will really pop the top one, simigloss for the one that is done, might use gloss for the other.
 
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