(Not well) quarter sawn top?

Henning

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Hello, I´d please like to know what difference does it make if the wood of the top is not well quarter sawn?
Spruce is the Wood.
I can see that the supposed to be straight line grains are somewhat inclined, maybe actually 30 degrees to the ideal.
Supposedly there will be som tensions in the wood not expected to be there.

Kind regards
 
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I like off-quarter tops, though 30 degrees is a LOT. Long ago I used to process all the wood for Huss & Dalton guitars. We had a fixture to measure top flexibilty. Normally tops ended up at .110-.125" thick, but one floppy red spruce top had to be left at .140" thick, and even then it went over the scale we typically used. After a lot of self debate I sent it through the system to become a mahogany dreadnought. It went to the NAMM show where dealers were fighting over it. It sounded that good and was LOUD. I'd never put a top that was 30 degrees off quarter on a guitar, but on a soprano uke I might, just to see what happened.
 
I would use it. Quarter sawn wood will give you the highest stiffness to weight and the least expansion/contraction with humidity changes. I don't think those are as critical in uke construction as guitar....Smaller body and low tension from nylon strings.
It should still make a nice sounding uke. Maybe it won't last 100 years without cracking but that will probably be someone else's problem.
 
Not like I have made many ukes but I have done a few small guitars, little bigger than baritone size. I would leave the top a little thicker than if it were well quartered. A less stiff top allows for more low end to be produced. Not a bad thing in a smaller instrument.
 
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