Ebony

We are cutting some ebony up which we will be kiln drying later this week.

I'm thinking we might cut some for ukulele fretboards.

Any suggestions on a standard size?

Why not make them big enough for a tenor? Although I suppose that's a bit wasteful if you're making sopranos.

13" x 2" x 3/16" is how I like 'em...

Make them at least 1/4" thick to allow for a radiius option. I like using guitar fret boards because from each one I can get a fret board, four pieces of binding, end graft, headstock veneer and bridge.

Thanks Pete

Chuck, these billets are 48" to 52" long. Would it be better to keep them full length?

RonS said:

Thanks Pete

Chuck, these billets are 48" to 52" long. Would it be better to keep them full length?

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Never cut anything to length until you know what you're going to do with it!

dave g said:

Never cut anything to length until you know what you're going to do with it!

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:agree:
I wouldn't cut them until I secured a guaranteed market for fret boards.

Gotta cut a couple, for samples.

I'd be happy to take some.

Nice supply of ebony you got there

I'll take a single S4S board and cut my own. What is the going rate per board foot?

Dave and Chuck, you are right and that is good advice. But we are a mill and do have a market for the bigger stuff.

Our problem is there is a lot of waste when dealing with quatersawn ebony. Once the billet is less then 3" wide, nobody is really interested in this stuff (at least on the wholesale level). Sometimes there is as much as 35% waste. Cutting down to 2" wide for uke fret boards opens a new market for us and helps the bottom line. Since it is already on the saw it is only a little more effort.

Right now my partner and I are still deciding if we want to go in this direction. In the past we have only sold wholesale. Retail is a whole new way of looking at things.

thistle: we only sell s2s, the other 2 sides are wavy. (this may change if we go retail) PM me what thickness you like and I can give you some prices. Kiln dried we have 1/8" 1/4" 3/8" 1/2" 3/4" and 4/4.