Which Woods for Neck and Tail Blocks

I don't want to use my mahogany for tail blocks if I don't need to. I'm making the neck blocks from mahogany but what about the tail blocks. I read that poplar makes a good tail block. I have poplar, spanish cedar, Honduras rosewood, and maple. Seems to me the rosewood and maple would be too heavy. I'm just tail blocks and kerfing away from having all my parts for this run of sopranos then I'ma start my first concerts.

What woods are good for kerfed lining?

tailblock

i use Baltic birch plywood for the tail block. its really tough stuff.
it also helps reduce cracking if the uke is dropped on the output jack or the end pin.

maclay said:

i use Baltic birch plywood for the tail block. its really tough stuff.
it also helps reduce cracking if the uke is dropped on the output jack or the end pin.

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I just happen to have some birch plywood leftover from making jigs. It is very tough stuff and not so heavy. Hmmm... I dunno, I thought I had some quartersawn poplar but can't find a single stick.

mattclara said:

A decent thread on wood for necks can be found here. No mention of tail blocks. The kerfed linings I see are made of spruce, mahogany, and bass.

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Excellent, I've got a ton of engelman spruce I picked up to make braces out of.

Spruce is good for tailblocks. A good idea is to make your own 'plywood' by laminating 3 layers of spruce with the grain of the middle layer running at right angles to the other 2. Makes it very stable and reduces the risk of cracking due to the end pin problem