sound boards of local wood...

is there any reason i couldnt use a clear, locally cut, pine or cedar board board as a sound board on my box uke build??
i thought i could take it down on the planer and then sand it thinner till i run out of patience.

what should i look for when choosing the board?

i could use mahogany like the sides and maybe back but it would have to be a two or three pieces.

thx eor

eor said:

what should i look for when choosing the board?

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Well, if using a top made from conifer, make sure the grain is perfectly quartered, like this: IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

....and not off-quarter like this: /////////////////////////////////

No reason at all. Many like the sound from spruce or cedar as compared to a hard wood. Thickness will vary between hardwoods and softwoods generally with Western Red Cedar needing to be the thickest, spruce in the middle and a hardwood the thinnest. That's just general though. Always exceptions and it depends on the size of the instrument and your plans for bracing.

One of the nicest tops I have made came from a cutoff piece of douglas fir I got off a job site. It was perfectly quartered straight and had grain so tight you could not count it without magnification. I would use cedar, doug fir or even redwood over pine all other factors being equal.

spruce said:

Well, if using a top made from conifer, make sure the grain is perfectly quartered, like this: IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

....and not off-quarter like this: /////////////////////////////////

Click to expand...

do you mean looking at the end of the board ? why important only with conifers?

right now i a picking through wood, mostly cedar probably eastern white cedar, black spruce ,white spruce and juniper(larch).

here they saw it( portable band saw mill) flat in layers from one side to another so if i understand quartered... then only the boards that are cut through the center of the tree would have this .

tx eor

That is correct but don't most guys roll the log while sawing" Maybe not these portable mill guys"

eor said:

here they saw it( portable band saw mill) flat in layers from one side to another so if i understand quartered... then only the boards that are cut through the center of the tree would have this .

tx eor

Click to expand...

You understand correct. it's also the reason why if you pick through the boards at the local sawmill/joinery/hardwood supplys/etc you can pick out the quartered boards from amongst the flat and rift sawn stuff.

eor said:

do you mean looking at the end of the board ?

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Yes.

eor said:

why important only with conifers?

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Well, some makers want their hardwoods to be quartered as well, but you see a lot of slab or skew-cut hardwood uke tops, but never one in a conifer top...
Conifers are a lot stiffer when cut dead-on quarter.
Plus, that's when they flash their medularies--something that a lot of us wood nuts like to see....

Michael Smith said:

That is correct but don't most guys roll the log while sawing" Maybe not these portable mill guys"

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I'm mostly milling violin wood, so i start out hand-splitting wedges like in my avatar....
Then I mill wedges from the billets...

Most uke tops are fall-down from milling guitar tops, which come out of much larger logs that the one in the avatar....
36"-40" minimum...