fungusgeek
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- Joined
- Oct 29, 2012
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Super-storm Sandy blew over a couple of big old spruce trees (Norwegian spruce I think) here in Eastern Pennsylvania. I had the opportunity to pick up a couple of the big base sections (they were over 22” in diameter). I have a new band saw and have been having some fun re-sawing this wood into future ukulele tops.
The spruce is from two trees, one of which grew slower than the other, so one has 8-15 growth lines per inch and one has 15-25 lines per inch. I split the sections into billets and use the split sides of the billet as the base for sawing the tops, so there should be a minimal amount of grain run-out. I have sawn the billets into 1/8 thick quarter-sawn boards and the boards are stickered and tied up. I will be putting them in my solar dryer (aka the attic) for the summer where they should be warm, dry, and get good air circulation. (pictures attached)
Since I have a lot more of this material than I need (I also have some western red cedar grown here in PA), and in an effort to pay off a little of the band saw and maybe invest in a carbide-tipped blade to resaw some ebony and cocobolo, I thought there might be some folks here who would be interested in purchasing some future uke tops.
I have been resawing tenor sized pieces (width about 5” or more per board) though there are some slightly narrower soprano sized pieces. I figured that since in my experience instrument builders are honorable folks, if you are interested drop me a note to “jupiteruke (at-sign) outlook.com”, let me know what you want, and I’ll send the tops out, with some vertical grain brace wood I’ve cut from the ‘ends’. When you get them you can mail back payment plus the postage. If you don’t like the material when you get it, just mail it back. If you think it is worth more, send back a little extra. I’m thinking:
$10 – per spruce soprano top set
$13 – per spruce top set, 8-15 growth lines per inch
$16 - per spruce top set, 15-25 growth lines per inch
Any takers?
If you want the stuff right away, just say so, otherwise I’ll send it out at the end of the summer and a drying period.
The spruce is from two trees, one of which grew slower than the other, so one has 8-15 growth lines per inch and one has 15-25 lines per inch. I split the sections into billets and use the split sides of the billet as the base for sawing the tops, so there should be a minimal amount of grain run-out. I have sawn the billets into 1/8 thick quarter-sawn boards and the boards are stickered and tied up. I will be putting them in my solar dryer (aka the attic) for the summer where they should be warm, dry, and get good air circulation. (pictures attached)
Since I have a lot more of this material than I need (I also have some western red cedar grown here in PA), and in an effort to pay off a little of the band saw and maybe invest in a carbide-tipped blade to resaw some ebony and cocobolo, I thought there might be some folks here who would be interested in purchasing some future uke tops.
I have been resawing tenor sized pieces (width about 5” or more per board) though there are some slightly narrower soprano sized pieces. I figured that since in my experience instrument builders are honorable folks, if you are interested drop me a note to “jupiteruke (at-sign) outlook.com”, let me know what you want, and I’ll send the tops out, with some vertical grain brace wood I’ve cut from the ‘ends’. When you get them you can mail back payment plus the postage. If you don’t like the material when you get it, just mail it back. If you think it is worth more, send back a little extra. I’m thinking:
$10 – per spruce soprano top set
$13 – per spruce top set, 8-15 growth lines per inch
$16 - per spruce top set, 15-25 growth lines per inch
Any takers?
If you want the stuff right away, just say so, otherwise I’ll send it out at the end of the summer and a drying period.
