problematic paduak?

Swamp Yankee

Swamp Yankee

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Not a builder, but I often notice imperfections in paduak bindings on less expensive ukes. To my eye, they appear to be caused by grain tearout but it's hard to say. I have two Cordoba 24 series ukes, and I have inspected two or three others, and they all show this imperfection in several places in the bindings.

Yesterday I commented on a discussion thread on Facebook in which the owner of a more expensive ukulele was asking about similar voids in the binding of the uke she'd bought. Out of perhaps 50 posts telling her it was shipping damage, I commented that it looked just like the voids I had seen on any number of less expensive ukes with paduak binding and seemed a common problem which might be caused by some peculiarity of that wood.

Is paduak a PITA when it comes to bindings?
 
Yes I would say you were right.

My only experience of using padauk was a few years ago when I attempted to make a soprano neck from a nice looking piece of the stuff. It was a most frustrating experience. My first attempt had to be scrapped. The way that timber likes to split and chunk and tear has to be experienced to be believed. I managed to make one decent neck, by making a well oversized blank using normal hand tools, then removing material with a belt linisher to arrive at the finished shape. Not worth the bother.

It made a nice looking neck but I resolved never to work with padauk again. Maybe it was me - wrong technique, tools not sharp enough - whatever. I don't intend to find out. There's plenty of nice looking timber that wants to work with you, without bothering with stuff that seems to be determined to fight you all the way.

John Colter.
 
Yes I would say you were.

Sorry - double post.

John Colter.
 
ukantor said:
Yes I would say you were right.

My only experience of using padauk was a few years ago when I attempted to make a soprano neck from a nice looking piece of the stuff. It was a most frustrating experience. My first attempt had to be scrapped. The way that timber likes to split and chunk and tear has to be experienced to be believed. I managed to make one decent neck, by making a well oversized blank using normal hand tools, then removing material with a belt linisher to arrive at the finished shape. Not worth the bother.

It made a nice looking neck but I resolved never to work with padauk again. Maybe it was me - wrong technique, tools not sharp enough - whatever. I don't intend to find out. There's plenty of nice looking timber that wants to work with you, without bothering with stuff that seems to be determined to fight you all the way.

John Colter.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply. I'd imagine the problems you noted would be amplified quite a bit when trying to use it as binding.

And if the factory doesn't take the extra step of filling in voids before applying the finish they're likely to get lots of returns... which might be one of the reasons there are so many B stock Cordoba 24 ukes.... much to my delight ;)
 
I used it as a soundboard on a tenor.....when cutting the channel for the binding it tore out like crazy. ...had to go super slow in the cutting.,
Not my favorite for sure but only had one experience with it..sounds like u hit it right in yur assesment.
 
I used it as a soundboard on a tenor.....when cutting the channel for the binding it tore out like crazy. ...had to go super slow in the cutting.,
Not my favorite for sure but only had one experience with it..sounds like u hit it right in yur assesment.

(Not sure why its giving me grief but it posted twice as u can see.....sorry..)
 
jcalkin said:
Can you post a photo of your problem?
Click to expand...
FB_IMG_1546965593750.jpg

Not mine but this is the pic from facebook I mentioned.
The marks look just like the marks I have seen on paduak bindings on several less expensive ukes. I think they might be caused by grain tearout voids that were not filled prior to finishing.
 

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Hmmm... when I look at the picture I see damage post binding rather than tearout. Look closely between the two dents and you can see some other damage to the top between them that might have occured at the same time. Could be tearout, but I think this thing got bitten by something.
 
sequoia said:
Hmmm... when I look at the picture I see damage post binding rather than tearout. Look closely between the two dents and you can see some other damage to the top between them that might have occured at the same time. Could be tearout, but I think this thing got bitten by something.
Click to expand...

Perhaps... but the rounded edges of the marks in the paduak, combined with the fact that I have very similar blemishes in several places in the body and neck paduak binding of two of my ukes, and have seen the same characteristic marks in the paduak binding on other brand new Cordoba 24s being sold in shops all combine tend to lead me to believe it's tearout. Pehaps the marks in the top in the picture are not associated... they do appear more like scratches - but to be honest, I took them to be light reflections.
 
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Ukecaster said:
I could give a crap about those type of blems. Just give me $120.00 solid cedar top tenors with 1.5" nuts, that sound & play great, and I'm a happy camper!
Click to expand...

My sentiments precisely! I'll gladly add another B stock Cordoba 24 to my horde. Concert this time, most likely.

Just to be clear to those unfamiliar with Cordobas, the picture I linked is not of a Cordoba.. I don't know which make it was.

The Cordoba 24s have a satin finish thinly applied on a solid cedar top and it gets superficial marks on it pretty easily.... which is probably another reason they get sent back. But they're great ukes even at full price so being able to pick them up at steep discounts is a treat.
 
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Any Paduk that I've used has enormous pores that are rather difficult to fill. To my eye it looks like those haven't been filled correctly prior to finishing. Lack of quality control.
 
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