Sawdust
Well-known member
Would Poplar make good wood for Bracing and linings?
Actually, the "spruce goose" is made almost entirely of birch, mostly plywood.
Actually, the "spruce goose" is made almost entirely of birch, mostly plywood.
Using numbers from the wood database, for a couple of different woods, looking at the stiffness per unit weight
___________________ weight lbs/ft3__elastic modulus__stiffness/weight
poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera)___29___1580000________54,483
sitka spruce__________________27___1600000________59,259
European spruce______________25___1406000________56,240
Port Orford cedar_____________29___1646000________ 56,759
So poplar is stiffer than 2 of the spruces however it is not as stiff per unit weight. Port Orford cedar is the stiffest of the spruces, but because it is slightly heavier than sitka, it has a lower stiffness per unit weight. (that being said, I use Port Orford cedar for all my top braces to maximize stiffness with very good results)
It's obvious that Spruce is the wood of choice, but just out of curiosity is there other types of wood that will work for the bracing?
I'm not one for cutting corners and building something flimsy, I'm just looking for something that's more readily available that doesn't cost an arm and a leg to buy.
Thanks for all the info!
Sawdust
I bought enough Sitka Spruce for at least 10 ukuleles for about $12. Shipping was twice that, but I needed enough other things that it was well worth it.
Where did you order it?
woodtoworks.com
they have a nice uke sized kerfed lining, nice and interesting tonewoods, and lots of other things, too
Poplar has been used for years in making cheap guitars for mail order for half of the last century. I have two, one was sort of playable. Not a great guitar, but then again a guitar built from spruce to the same dimensions might be a dud also. Mahogany is used for guitar tops when it makes more sense building with spruce for the top. A different flavor. A spruce top with poplar braces will not be too far out there, uke building does not turn its nose up to using hardwoods for the top. While I think spruce may have an edge on poplar as brace material poplar should not be all that bad.