Port Orford tenor necks

mandodiddle

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 10, 2008
Messages
87
Reaction score
9
Location
Conway, Arkansas
I've never installed a carbon fiber rod in any of my necks. So far so good.
But I'm getting ready to make some Port Orford necks for several ukes and, having no experience with them, I have a question about their long term stability.
Do you find that they are just as stable as honduran mahogany. Would you place a rod in the Port Orford neck or just treat it as you would mahogany?
 
I've never used Port Orford Cedar to make a neck, but a little research shows that it would probably make excellent neck material. One of its uses is for arrow shafts which have to stay straight and stable obviously. In terms of density and modulus of rupture, it is on par with mahogany:

Common Uses: Arrow shafts, musical instruments (soundboards on guitars), boatbuilding, boxes and chests, decking, and various interior millwork applications.

Comments: So named because it was first discovered near Port Orford in Oregon. Port Orford Cedar is perhaps a hidden gem in the realm of strong, lightweight timber, possessing superb strength-to-weight ratios in both modulus of elasticity and modulus of rupture, as well as crushing strength.
From the Wood Database.

However, if you have any doubts go ahead and reinforce it. Easy pezzy.
 
I have made a few Tenors and Baritones with POC necks. It is softer for carving, but sands out beautifully and easily. I have had no problems with stability so far without reinforcing. POC soundboards sound great too and smell great. It is actually Lawson Cypress.
 
I just reinforce everything so my starting point is a known controlled element. Minimise possible surprises.
 
Thanks guys. I’m making these Ukulele’s for Family and myself, so I think I’ll forgo the neck reinforcement. I’m not professional and I won’t be too hard on myself one of them gives me problems.
 
Last edited:
Top Bottom