Desert Ironwood Fretboard

Matt Clara

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Anyone use desert ironwood for a fretboard? Someone gave me a stick of it a couple of years ago and the wood database says it's extremely stable. It's tough as nails and heavy, so, just like other fretboards. Honestly, this might be heavier. I've got some Texas ebony I've used before and it's heavier than that, even.

Little sapwood showing in the pictures. The sapwood appears to be just as hard as the heartwood. One of the pictures shows it alongside a piece of Texas ebony.

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You could try sanding it and trial cutting it to see how it is to work with, but desert ironwood is so hard and dense that it will probably dull your fret saw. It is also so dense that glue may not penetrate or bite onto it and may cause issues gluing it to your neck. I know you can not nail into it when used in construction, so I would experiment before committing to using it.
 
You could try sanding it and trial cutting it to see how it is to work with, but desert ironwood is so hard and dense that it will probably dull your fret saw. It is also so dense that glue may not penetrate or bite onto it and may cause issues gluing it to your neck. I know you can not nail into it when used in construction, so I would experiment before committing to using it.

Good idea. I need to shave one side on the sled to get it perfectly flat, anyway, I can try cutting a few frets and glue a piece up and see what it does.
 
Kelali Kev brings up some good points. Desert ironwood has a Janka hardness of 3,260 lbf (14,500 N) which is pretty darn hard and dense. But on the other hand Gabon ebony which has never given me any gluing problems is only slightly less dense (Janka Hardness: 3,080 lbf (13,700 N). I would drill some glue relief holes on the underside of the fretboard and/or set some pins to prevent "skating". A preliminary test is always a good idea too.

Gorgeous wood by the way.
 
Highly prized for knife handles and such. I have wanted to use it for bridge and fingerboards in an attempt to make an all US wood instrument with a desert theme inlay. I wasn't able to find pieces on eBay that were suitable. I considered an RV trip to the Se
 
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Highly prized for knife handles and such. I have wanted to use it for bridge and fingerboards in an attempt to make an all US wood instrument with a desert theme inlay. I wasn't able to find pieces on eBay that were suitable. I considered an RV trip to the Se


I've had the same thought, and this build is close. It would be all US woods except for the purpleheart I used in the inlay. Oh, wait, it has a Spanish cedar neck, too! Next one!
 
For some strange reason my post is getting cut in half. The rest should say.

Se
 
For some strange reason my post is getting cut in half. The rest should say.

Se

Uh oh. Looks like the dreaded message demon has got you Michael. Whatever it is after Se seems to be giving the forum indigestion. Try not using any strange marks in the text. I've found that it hates the italics command. Anyway, try resending because you always have something interesting to say.

By the way, that ironwood is going to make a gorgeous fretboard. Just don't use your prized Japanese fret saw or it will ruin the edge. Maybe a good ol' hacksaw will be best.
 
Uh oh. Looks like the dreaded message demon has got you Michael. Whatever it is after Se seems to be giving the forum indigestion. Try not using any strange marks in the text. I've found that it hates the italics command. Anyway, try resending because you always have something interesting to say.

By the way, that ironwood is going to make a gorgeous fretboard. Just don't use your prized Japanese fret saw or it will ruin the edge. Maybe a good ol' hacksaw will be best.


I'll cheat and use a router bit. Slow but steady.
 
I was trying to post Senora Desert. Desert Ironwood is a member of the pea family of trees. There was a pretty good sized pile of it at a BLM campground I stayed at way back when. I see what the problem was. My auto spell check was putting a tilde over the n in Senora. That was a deal breaker for this forum.
 
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It might make good saddles and nuts.
 
New saw blade needed...😉
 
Beautiful! Is this the same wood that is called Ironwood in Hawaii? Also, same as Australian Pine in Florida???

I'm pretty sure it is not. Range is limited to the Senora Desert The Southeast tip of CA, South West Corner of Arizona and Easter Baja.

ronwood (Olneya tesota)

Ironwood is a flowering tree from the legume family. The reason for its common name becomes immediately apparent if you ever tap the trunk with your knuckles. The wood is incredibly dense. This characteristic makes desert ironwood a very effective weapon. Native Americans in southern California used the ironwood for clubs and throwing sticks.

The geographic range of this plant is interesting in that it perfectly overlaps with the reach of the Colorado section of the Sonoran desert. The Colorado Desert is the western portion of the Sonoran. As seen in the range map image, ironwood grows in a region adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico and then extends down into Baja, along the Vizcaino Desert border.

Desert ironwood reaches a height of 35 feet and the trunk can assume a diameter of 2 feet. As in most Fabaceae species, the leaves are pinnately compound, in this case also greenish-blue. Flowers appear in late spring, giving way to a light-red seed pod.

Uses for the desert ironwood tree

The ironwood
 

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I'm pretty sure it is not. Range is limited to the Senora Desert The Southeast tip of CA, South West Corner of Arizona and Easter Baja.

ronwood (Olneya tesota)

Ironwood is a flowering tree from the legume family. The reason for its common name becomes immediately apparent if you ever tap the trunk with your knuckles. The wood is incredibly dense. This characteristic makes desert ironwood a very effective weapon. Native Americans in southern California used the ironwood for clubs and throwing sticks.

The geographic range of this plant is interesting in that it perfectly overlaps with the reach of the Colorado section of the Sonoran desert. The Colorado Desert is the western portion of the Sonoran. As seen in the range map image, ironwood grows in a region adjacent to the Gulf of Mexico and then extends down into Baja, along the Vizcaino Desert border.

Desert ironwood reaches a height of 35 feet and the trunk can assume a diameter of 2 feet. As in most Fabaceae species, the leaves are pinnately compound, in this case also greenish-blue. Flowers appear in late spring, giving way to a light-red seed pod.

Uses for the desert ironwood tree

The ironwood

Yes, this seems to be correct. Thanks.
 
I do need a new blade, I think. It's a highland wood slicer, which are nice blades, that don't stay sharp very long. I reset my guides for the second cut to the point that they were riding on the back of the gullet and a couple of the bearings were spinning at all times during the cut. If I wasn't pushing hard against the fence, causing the left bearing to spin, then the right bearing immediately started spinning instead. The result was a much cleaner cut than the first, though.
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Beautiful! Is this the same wood that is called Ironwood in Hawaii? Also, same as Australian Pine in Florida???

Australian Pine (in Florida) or "ironwood" in Hawaii is Casuarina, of which there are three species in Florida. I think that the two most common Florida species are in Hawaii. Considered an invasive species in Florida. Casuarina equisetifolia grows as single trees, C. glauca makes dense casuarina-only stands because it grows from root sprouts. Glauca is the really invasive casuarina in Florida. Both a very hard wood, with few pores. Makes great fingerboards and back & sides, much like ebony. Not commercially available because it has a reputation for twisting and checking when drying, but I have found that quarter-sawn billets behave rather well. Bring your carbide-tipped bandsaw however.

All three of these have casuarina fingerboards and the middle one has casuarina back & sides,
 

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This thread got me thinking about some ironwood I have here. I probably haven't seen it in 30 years or more. somebody gave it to me I used it on the first instrument I ever build which was an F5. I didn't know any better and I still have the mandolin. I made the neck out of it and I still have the mando. I also remember cutting the stuff
:uhoh:

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