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Materials I have obtained
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Author:  Mason B. [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 3:07 pm ]
Post subject:  Materials I have obtained
Hi forum. I am a very amateur and aspiring luthier. Yester day I picked up a piano that is supposedly made of Honduran mahogany. The piano is 115 years old. So I figured why not harvest the wood and build guitars with. Well after getting as much wood as possible It seems that not all of the wood is the same. I did however obtain much ivory to use as fret board inlay. I also obtained some ebony that I am going to make bridge pins with for an acoustic build. Any suggestions as to what to do with the ebony sharp keys would be cool. I would like for the members of this forum to help identify this wood before it goes to get sawed.

Thanks,
PS, This forum is awesome!!!

Ivory overview
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Ivory close up
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Some pics of the wood

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I am almost sure that the first pieces are veneer. But I have never dealt with raw Honduran before. Any help is appreciated.

And once again, Thanks
Author:  matthewrust [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 3:17 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
It looks like poplar with a veneer to me... But I am no expert. I would guess the keys are going to be the best part of the score.
Author:  JohnAbercrombie [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 5:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
Mason-
To ID the solid wood (aside from the poplar under the veneer) you really need to show folks what the surface of the board looks like, without finish. (So some sanding/scraping is in order.) Furniture (and piano) builders were/are quite skilled at making one wood mimic another, by staining and finishing.
Did you take the soundboard from the piano? Sometimes these are good tonewood...
Cheers
John
PS- the ebony might be useful to somebody who makes wooden pens on their lathe.
Author:  wolfsearcher [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 6:59 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
hows the goin i done the same thing and asked this place would the soundboard
be good for multi piece tops ?
i got alot of hymms and hawws some people said their would be too much glue joints
(too much weight) but i kept it anyway

then one day i was watching jose romanillios vids on youtube (thanks guitar gourmet)
and he said that his son is making multi piece tops out of the same split bit of wood
and he says that the wood matters more than how many glue joints their is

i know it wont be out of the same wood piece but its good enough for an aspiring
luthier like myself also great practice for joining tops and backs and honing skills

oh by the way i was told to keep the soundboard bracing aswell its ment to be awesome
good luck
tomas
Author:  Dennis Leahy [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 9:37 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
The black keys (sharps/flats) were often Pear wood (Swiss Pear), dyed. You'll have to cut through one to know for sure, although the density of Ebony is a lot higher than Pearwood.

Not to be a stick in the mud, but remember that you probably cannot legally export the ivory without massive hassle on your end, trying to get it documented.

Bottom line is that this is really cool, green thinking on your part , and I hope you get some great wood and make it sing again!

Dennis
Author:  Jason [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 9:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
Good score. I came across a similar treasure a couple years ago. The ivory might be a little thin as is but is easily laminated and will be great for inlays.
Author:  runamuck [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
It doesn't appear to be an expensive piano so what appears to be ebony
for the incidental keys probably isn't.

I doubt there is any mahogany in it other than veneer. Usually the case would be oak
with a poplar substrate below the show veneer.

On grands the lid will sometimes be mahogany but more often than not, it's spanish cedar over which
you'll likely find a cross band of poplar than the show veneer.

Unfortunately, the spruce you'll most often find in a piano will not be appropriate for a guitar. The grain will be quite wide and the wood much less stiff on a piano. Not only that, but a soundboard for a piano is glued up of fairly narrow boards,
most of which that won't be wide enough for half a guitar.

Sorry for all the bad news but you might as well hear it before you spend alot of time cutting into a piano.
Author:  Ti-Roux [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
But... you have a lot of beautiful Ivory nuts and saddles, a lot of stock for beautiful ivory inlays, beautiful ivory fingerboard dots... Just for that, that's a good deal!
Author:  DannyV [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:46 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
If I had that much ivory I think I'd build a piano!
Author:  Mason B. [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 10:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
JohnAbercrombie wrote:
Mason-
To ID the solid wood (aside from the poplar under the veneer) you really need to show folks what the surface of the board looks like, without finish. (So some sanding/scraping is in order.) Furniture (and piano) builders were/are quite skilled at making one wood mimic another, by staining and finishing.
Did you take the soundboard from the piano? Sometimes these are good tonewood...
Cheers
John
PS- the ebony might be useful to somebody who makes wooden pens on their lathe.

Are you the same John Abercrombie in this months guitar player mag?

But yes, with all of the ivory i might build a piano!! HA
Author:  JohnAbercrombie [ Wed Nov 25, 2009 11:01 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
Mason B. wrote:
Are you the same John Abercrombie in this months guitar player mag?


Well, if they did an article titled: "Same names but a world apart in talent", I guess I would be in there!

The great jazz guitarist must be from a different Abercrombie gene pool than the one I swim in!

Cheers
John
Author:  george wilson [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 12:10 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
Some pianos,like Kohler and Cambell,have poplar soundboards veneered with spruce!
Author:  martinedwards [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:14 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
I stripped a piano about a year ago.

the tops of the black keys (just the visible bits) were ebony and have made a bunch of mandolin bridges.
Author:  Alexandru Marian [ Thu Nov 26, 2009 6:46 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Materials I have obtained
wolfsearcher wrote:
i done the same thing and asked this place would the soundboard
be good for multi piece tops ?
i got alot of hymms and hawws some people said their would be too much glue joints
(too much weight) but i kept it anyway



Who said that :) wow7-eyes The glue in well fitted joint weights nothing. I would take a 4 or 5 or n pieces soundboard of best quality spruce over a 2 piece made of low quality wood anytime duh
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