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Hi

Any tips on splitting a billet would be greatly appreciated

Following Campiano's guidance but not sure if this has split as it is supposed to !

Is the grain on this OK, looks a bit wide to me ?

J

I can't tell anything from your pictures, but here's what I know.

First of all, the majority of brace wood billets I've bought from luthier suppliers have been pretty terrible in terms of runout, and don't split well at all.

Second, I don't know how Cumpiano gets his spruce to cleanly split braces off the edge of a billet like that picture in the book. It works much better if you split the billet in half rather than near an edge, so the stiffness of the two halves balance. Otherwise the small piece bends more and the split wanders.

Shane at High Mountain Tonewood has great bracewood billets, which are the split off wedges left over from making rectangular soundboard billets out of a round tree They're pretty big so it takes some effort to do make first couple splits, but there's much less waste than using small sawn billets with major runout.

For best stockYou want quartered stock. I use split stock for bracing and that is what I sell . Splitting gives you the best chance for getting the least runout.
Grain width is not a sign of strength . With the grain on the edge showing 45 degrees you will have a hard time getting vertical grain on the braces.
learning to split takes some time and skill. I use a few tools for this , A thin draw knife works. The straighter the grain the cleaner the split. Leaning to lean the knife lets you work the wood so you can control the split.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

The advice to split in halves is good, results in less waste also.
I use a tough old trench knife with a thick blade, and hammer.
Those braces in the picture are after planing. I wish I could split them to that tolerance.

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I made a toot on splitting braces at another forum. I could re-post here if there is no other tutorial in the archives. It's how I do it. Not necessarily the best or most professional way but it certainly works and I get nicely quartered brace stock from it without a ton of waste.

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PMoMC

Tony brings out a very good point. Using a knife or something thinner than a chisel can let you control the split better. The thinner tool can ride the grain better. You want to think grain separation. You want as much of the grain to be in the brace as possible.
When selecting bracing stock , this will be 80% of your success. If your grain is not as straight as possible you will have trouble.

_________________
John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it