Official Luthiers Forum!

In the late 70's, my brother and I built a 40 foot cruising sailboat. When it came time to install wood rails and hatches, teak wood was $4000 but Honduras Mahogany was $1800. We were short of money at the end there, and decided to go with Mahogany. Earlier this week were getting ready for launching for our 36th season, and poked through a locker under a bunk, I came up with a mahogany blank that is 2-7/8" by 3-1/4" by 31" long. It is big enough to make a couple of necks for smaller guitars.

My question is this - Is there too much runout to make good necks?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ruby1638/ ... 673557176/

Thanks
Ed

I don't know Ed, but I wanted to say I am really impressed with your boat building skills!
Mike

I was thinking "YOU BUILT THAT??" WOW.

I dunno, I'd be reluctant to use that personally.

I would use it in a heartbeat. You built a that 40ft boat? Geesh man what an incredible accomplishment for you and your brother. I'm a sailor too and I'm just in awe at what it would take to build such a thing.

That's some nice looking wood. I'd use it for sure.

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George :-)

Mr. Fool:

Why do you say not to use it? Is it the angled grain? I have had 2 well known luthiers on another forum say that it looks great without their commenting on that angled grain.

The boat is a Valiant 40, voted the best cruising sailboat of all time a couple of years ago in a sailing magazine. She is a glorious sailer and is very comfortable in almost all conditions. We were young when we built her and now we look at some of the things we did and ask "do YOU remember doing that?"

Thanks for the comments

Ed

Just that one picture where the grain is going across at such a steep angle. Maybe I'm looking at it wrong.

Disclaimer, I am by no means a luthier, just a hobbiest.

The end grain shot shows that it's some very nice tight grained wood.

It's hard to gauge entirely what's going on with the grain from the photos. If you don't think the grain will make it susceptible to splitting or make carving a PITA, I'd use it.

Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I don't see how you could lay out a neck without that crossing through in one way or another...

Otoh, the pores themselves seem to be more or less straight. I was only able to see thumbnail sketches on the host site.

It's hard to tell without having the billet in hand exactly where the grain lines run but I agree with meddlin' and probably
wouldn't use it for neckwood. I have a couple 1 x 4 in. mahog boards with similar grain configuration that I won't use for necks.
The blank that you have there would be fine to resaw and use in a laminated neck though imo. In my limited experience those
lines running across at that 30 to 40 degree angle are usually good indicators of strength or lack of. Bending. twisting or warping
wouldn't be the concern but wood like that tends to break easily if dropped or subjected to minor impact. My 2 cents.
Ken

Does the end grain look the same from both ends, or does it spiral which would be bad.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

If you're concerned slice it down the middle, flip one piece end for end and laminate it. A centre veneer strip can be attractive.

I would be concerned about it twisting over time as the grain doesn't appear to run very far down the neck blank before it exits. I could easily be wrong however as I've never used a piece of wood like that for a neck.
BTW: The boat is incredible! How long did it you guys to build?

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I would use it.

Depending on how the neck pattern would actually hit the wood, I would consider doing a laminated neck as Danny suggested. I can't see it causing you any problems. if you are in doubt you can add carbon fiber to the mix.

You most likely will get several nice necks out of the piece.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Hopefully one of our resident wood experts will chime in, but my understanding is that the diagonal figure visible in these photos that is giving some here pause are growth rings that have been exposed during resawing and do not indicate a twisting grain structure ... or something like that.

I may be wrong and that is why, as DannyV suggested, I like to hedge my bets by using laminated necks.

Yeah, awesome sailboat!

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George :-)

I guess this is another way to look at it, if I'm purchasing a neck blank, I'd pass on that one. But since yo have it and it's well aged maybe it's OK.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

I've used wood like that with no problems but I split it and then laminate it together so that the grain pattern on the neck is symmetrical. I like to put a contrasting veneer in the center.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

I think I would go with the two opinions from UMGF.