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I bought some Spanish Cedar a while back intending to use it for classical necks, but it is so light it almost feels like balsa. Would it be appropriate for back braces? It seems fairly stiff, just extremely light. Or maybe just kerfing? I've got 6 feet of 1x8 and it is nicely 1/4 sawn. If not then I am going to use it for repairing an outdoor bench on my patio.
Thanks, Wendy

Why have you decided it's unsuitable for necks? Perfectly quartered, fairly stiff and light sounds perfect to me.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

Wendy,
I agree with Mike. Why not use it for the neck, quartered or flat sawn?
What are you at for back and sides? Just curious. Sounds like you have the making for a really light guitar, and Spanish cedar is attractive as back and sides also. Just a thought.

How is it strong enough for a bench but not a neck?

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Old growth, shmold growth!

I don't know the situation and therefore can't make a solid judgement either way. Not enough info. And as far as building goes I'm probably the last person to give advice, so, just making an observation.
But if I had suitable neck wood such as you have described I'd do everything I could to hang on to it. My way of thinking is that even if you're not using it now a few years seasoning won't hurt it. From what I can gather most advanced luthiers have a stash of well seasoned wood , which is important to most of them.
Since I'm just starting on this journey that is something I lack but would cherish dearly. If I were in your position I'd stash that away and go to Home Depot or some place like that and get the wood to fix the bench with. MHO.

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Mike

The only thing nescessary for evil to thrive is for good men to do nothing.

In a given wood species, stiffness is roughly proportional to density. In other words, if it is low density (as some SC seems to be), I would be concerned about the stiffness of the neck. With that in mind, I would only use it if there is some sort of reinforcement.
Of course, there is no problem using it for back braces, where the height can be increased to compensate.

Flexibility is a plus for a bench. I built a porch swing with thin SC slats for the seating surface, and the slight flex makes it more comfortable. Flexibility in a neck is rarely a good thing.
The important property in neck design is stiffness. Strength is the resistance to breaking, while stiffness is resistance to flexing.

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John

As light as balsa seems pretty light, but maybe you are over reacting if you have not handled Spanish Cedar before. Average Spanish Cedar is expected to be very low density, perhaps 60 % to 70% of mahogany.

Sounds great for soundboards. I'd be happy to take a couple off your hands if you can get it sliced up

Can you measure the density? Then you will be able to tell if it's suitable for a classical neck. Opinions may vary, but a density between 430-500 kg/m^3 would be OK for me.

Repair your bench and use what you have left over for kerfed linings. It does make nice smelling linings. Some Spanish cedar is too light and bendy for good neck stock.
If you don't think it would be good for the bench then use it all for linings. It's nice to not have to make up linings every time you build a guitar.

I have used Spanish Cedar for necks before and they were nowhere near as light weight as this stuff. The reason it is strong enough for a bench and not a neck is because I just need to replace a lower front piece on the bench and it won't even support any weight. The bench is old weathered teak and the teak I found at the lumber yard was way too expensive for this old bench. I found this piece of Spanish Cedar that had been sitting unused on my lumber rack for a few years. My original question was whether it would be ok for back braces, which I gather it will. I will probably repair my bench, and then use the rest for back braces, kerfed linings, and maybe dentallones. Thanks for all your replies. Wendy