Official Luthiers Forum!
http://w-ww.luthiersforum.com/forum/

Lacewood for necks?
http://w-ww.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10101&t=16619		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  jsimpson [ Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:22 am ]
Post subject:  Lacewood for necks?
Has anyone used lacewood for laminated necks?

According to http://www.woodworkerssource.net/onlinewoods/species.php?woodtype=89, it has a stiffness of 1319 where mahogany (same page) has a stiffness of 1426...not sure of the units, but the numbers are relatively close. I do a 5-laminate neck with some very hard maple as the center strip, so I was thinking the lacewood might work on the outer laminates, the widest and most visible pieces. Got a good deal on some beautiful stock, couldn't pass it up!

Further reading on the web states that lacewood is "moderately stable"...that being the case, I'd reinforce with some CF rods for good measure. Between 5 laminates, CF, and trussrod, would that be stable enough? Or I be barking up the wrong tree?
Author:  charliewood [ Fri Mar 28, 2008 12:12 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Lacewood for necks?
Ive personally found lacewood very ding-y,,,,(not dingy, i.e. dirty or disgusting)
Ding-y meaning
" to be ding-ed or accept dings as in to be dropped or bumped against something harder than the object"
dinged, ding-able, ding-age,
Thats just my limited experience....
Cheers
Charlie
Author:  SteveCourtright [ Fri Mar 28, 2008 1:58 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Lacewood for necks?
I have not used the stuff on guitars at all but made lots of furniture using it for non-structural parts. I find it to be very splintery, prone to tearout, machines very poorly, and is hard to finish. It has a lower density than mahogany and has a similar color to mahogany and cherry when finished. On the other hand, it is reasonably stiff and has that lovely ray-flecked appearance which is so striking when used in small doses (imho). So it should be ok in a laminated neck, if the splintering and tear out doesn't rear its ugly head.

It might be worth a try, but you might have lots of trouble in carving it to shape - that is my guess.
Author:  Mike Collins [ Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:36 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Lacewood for necks?
I'm familiar with 2 types of Lacewood.
Aussie & So American varieties.
The So. American has a darker color but has all the flecks of the other.
The So. American is hard to bend without breakage.

We've used the Aussie stuff for necks for 6 years with NO trouble !
Looks great in fact!
we did not laminate it !
it has held true under high tension classical strings !!
We've made bridges & fingerboards with it just for grins and players love the look!!!!

try it on a non commisioned guitar first so you can show it to players!

Mike
Author:  Mike Collins [ Fri Mar 28, 2008 2:41 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Lacewood for necks?
I'm familiar with 2 types of Lacewood.
Aussie & So American varieties.
The So. American has a darker color but has all the flecks of the other.
The So. American is hard to bend without breakage.

We've used the Aussie stuff for necks for 6 years with NO trouble !
Looks great in fact!
we did not laminate it !
it has held true under high tension classical strings !!
We've made bridges & fingerboards with it just for grins and players love the look!!!!

try it on a non commisioned guitar first so you can show it to players!

Mike
Author:  SteveCourtright [ Fri Mar 28, 2008 3:55 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Lacewood for necks?
I stand corrected - twice! At least amended by the more experienced.
Author:  Allen McFarlen [ Fri Mar 28, 2008 4:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Lacewood for necks?
The Australian lacewood is great to work with. I'm making several fret boards and bridges with it at the moment. The figure is so wild in the wood that I have, that I think it would be too much to look at in a neck, but each to their own. Tim Spittle (Australian Tonewoods) offers neck blanks in lacewood.
Page 1 of 1 All times are UTC - 5 hours
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group
http://www.phpbb.com/