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Hi

I am writing this to ask for some advise.

A friend is gifting me a Taiwan acacia log. The log is about 40cm in diameter but the core is not actually dead center, so I will be able to cut the log to get usable back and side sets. Here is the issue though:

I have a dinky welded steel 14" bandsaw that I think will not resaw this wood at all. Or at least I think I can manage it but I'll probably have issue or will have to go extremely slow. The friend will use a chainsaw to saw the log into quarters to allow me quartersawn wood, then I'll have to figure out how to break it down further in order to be able to lift it to the saw. The wood will be semi green, as in it's not completely green (was cut down and left in a field a year ago). Attached is a picture of the log with line drawn where the person will cut it for me. He only has a chainsaw and does not have access to a sawmill.

I want to promote Taiwan Acacia wood as a viable alternative to Koa as this wood is severely underutilized in Taiwan, as the log is essentially shipped wholesale to China or Vietnam and used to make hardwood floors. The person giving me the log was in the logging business in Taiwan and decided to get out of the trade after a particularly gruesome accident involving a drunk sawyer.

So I can spend about $1000 dollars (which I do not have) to buy a 26" bandsaw that I believe will be adequate for this and future resaw jobs (If I am to promote this wood, I will be buying logs wholesale and resawing it, otherwise it becomes too expensive). I think my current saw can probably do the job, but it will do it badly. However I do not think I can get funding to buy the 26" bandsaw so the question is, how long do I have to get this sawn into thin sets before something bad happens to the wood? I'll need several months to a year before I can use them regardless.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

The log quartered with a chainsaw (wood porn to follow)

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Hi Tai,
Generally what is done is to crosscut the log into 2 ft. lengths (+/-) and to then split the log radially with a wedge and sledge hammer, much like making fire wood. You can then paint the ends and stack it out of the weather to allow it to dry.

That guy must be really good with a chainsaw. I can't imagine making a cut like that. Or was he using a chainsaw mill?

I can tell ya, I've resawn a lot of boards for guitars on a very cheap bandsaw. It was pushed to the limit and more but got the job done. And yes going slow is key. Also having a good blade of course. Do you know any other luthiers that you could sell sets too? That might help offset the cost of a good resaw.

Also if that wood is still too green then you would probably want to cut planks of maybe 2 inches or so and then stack and stiker them in a good place to dry for at least a year, two would be better.

I have no clue, it was curved a little bit and he is basically giving me these wood for free.

I can probably sell it to local luthiers. Probably not much though, maybe $30 dollars if I am lucky. Would not really offset the cost of a new saw, depending on how much sets I am getting out of it.

I think I will probably crowdfund for a better saw. I am going to try and promote this wood, and a good friend of mine saw the potential and has financed me to build a single guitar out of it, however I asked about the saw and he said to sell a guitar before acquiring more equipment. I guess it makes sense as acquiring more equipment would involve some logistics, not to mention risks (you never know what is wrong with a used machine).

Why cut them thick and then resaw when dry? why not resaw them green?

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

It's my understanding that you can cut softwoods like spruce green, and that is even preferable, but hardwoods will warp and crack. I cut up a bunch of maple from logs about two years ago into two inch slabs. Even though I painted the ends, stacked them and so on they have some cracks and warpage which will require running them through a planner before resawing them.

Bill Hibdon always cut green/partially air dried wood into sets and then stickered it. Case hardening is a problem with many of the dense woods Bill sells. Case hardening resulted in wood cupping in opposite directions when resawn. By resawing before case hardening set in the thin pieces stayed flat. My advice would be to cut it green and carefully sticker and put some weight on top of the pile.

_________________
Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

This is assuming I can even do it at all. I have a dinky 14 inch bandsaw that already struggled to cut dry wood... let alone green ones. And low teeth count blades for half inch simply do not exist. Everything here is for metal work. Have to get to 1 inch blades before you see anything thats even appropriate for resawing.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

If the wood is as nice as it appears and it is an undervalued resource you do have a good chane of it being accepted by Western guitar makers. It was not very long ago that no one had heard of Australian/Tasmanian blackwood. It now commands at least $200/set and more if figured. Your 14" saw would be a major source of frustration and lots of spoiled sets I fear.

_________________
Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

I'd leave some longer ones for sides as well.

I have a neighbor who got a killer deal locally on Acacia flooring that looks like it could well be the Taiwan Acacia. I always look at his floor shaking my head thinking it should be guitar wood instead of floor wood. Beautiful stuff. Looks like you got a very nice log--Good luck with it!

Dave

More pics, wetted wood.

It's beautiful stuff even though the log looks ugly as hell on the outside.

There is a minor amount of spalting in a portion of the sapwood.

The guy basically cut the log freehand with a chainsaw. He said he basically butchered the log as he is used to working with much larger chainsaw than what he has now, but he said the Taiwanese he works with is like a surgeon with a chainsaw...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

Re-sawing green wood is usually significantly easier than re-sawing dried. Might be easier than you think. You might be pleasantly surprised by your current saw’s ability if you invest in a good blade. But definitely cut into 2’ and 3’ sections and mill from there.

I resawn the log. I think my saw is taking a beating during the process and it takes me an hour to make a single cut... but I gotta dry it first.

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com

I worked on a tall ship in the late 90's - it was the first large wooden recreation of an earlier boat built all with exotic hardwoods. It was mostly purpleheart and jatoba. The builder went to Belize and picked the 3 purpleheart trees he wanted, then took pictures as they were felled and cut up. The local crew had a 30" bar chainsaw and the purpleheart was 5" thick, 30" wide, and up to about 25 feet long, all cut while they stood on the log with the saw pointed straight down. The pieces looked like they came out of a sawmill, but you could see the circular pattern made by the end of the bar at one edge. Lots of skill there

Yea the problem is my bandsaw isn't a sawmill class bandsaw, it barely resaws. Actually I ended up making a tapered board that has a slight curve along the length. But it's green so who knows, the drying process will straighten it out...

_________________
Cat-gut strings are made from kitten guts, stretched out to near breaking point and then hardened with grue saliva. As a result these give a feeling of Pain and anguish whenever played, and often end up playing themselves backwards as part of satanic rituals.

Typhoon Guitars
http://www.typhoon-guitars.com