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A friend and I just cleared out a lot of cedar trees on his deer lease and I was wondering if I could use any of the wood to build guitars. I was thinking of letting the wood dry out for a year or so and then maybe use it for bracing. The trees are all around 3-4 inches in diameter.

Any other suggestions of what I could use them for?

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Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

what kind of cedar?

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Reguards,

Ken H

It's a native Cedar tree to Central Texas.

cypress-juniper (Cupressaceae) family, the Mountain Cedar, Juniperus ashei (also called Juniperus sabinoides or Juniperus mexicana.

Not sure if this will mean anything...

_________________
Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

If thiose were larger trees, they would make excellent tops. With the tree only being 3  to 4 inches in diameter, brace stock sounds like what it might be destined for. If you could find some of it that is knot free, maybe making some part of a laminated neck??

They make excellent fence posts...

_________________
Reguards,

Ken H

Thanks for the ideas. I hadn't thought about trying to use it for a laminated neck, but now that you mention it, I'll have to see if any of it might work for that. I had also thought about possibly making kerfing, but I haven't made it before so not real sure how tedious of a task that would be. There are also some larger trees out there as well so maybe I can find one that might be worthy of making some tops.

They do make excellent fence posts. I've seen some made into nice rocking chairs and other furniture where they basically just stripped the bark off and it had a nice "rustic" look.

_________________
Thanks,
Blain

http://www.ullrichguitar.com

"89.67% of all statistics are made up on the spot."

Drying is a long term issue. Knowing the trees of which you speak brace stock is probably all you will get out of them, and not likely very good brace stock. but one good use is to cut wet into many 2 x 4 x 6 and place on the floor near walls and doors are good for about 3 weeks of bug repellent. These trees don't grow big enough diameter to render tops.

3 to 4" diameter is not even big enough for bracing. Sounds like mulch to me.

fence posts.....
turkey calls...
lining closets...
hope chests...
typical uses

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Some of the trees I've cut down have some interesting sapwood / heartwood patterns. If I had a bandsaw I'd see how it might look as a headplate or something.

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53% of all statistics are made up on the spot
http://driftwoodguitars.blogspot.com/

Kerfed lining?