Official Luthiers Forum!

I know the neck block should have the grain in the same direction as the
sides, but should it be quartersawn or flat sawn? Does it matter? Also
mahogany seems the standard, would black walnut or cherry be as stable
and strong?

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

It's all about what direction you're looking at the piece from, isn't it? I'd think quartered, like the sides, would be the most stable, but flatsawn might be a little more crack/split resistant. I wouldn't have issues using walnut or cherry as blocks, personally, but Wait for someone with a bit more experience to actually respond.

Many of my customers ask for rift grain ////// just a little off full quarter, but of course grain face matching the sides..

Though you only asked about the neck block in your post, your topic title said neck and end block, so I'll comment on the the end block. For this some people use laminated wood, even something like a piece of good birch plywood. The reason being that it will not split if the guitar takes a hit on the end pin. A regular end block can split from that, and the split can go right up the sides. Ugly.

BTW, I wouldn't hesitate to use walnut, cherry, or other reasonably stable woods for the neck block (disclaimer: I'm not speaking from years of guitar building experience).

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/