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I've been sitting on this Bubinga board for about 5 years now. I bought it before I had any interest in guitar building because it's a unique board.

It measures 8" X 41" & it's 1-1/2" thick. Big enough for a couple of OM's.

My concern is that it's pretty much flat sawn. I've never had good luck resawing flat sawn - it always curls up or cups as it dries. I'm also worried about trying to bend flat sawn wood.

What would you do?

Thanks,
Kevin Looker

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Make a jewelry box for the wife...

I have two really great ideas , ( 1 ) Build an Electric . Or ( 2 ) Send the wood to me and I will make sure it stays safe for you !

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That would so powerfully tempt me, that I probably would not be able to resist trying to build with it.
What you could do is try slicing up half of it, sticker/weight that, and see how it behaves. If you can't build out of it, you've got lotsa beautiful bindings/ headplates at the ready.

Or, jewelry box material for sure.

Or neck stringers,

Or....


Steve

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Send it to Borson Resaw and he'll get you the most yield possible.
You can always double the sides if concerned. I would build with it in a heart beat!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

One of my students is building with something very similar right now .. it bends fine, easier than waterfall, doesnt facet either.

I cut mine up myself about 4-5 years ago, it stayed flat .. yours might even be from the same tree, who knows ... There is easily two sets in there.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I am going to offer a radical idea. Because I think you will, as you suspect, have a heck of a time getting it to stabilize, if ever. Cut it into strips 5/4 thick. Rotate them 90 deg to glue. Of course, joint the edges (thus the 5/4). Resaw. Not sure if the glue would survive the bending, though I am sure I have see guitars built like this.

Or, use for electrics. Or use bridges and other stuff.

I wonder how much I will get hammered for that suggestion?

Mike

I'd build a birdhouse or cigar box with it, cut the rest into sticker strips for wood drying.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Hi Kevin,

If you had this board for 5 years, it's pretty dry as far as I'm concern. Go ahead and resaw it and use it for your two OMs.

If you bend with a Fox type bender, I wouldn't worry about bending.

I've build with bubinga just as flat sawn as this one, by the way.

This wood is far too pretty to not make a guitar with it!

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Alain Moisan
Former full time builder of Acoustics, Classicals and Flamencos.
(Now building just for fun!)

I agree. The only provision I would make is to warm up the back for an hour or so just before bracing it.

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John

Thanks for all the replies & encouragement. I hadn't thought about bindings, brige plates etc. if it doesn't work out.

Nothing ventured...

I just ordered a new woodslicer bandsaw blade. Unfortunately, I need a custom length so it will take about 6 weeks.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

If I could just talk my wife into allowing me to turn this board into a bunch of guitars.

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http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

Beautiful piece Kevin. Good luck cutting bubinga with a Woodslicer. I never had any luck.

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The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

It's funny how instrument makers see a beautiful table and think of it in terms of how many guitars they can get out of it. I think that you should take that table and re-saw it into back/side sets anyway. I mean, a table that nice, you want to protect it from getting coffee stains or scratches on it...the best way to do that is to get a cheaper table and make guitars out of that one.

And something on topic...I would make a guitar out of that piece. It's dry, take time on the bending and maybe leave the sides a bit thicker to avoid cracking them, but soak them much longer so they get wet all the way through right before you bend. I always find my second piece of wood bends far nicer than my first, and I think it's because it spent an extra 20 minutes in the bath.

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http://www.sixgunguitars.com

Bob,
Thanks for the input. I value your opinion.

What type of blade do you prefer for bubinga? I've been using a 1/2" X 4tpi Lenox skip tooth blade with good results in Padauk, Sapele (butter), Wenge and Ovangkol. I've only resawn bubinga once before & it was many years ago. I remember it being very hard but I don't remember it being oily which seems to cause more trouble as it cakes up on the blade.

I haven't used the woodslicer but I guess I've been taken in by the marketing and the 1/32" kerf.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I am not sure what blade Bob will suggest, but I would have no fear attacking it with a Resaw King blade from Laguna. Look at the Borsin videos. Mounting the board to a stable back board will keep the board from moving as you slice it.

Let us know how it goes!

Mike

As Todd suggests carbon steel should get you through that board. Ovankol is similar to bubinga so you should be fine. Another nice blade is the Lenox bi-metal. I don't want to recommend carbide as the cost is quite high for occasional re-sawing. Easy to cut? Not in my opinion. I think of woods like mahog, walnut, cherry, oak, IRW, etc. as easy to cut. Bubinga is hard stuff. I really don't know why people don't use it more often. It's a great tonewood.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
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The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

The RewsawKing blade cuts Bubinga without any trouble. If you want to see Bubinga being sliced in our shop watch this video...

https://www.facebook.com/video/video.ph ... 4&comments

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Lance Peck

I'd love to try a Resaw King but it would set me back about $400

The carbon steel Lenox & Starrett blades I've been using work pretty well when they're fresh & sharp and they're roughly $30. I'll stick with them for now.

Thanks for all the replies.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

Nice Lance. I've had problems with the re-saw king dulling very rapidly. Have they changed the blade?

_________________
Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

They actually did change the blades last spring. Thinner kerf now and an actual carbide tooth created with some new German technology.
We used to have a horrible problem with the blades dulling quickly until we got the cutting technique fine tuned. They will still dull quickly if you make a mistake, but the smooth cut and thin kerf make the extra expense of the blade worth while.

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Lance Peck

How much is one saved set of wood worth? Might not take too long to recover the $400?
But in reality if you don't have your saw set up correctly the ResawKing would not be a wise investment.

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Lance Peck

Are you saying a saved set because of a reduced kerf?

The Resaw King has a kerf of 0.041 while the garden variety carbon steel blades take out about 1/16" which is 0.0215" more. After 6 slices the resaw king would save just over 1/8". In a production setting, I think the resaw king or a comparable carbide blade would be the way to go: less waste & less time spent changing blades & dialing in the saw.

For occasional resawing of mostly "common" woods or a single board of something special, I can't justify it unless I'm missing something. I will admit that most resaw mishaps I've experienced were a result of not changing the blade before it got too dull.

Kevin Looker

_________________
I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

I know where you could get 4 Resaw King blades for that much money. I have an 18" Jet, 137" , 3/4" carbide blade and it costs me $95. Have several on the wall. All blades up to 160" are $95. PM me if u are interested.

Mike