# Davemonkey's Cedar Bass



## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

I'm working on some watershed clean-up and we came across a LARGE cedar tree that was knocked down during Hurricane Ike. We had to cut it up to get some machines through to the other side and some of the logs were quite large. I've always wanted a 1-piece guitar body-blank, so I convinced the contractor to cut me a slice about 2 inches thick and 22" tall. What I got was 2" x 30" x 17" plus the end-piece.

Here's the deal. I was told I have to let this dry for 5 years in my home (out of the damp Houston air). Then I was told by someone else that I can dry it by using a space-heater in my garage to blow on it for a couple days. I'm NOT going to try to make a "kiln" unless it can be done for less that $20.

Anyone have experience or knowledge on this matter? Currently, the bottom piece is sitting on bricks to allow air under it. Then there are 2 brinks on top of it, and the other piece of wood sits on those bricks.

Here's a pic while I was pealing off the bark from the end-piece.










Thanks,
Dave


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## Crazyness (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

i wouldnt try and rush it. Let it dry over time


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

how thick is it? generally it takes a 1 year per inch, to dry in a warm dry place.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: How to dry wood?*



TAB said:


> how thick is it? generally it takes a 1 year per inch, to dry in a warm dry place.


It's about 2" thick (the slab). The end piece is 1" to 4". So, I guess that means 2 years to use the one I want. It did sit for a year uprooted, but it was outside all that time.

I put a space heater on them (stacked them on bricks) and the end piece started getting cracks, so I stopped. I wasn't going to use that one to make the guitar anyway, so I'm not that disappointed. I'm really glad I noticed it though before my "precious" slab got any cracks.

Now I need to find a good thru-body neck + peg-board that will support the pull of the strings (for a 4-string bass). I need a 1.75" thick x 4" wide x 45" tall piece of maple, mahogany, ebony, pau ferro, or any rosewood, or any combination of those that would give me that total width and thinkness. That's gonna get costly I think.


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

if its checking, you need to boil it then wax it.

Look into sapele, its often used as guitar necks. If you have the tools, you can buy a slab of it and mill it down yourself have use it for lots of projects. I'm planing on getting 2 slabs and building my stand for my 240.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

Sapele, I'll check that out to see what kind of tone it has.

Thanks.


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapele

its wiki so take it with a grain of salt. I like it, its what a I plan to build my stand out of for the 240. A plus is you can also get it in slabs, which I like as I can mill up what ever I need.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

TAB, something else I forgot to ask: What do you mean "wax it"? Is there some forestry grade stuff I should be looking for?

I just had some more of this cut for me and I want to treat this wood right to keep it from checking ( Two 16" long x 14" diameter logs (bark all around except ends) and Four slabs that have the bark only on one side).

I do remove the bark, yes?

-Dave


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## Franzi (Dec 7, 2009)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

ha, this is awesome. I hope to see the final product one day!


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

generally no you don't remove the bark.

what the wax does is slow the drying process( boiling adds back water) there are two methods to waxing, hot and cold. Hot is exactly what it sounds like, people use pretty much anything you can make a candle out of. Smaller peices are diped, larger ones having it pored or brushed on. the cold method is using a wax emulsion. which you can make at home, but I would not recomend it. two comm'l products that you are likly to find is anchorseal and mobilcer M. Anchor seal is parfin based, mobilcer m is crystaline wax based.

I've never done the cold method, but I use a combo of parfin and bees wax all the time using the hot method.

either method you use, as soon as its cut, you need to apply the wax to the cut.


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## tiffc (Jan 8, 2010)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

It's like I remember using wax on wood sculptures back when I was taking a sculpture class. Wood can be delicate. The class was quite a few years ago, I wish I remembered more of the process to help you!

Good luck with it!


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## RestlessCrow (Nov 5, 2009)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

Hey Dave. I have an Alaskan Sawmill and I regularly make slabs like what you have right there, and dry then to use as lumber in various woodworking projects. The BEST.... Absolutely BEST thing you can do, is to get yourself some paraffin wax, throw it in a double boiler and melt it, and then brush it on the END grain of the wood. Leave the flat face of the wood unpainted so that it can breathe.

The reason is....

Think of a plank of wood as a bundle of straws, held together with something sticky. The straws will breathe from the ends, and the ends will dry out faster than the middle. When the wood dries, it shrinks. Therefore, if the ends dry faster, they will shrink faster, resulting in cracking of the wood, especially at the ends. If possible, lay the wood flat with small spacers underneath to encourage air circulation. You could also build a Solar Kiln for a very reasonable price

Another option, if you don't have wax available, is to do what I do when I am fortunate enough to come across a burl. With burls, (If they fit...) you put them in a paper bag. Regular brown bag from the food store. Fold the top down tightly to specifically exclude the movement of air in and out of the bag. This limits the evaporation of moisture from the wood, and makes it dry s-l-o-w-l-y which prevents cracking and checking. Using this method, it takes approximately 1 year + to dry.

That's a nice chunk of Cedar there! Take care of it! We all want to see the finished results!


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

*Re: How to dry wood?*

Okay, I got everything waxed with some paraffin and I learned the difference between HOT and WARM with melted wax. Wow, when it's really hot, it soaks in SOOOO much better. The down side is I didn't have time to do it until today, so all the new wood had at least a week without it. All the pics are pre-wax.

*Here is a pic of my idea for the guitar sides...still very early in the planning phases, so this could change.*









Here are the new pieces I brought home. My daughters are 'modeling' so you can get an idea of size. The two logs at the bottom of the stack in the first pic were, and the log in the second pic, were all one log (the tree trunk). You can see some insect damage in the core of the wood. All of this wood came from the same tree, and we didn't even touch the first 8' of the tree because it's temporarily being used as an anchor for a telephone pole (don't ask).


















*And here are some Cyprees knees and a driftwood piece that I gathered up for a friend of mine in Houston.*


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

I changed the thread title now that I have a project set up (still a couple years before its completed, I'm sure).

I ordered a maple/mahogany neck and striped ebony fretboard. I'm PLEASED with how it turned out and I can't wait to start carving out the cedar sides.

*The Neck*









*Striped Ebony Fretboard detail* (still covered in plastic wrap since this is kiln dried and it's rather humid here right now









*Comparison to my current bass *(use your imagination for how it will turn out, but I really like the color of the different woods together...the sapwood of the cedar ties in great to the maple stringers)









*Detail shot of grain pattern *on part of the cedar









Any luthiers out there with advice on how to route out the pickups? I have ALOT of studying to do.

-Dave


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## Fishtory (Jan 21, 2009)

Dave,
I own a violin shop and do all the repairs myself. PM me.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

PM'd. 

And dag-nabbit if all my pictures didn't dissappear!! All I did was change the name of the folder they were in. :rant:

Anyway, here's a new link to a couple pics. I'll update as more impressive stuff happens.




























*I'm deciding on a peg-board design*


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## Shurik (Mar 22, 2008)

Wow, how cool!  Dave, you can do everything in the world! I used to work for Steinway&Sons and got some idea of how difficult it is to work with the wood for musical instruments. They are really fussy about the wood, every piano is made from the same materials by the same workers yet every piano has its own character. Some sounds warm and timid, some are so bright and loud even the orchestra can't over sound them. I know they do dry their wood for a year, in general, that one which the case is made of, particularly the rim wood. The rim is made of multiple laminations of hard rock maple, (16-18 layers, depending on the model) and those layers are very thin. After its dried just right, glued together, dried again and bent in the shape of the piano, they are putting it in the dark room with about 85F and 45% humidity to "relax" and dry out for additional like 16 weeks. So there is a lot of "drying", several stages of it, and it depends on the part they are making. It is different for sound board or other parts, but in every case they go with slow controlled gradual process, never hurried and never with the space heater. 

So, making a musical instrument has something in common with setting up a fish tank - a lot of info (almost too much of it) and sometimes some little tiny detail you wouldn't ever think is important matters a lot and changes the whole thing!

Anyway, hi!


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

That looks awesome, Dave! Hope to see the finished piece someday.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Shurik, you're right about it being just as complex as a planted tank. So much info!! I even joined a Luthier's forum so I could get some info, which has helped tremendously. The major irony is, I've been searching for help in cutting the wood to final shapes/sizes (I don't actually own any equipment other than an old skill saw and a power drill) and wound up finding someone on THIS site to help out. (Thanks kwc1974! )

Bert, it will be awhile, but for sure I will have some cuts done today and probably the wood put together in a couple months. After that, it'll probably be another couple months before I start instllalling hardware (pick-ups, wires, truss-rod, etc... ).

Here are a couple pics of what I plan on cutting today...


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