Deodar Cedar for a Weissenborn

[Dan Phillips]

Deodar Cedar-- I have some Deodar Cedar which was cut 20+ years ago and was recently recut into thin pieces. These have been planned to 0.2 inches and look great. I have bent some strips 4 inches wide and they look great. I would like to try to build a Pineapple shaped Weissenborn. Anyone know how thin they would need to be for the top, back and sides of a Weissenborn copy? Thanks, Dan

[Steve Graves]

What is Deodar Cedar ?

[John Sonksen]

What is Deodar Cedar ?

Deodar is one of the "true" cedars which also include Atlas Cedar (green and blue) and Cedar of Lebanon. Western and Red Cedar, Alaskan yellow cedar, aromatic cedar and Spanish Cedar are all false cedars that are actually junipers, cypresses and in the case of SC a relative of mahogany. Deodar Cedar is indigenous to the Indian sub-continent but it has been planted as an ornamental widely in the US.

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

To the OP, I have no idea but I'd love to see some pics of the wood

[Michael Lewis]

It really depends on how hard the wood is. It could be .100" or slightly less if it is fairly hard or it could be .150" if it is tending toward soft. back and sides can be a bit thinner than the top.

Realize this information is shooting from the hip, but should be well in the ball park.

[Dan Phillips]

Thanks for the quess on thickness. Based on pressing a steel ball between two different woods and measuring the depth of the impression, my Deodar is definitely softer than black walnut, softer than an unknown soft maple and slightly softer than black cherry but much harder than southern (mid-Georgia) red cedar. I will go to about .15 and see how that works. Any thoughts on thicker wood with lighter bracing v.s. thinner wood with heavier bracing?

[Steve Graves]

How much does the thickness of a side and back wood relate to a top wood in the Weissenborn style guitar? It seems that a side and back wood need to be stiff and a top needs to be of optimum thickness to vibrate. But I do not truly know the dynamics inside this type of guitar.

[Greg Robinson]

Steve,
There are two schools of thought on the top to back and sides stiffness ratio, one feeling that the back should be relatively "floppy" and the other that it should be stiff, like a "reflector" of sorts.
Not being an acoustic builder, I don't have an opinion, although I have played wonderful sounding instruments that have been one or the other, so I don't think there are any absolutes, just different ways of achieving good results.

EDIT: I will say that instruments with "floppy" backs do seem to project better when held away from the body (beer gut).