Sitka Spruce

[Henry Durant]

I have been looking for a piece of Sitka Spruce for the soundboard of a Psalmodikon that I want to make. Does anyone know where I can get a piece about 3" wide by 1/8" thick and 36" long. I have only been able to find guitar soundboard blanks.
What other woods would work as well for a soundboard?

[Peter Wilcox]

I've used vertical grain (quartersawn) Douglas fir on an Irish bouzouki, and hemlock on an acoustic bass for top wood. If you can resaw, you should be able to find these in 1x4 or similar size at your local lumberyard.

[Bob Gramann]

Aircraft Spruce's Bargain Bag of Spruce usually has at least one piece in it you could slice that out of. Every time I've ordered the Bargain Bag, I've gotten pieces that meet that definition.

[Simon Magennis]

Email one of the suppliers you saw with regular guitar sizes and ask. If they are tonewood producers, I'm sure they will be able to supply you. If they are just re-sellers then the price will probably be off-putting as they probably don't want to look for special sizes.

[Alan Carruth]

Some suppliers sell dulcimer soundboards that should be the right size. If you can resaw then a whole world of possibilities opens up. I've used a lot of vertical grain fir flooring for dulcimer tops over the years, and you might well be able to find a quartered 2x4 at the lumber yard that would fill the bill.

[Henry Durant]

Thank you for the great ideas!

[Clay Schaeffer]

Western red cedar can also work well. Many places sell it in board form and if you pick through the pile you should be able to find some that is vertical grain.

[Peter Wilcox]

Aircraft Spruce's Bargain Bag of Spruce usually has at least one piece in it you could slice that out of. Every time I've ordered the Bargain Bag, I've gotten pieces that meet that definition.

But the shipping costs as much as the wood.

[Bob Gramann]

Including the shipping, it's still less than $10/board foot. Even paying exotic wood prices, the wood is not the major expense in building an instrument. I recently bought a box of bracewood from Alaska Specialty. It cost more than that but I got exactly what I want. That said, I bet Alaska Specialty can provide you with exactly what you need. Call them up. They seem to be good folks. I got what I asked for pretty quickly.

[Henry Durant]

Some suppliers sell dulcimer soundboards that should be the right size. If you can resaw then a whole world of possibilities opens up. I've used a lot of vertical grain fir flooring for dulcimer tops over the years, and you might well be able to find a quartered 2x4 at the lumber yard that would fill the bill.

Thank you Alan! What a great suggestion! I checked with Stew Mac and guess what? This is what they have.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Bodies,_nec ... ab=Details

This is exactly what I am looking for and all I have to do is rip down a half inch.