reclaimed wood?

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Micah Covington
Posts: 36
Joined: Mon May 28, 2012 9:49 am

reclaimed wood?

Post by Micah Covington »

A friend has some property with the remains of an old barn. He didn't know what to do with it. I found many pieces of pine which had been sitting for over 60 years. They were just thrown in a pile, but are straight and show no signs of warping. They are incredibly dry, and have checked quite a bit. They are also the hardest pine i have ever encountered. I was thinking of using these for a solid body or the wings of a neck through. Is there anything I can use to fill the cracks? Is this wood usable? Am I crazy for even trying?
Jason Rodgers
Posts: 1554
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 4:05 pm
Location: Portland, OR

Re: reclaimed wood?

Post by Jason Rodgers »

Call it what you like - recycled, reclaimed, reused, "seasoned" - if it's falling apart, then it's just plain old and decaying. Find pieces that do not have significant cracks and checks, pull out all the metal, run em through a planer or sander to get down to some clean(er) wood, and make a better assessment. Generally speaking, cracks are to be avoided in instrument construction.
-Ruining perfectly good wood, one day at a time.
Clay Schaeffer
Posts: 1674
Joined: Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:04 pm

Re: reclaimed wood?

Post by Clay Schaeffer »

Hi Micah,
You can fill the cracks with epoxy. For a solid body guitar structural integrity is the main concern, so as long as the wood is "solid" you should be fine.
Matthew Lau
Posts: 607
Joined: Sat Feb 18, 2012 2:03 am

Re: reclaimed wood?

Post by Matthew Lau »

Dude! Nice score.

I prefer using salvaged wood myself, because the quality of wood back then was often far superior to what we have now (for the same species).
Same rules apply: go for clear, stable wood that's not cracked or falling apart.

Jason gives good advice.
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