Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

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Phillip Rowe
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Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Phillip Rowe »

Looking for a source of small quantities of exotic woods ,prefer US based.
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Randolph Rhett
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Randolph Rhett »

Do you mean rough lumber or luthier sets?
Phillip Rowe
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Phillip Rowe »

I mean kiln dried, planed and reasonably smooth wood ready to use
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Bryan Bear
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Bryan Bear »

That's a big question with lots of variables. Which exotic woods are you looking for, what is a small amount. . . I would start by looking for hardwood dealers in your town. One ting with local woodworkers can also get you recommendations.
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Phillip Rowe
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Phillip Rowe »

Flamed maple,cocobolo,ebony mahogany bubinga.
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Barry Daniels
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Barry Daniels »

Phillip Rowe wrote:I mean kiln dried, planed and reasonably smooth wood ready to use
Does this mean you want wood already thicknessed, or do you plan to taking the wood to the thickness appropriate for building?
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Phillip Rowe
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Phillip Rowe »

Pre dimensioned.
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Barry Daniels
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Barry Daniels »

In that case you do not want a tonewood supplier but a kit. Stew-Mac or LMII would be a good place to look.

General Info: Tonewood suppliers sell tops, backs and sides over-size and over-thick so that the builder can join the top and back before it is thicknessed. It is very hard to join top and back plates that are already sanded to final thickness, and this is definitely not a recommended approach for a new builder. Also, builders take their wood to various final thickness depending on their design. Some people like thicker plates, some like thin. There is no consensus so suppliers don't normally sell off-the-shelf thicknessed plates.

Stew-Mac sells kits where the top and back wood is joined, thicknessed and cut out to profile. And the top has the rosette installed which is something else that needs to be done before final thicknessing.

LMII also sells kits but they will also provide custom sanding services and thin any of the woods to a thickness of your choosing.

In other words, there is more to this than you think.
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Phillip Rowe
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Phillip Rowe »

Are the sides prebent?
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Barry Daniels
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Barry Daniels »

They usually are bent with kits. However, if you use LMII's sanding services on tone wood you buy from them they won't be bent, unless you also request that service. Then you need to let them know what body shape. They will even bend wood binding for you if you want. Very customizable to whatever level you need.
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Bryan Bear
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Bryan Bear »

Oops my mistake, I read that as looking for s4s lumber not back and side sets. Sorry, 'bout that.
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Phillip Rowe
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Phillip Rowe »

Ok,I saw a YouTube vid where a guy cut a body buck and steamed the wood in some sort of pvc tube and forced the wood into the buck with a caul and let it dry.
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Bryan Bear
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Bryan Bear »

Steam bending is best suited for projects that use wood much thicker than than guitar sets. At around 0.08", most of the heat from the steamer will have dissipated by the time you get it wrangled into the form. Wood that thin, can be bent efficiently with a hot pipe. This introduces far less moisture into the thin wood and once you get the hang of it, most of that moisture is driven out by the time you have completed the bending.

When I was first starting out, I was intimidated by the thought of bending the sides. I tried several different ways around using a hot pipe. Once I finally broke down and made one, I descovered that it is one of my favorite parts of the process. You can make one very cheaply, have a look in the archives and do a search here for inspiration. You will need some practice wood, it would be a good idea to build the skills to thickness wood to practice on. Once you get those two things down, a whole new world of wood options opens up. If you don't want to go through all that and just want to make one guitar, a kit with bent sides is a better option.

Fair warning, you will want to build more after the first one.
PMoMC

Take care of your feet and your feet will take care of you.
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Alan Peterson
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Alan Peterson »

Anyone know if coconut lumber is available in the U.S.?
Just askin'...
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Matthew Lau
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Re: Who is the best supplier of exotic woods I. The US?

Post by Matthew Lau »

I wouldn't recommend black palm lumber for the structural bits of a guitar.
In my limited understanding, it's sorta like using cork or some other dampening material.

While it'd look cool, you would probably be better off using some well-quartered, properly dried domestic wood.
Maple, Walnut, Cherry, etc would all make great guitars.
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