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Thread: Spotted gum fretboards?
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1st April 2007, 09:10 PM #1
Spotted gum fretboards?
Have a nice chunk of this and wonder what it would be like for fretboards.
described here
It is roughly equivalent to ebony in hardness and density.
Anyone used it?ray c
dunno what's more fun, buyin' the tools or usin' em'
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1st April 2007, 10:04 PM #2Member
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I haven't used all spotted gum but one of my fingerboards has a spotted gum inlay.
It finished up nice and smooth, I'd make a whole fingerboard out of it , no worries.
Nice colour too imo. Something a bit different.
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1st April 2007, 10:21 PM #3
If you had the right piece it would certainly be hard enough and if you get some with some fiddleback even better
but
isn't it traditional to have dark fretboards?
cheersAny thing with sharp teeth eats meat.
Most powertools have sharp teeth.
People are made of meat.
Abrasives can be just as dangerous as a blade.....and 10 times more painfull.
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1st April 2007, 10:29 PM #4
I've heard you can have trouble glueing and finishing some gum/euclypt woods for guitars. The site you had said it may be hard to glue up and that it needs quite strong clamping?
Just check for a compatible finish to go with it, the reason being gums aparently leach their oils or whatever into or under the finish.
I've never worked with any gum woods but obviously there are ways to do it i've seen plenty of good looking furniture pieces.
Have fun, post photo's and let us know how you go.If you dont play it, it's not an instrument!
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2nd April 2007, 10:03 AM #5
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2nd April 2007, 10:21 AM #6
Fretboards can be any colour you fancy but dark is the tradition. This is only because ebony was the traditional fretboard wood by nature of its physical properties and it also just happened to be black.
Re gluing the stuff.....if oils are a concern give it a wipe with meths or acetone before gluing with Titebond. For advice on using gum talk to Tim Spittle at Australian Tonewoods.Whatever note you blow youre never more than a semitone away from the correct one....(Miles Davis)
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2nd April 2007, 10:23 AM #7Member
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No problems at all. I used titebond II glue and well seasoned spotted gum.
It's true eucalypt hardwoods aren't the best for glues, however with modern glues, seasoned wood and a little bit of prep you shouldn't have a problem
To be sure of good adhesion you could wipe the timber down prior to glueing with acetone.
Be sure the timber is dry, otherwise wouldn't matter how good the glue up is, it'll move.
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2nd April 2007, 05:15 PM #8???????
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While on the subject eucalypti, i recently helped knock together a river red gum retaining wall, and noticed that 4 out of 16 boards had moderate to semi-intense fiddleback figure, all of course green but it seems that if one could season said boards correctly, you could get some very nice drop tops after resawing, its got a fairly high density air dry, but still less than other eucalytpts such as Jarrah (which is a shocker of a tone wood), but it may work as a drop top or a chambered body, necks even?
Any one had any experience with RRG as an instrument timber?
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2nd April 2007, 05:23 PM #9Senior Member
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You want to check out the shrinkage of this stuff both with time and changes in humidity. having the fret ends protrude when the fingerboard shrinks can be murder on your fingers. And a pain in the ass to trim them back.
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3rd April 2007, 10:12 AM #10
The board I have has been machined, kild dried and has cupped. I would assume by that and the fact of the long hot dry spell we have had here in melbourne that it should be pretty dry.
I dont have a hygro or the cash to get a good one
I reckon I wll slice up a bit and see how stable it is.ray c
dunno what's more fun, buyin' the tools or usin' em'
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29th May 2007, 10:05 AM #11Novice
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Id be concerned about the stability of that timber for a fretboard, over time it may force the frets up and cause some buzzing, just a thought
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29th May 2007, 11:34 PM #12
once properly dry spotted gum is prety damn stable... and hard.
If you want to find out how dry it is lop a 100g or so piece off the end and dry it in the microwave. 30 sec every 30 min should do it.
wiegh it befor you pit it back in every time... when it stops getting lighter its dry and you can calculate the moistuer content of the original board.
cheersAny thing with sharp teeth eats meat.
Most powertools have sharp teeth.
People are made of meat.
Abrasives can be just as dangerous as a blade.....and 10 times more painfull.
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30th May 2007, 10:28 AM #13
mm what a good idee
i knew there was a reason i kept me old beam balanceray c
dunno what's more fun, buyin' the tools or usin' em'
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31st May 2007, 11:05 AM #14.
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31st May 2007, 12:00 PM #15
As well as weighing the piece of wood you should also micrometer it and note changes in dimensions after drying.
Whatever note you blow youre never more than a semitone away from the correct one....(Miles Davis)
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