Thread: Silky Oak

I know Contrabasse has used it for a Double Bass, from memory his comments were favourable,

There are two types of Silky Oak.
Southern - Grevillia robusta, which tends to be finer grained and more yellowish in colouring.
Northern - Cardwellia subliminus. More pink to beige/pink in colour and coaser grained.
I have had no experience in instrument making but the nature of both timbers leads me to believe that use in musical instruments would lead to a mellow tone being produced.

sure did. It works very nicely, the grain is coarse but you learn to work with it, and the result is stunning - but its not everyone's taste, i gather.

sounds ... well ... I have nothing to compare it to, so I can't say.

I would definitely use it again though. I love it. Its stable and a dry stick rings like a bell

Phil,

It takes quite a lot of lacquer to fill in the depressions. On the solid body guitar I made, I didn't use any wood filler to avoid changing the look of it. I also didn't want to completely fill the grain with lacquer.


contrebasse,

What finish did you use on your bass?

Thanks for the info guys

I wet-sanded using shellac until the grain was filled by the dust/shellac mixture, then dry sanded back to smooth.

Then finished with several coats tinted Danish Oil (cabots) and antiquing done with artists' oils.

It's not a high-gloss finish, but durable, and I like it.