I was doing a test for a blade manufacturer and this is one result. It's a White Oak guitar set, all from the same billet. It really intrigued me that the knot ruined the backset, no way to avoid it.
Then as I was sawing, I remembered all the porting work various OLF luthier were doing. And.... I know this port is in the wrong place. So I toyed with the idea that a qualified luthier could do an ebony inlay into the knothole and bring it back into line of traditional luthiery. Of course, it's a non-traditional wood anyway.
White oak was used in Arkansas for roofing shingles. And it is not uncommon for these roofs to last for a hundred years. I saw a home the other day downtown that caught fire. What was under those asphalt shingles but an old shingle roof of white oak. I guess it split easy enough. They would have avoided a knot like this for shingles.
My question, if this wood were yours, would you build a guitar out of it? It's mostly flatsawn, the sides are flamed with about 40 degrees of angle to the grain, so it's riftsawn. Species: quercus spp.
