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I bought a beautiful redwood soundboard set from Bruce Dickey and did some work on it this weekend. Now here is the question: I thought I did a good job of bookmatching during glue up. Used the center grain toward the bottom which matches up perfectly and when it was rough sanded I thought the flame was also aligned.

Did a rough profile and then sanded on the Performax. Next sprayed a couple coats of Shellac in preparation for rosetting. Once the shellac was on it, the match didnt seem right.

Did I screw up this beautiful piece of wood or is it common that the flame wouldn't line up while the center grain orientation did?

Thanks Hesh. I think I will continue forward with it.

Man, that is one heck of a nice guitar you posted here, as is your other one I looked at tonight. What's your secret?? Were you a master at woodworking before taking up guitar building? Or just simply a knack for patience and natural born talent??

I am getting better with each build but man they don't come close to yours and others on OLF, even though I have quite a few under my belt.

Rich your top is fine. It's natural for curls to look light on one side and dark on the other side because the fibers are angling out on one side and plunging down on the other side.

Looks like a match to me.

John

Rich, study the finished photo of Hesh's redwood top carefully. It's not so much out of alignment as one side is positive and one side is negative (so to speak). Redwood and other curly woods get the figure "play of lights" look from light refraction bouncing off the side walls of undulating grain structure. Bookmatched, one sie will refract opposite of the other. Here's a photo of what fiddleback maple grain (undulating) looks like. Imagine sawing straight thru the undulations. Hesh's top is almost dead matched, but with opposite refractions.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

I've enjoyed working with this redwood. And it does exactly as you guys say, it reverse refracts from side to side. Very similiar to what happens on a Sitka top with run out, one side is light, the other is dark. Flip the guitar 180 degrees and the color changes exactly opposite of the way it was before turning.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

It's funny how the light will make it look a little off. I think yours will be fine Rich,looks good

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Anderson Guitars
Clearwater,Fl. 33755

What Larry Said. It's totally normal; I'm used to the look because I've handled a boatload of maple tops which do the same thing.

I think thats the beauty of the redwood! Hesh, that top rules!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

remember as well that the runout may not be prefectly running at 90 degrees to the top grain lines - so the losses from splitting and sanding cause the prefect bookmatch to move away from each other, hence each side doesnt line up perfectly anymore.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

[QUOTE=TonyKarol] remember as well that the runout may not be prefectly running at 90 degrees to the top grain lines - so the losses from splitting and sanding cause the prefect bookmatch to move away from each other, hence each side doesnt line up perfectly anymore.[/QUOTE]

Never gave this any thought but makes perfect sense now. Thanks Tony, and to all for your input

Is there any reason why someone couldn't lay down a light sealer or finish on the top before jointing and book matching?

Also it possible that the varying angle of the figure relative to the surface in each side could cause the position of the figure to shift at different rates when the top is sanded?



Dennis E.38853.2766087963

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D..

Dennis: why would you want to? My only worry would be that if the finish sunk into the surface at all, it just might interfere with the glue.

Well, actually, my thought was that one might be able to bookmatch it better by wetting the wood. Also, since it is done before shooting the joint, it seems to me there would be fresh wood for the glue surface.

As I say, I'm ignorant!

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D..

Um, if it's been matched properly, it's usually marked on the 'face' side, and looking at it will show you the rest. A smoothly planed surface shows off the figure really quite well.

One would think that simply by lining up the ends of the boards you could achieve a perfect match, but like it was mentioned above, the figure may move around when the board is sanded, or before that, right after its been resawn - just the 40-50 thou of a blade may show off the slant of the figure as it travels thru the board and thus, an adjustment of sorts may be required to line it up again as close as possible to glue - but once you start to plane/scrape/sand to prep the wood for finish it will likely be moving again. No one ever said mother nature had to be perfectly bookmatched !!!! Perfect examples o fhtis usualy occur in bearclaw -the runout has to be almost zero plus the claw has to run at perfectly 90 degrees to the grain lines or it will NOT be bookmatched - happens alot I find.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

[QUOTE=Bruce Dickey] [/QUOTE]

Oh My...

[QUOTE=Bruce Dickey] [/QUOTE]

Hey Bruce, your going to have to put a couple of F-holes in that top, a soundhole will take away the best bit of figure!

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I love redwood tops!

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Lance@LuthiersForum.com

[QUOTE=Dennis E.] Well, actually, my thought was that one might be able to bookmatch it better by wetting the wood.[/QUOTE]
Remember, it's not just about matching the curl or quilt. The wood's basic grain lines are what really show the mirror image.

Sometimes you don't need to match 'em up...

Here's a pic of a one-piece archtop....