Can anyone help me find some homegrown Hornbeam

[Jon Wallace]

Hi,

I make acoustic guitars in my spare time and where possible I'm trying to use homegrown timbers.
As far as I'm aware the most suitable homegrown wood that is hard enough for fretboards is Hornbeam.

I've contacted a number of suppliers from the Timbers Merchants Map and from general Googling and have had no success.
A few merchants list Hornbeam but don't have any, one has some but it's imported and I just can't contact some others.

I don't need much, perhaps a few small sawn boards that I can resaw down into a dozen or so fretboard blanks.

Can anyone on this forum help me or give me some pointers?

Thanks
Jon

 

[TheTiddles]

The Timber Mill in Alresford has some, lovely stuff, smooth and creamy.

Bit of a trek for you though

Aidan

 

[Jon Wallace]

Thanks for that.

Funnily enough I've been in contact with The Timber Mill and they said they might be able to send some boards by courier. I'm still following this up, but their email isn't working at the moment so communication is difficult!

Jon

 

[Mikey R]

Hi Jon,

Good to see another North Yorkshire guitar builder! Ive also been on the lookout for Hornbeam for fingerboard blanks, so Im interested to see what you find!

 

[MIGNAL]

Other locally grown alternatives are Oak, Bog Oak or Laburnum.

 

[jpt]

Give Bill a ring at Cambridge Blanks he usually has some in, he does mainly turning blanks but I am sure he could help and do mail order.

john

 

[Jon Wallace]

Thanks MIGNAL
Yes, I've considered Laburnum and there's Lilac too (even harder to find). I'd prefer Hornbeam, but might move on to these alternatives if need be.

Thanks jpt - I'll give them a call.

Mikey R - I've sent you a pm.

Jon

 

[Kalimna]

A little further north than yourself, but Ive had some nice hornbeam from a local sawmill near Stirling. I had a feeling it would make nice fretboard material.....

What about going the Fender route and using maple/sycamore? Perhaps not quite as hard as hornbeam, but a possibility.

Adam

 

[Jon Wallace]

Yes, American Hard Maple is often used for fretboards on electric guitars and I can buy that quite easily. But I think out naturalised Sycamore and native Field Maple are considerably softer and probably not suitable.

The search goes on!

Thanks
Jon

 

[MIGNAL]

Unfortunately the lighter coloured hardwoods are not as accepted on acoustic guitars. Players tend to be accustomed to Ebony and Rosewood.
At the moment I have some samples of Oak and Laburnum steeped in a solution of ferrous sulphate. I'm trying to get the stain to penetrate quite deep - not so easy without pressure equipment.
Worth a trial though.

 

[Jon Wallace]

I'm just learning the craft and build for myself, so I can afford to experiment with light coloured fretboards. I was intended to try some ebonizing too, but I'm getting a little worried about that now. I might try Laburnum too; at least it starts off closer to black than Hornbeam.

What colour is your Laburnum, a mucky green colour or dark brown?

Thanks
Jon

 

[MIGNAL]

It's dark brown. . . or rip saw it and the cut inner surfaces display the mucky green colour that you describe. In time those surfaces will go dark Brown. The difference between the oxidised and non oxidised surface is very marked.
Laburnum must have a high tannin content because the ferrous sulphate certainly turns it Black.
It's no where near as dense as Ebony but it does have a hard surface, so it should be fairly high on the Janka scale.

 

[Jon Wallace]

OK, I'm going to try some Laburnum too (I've got a source for that). If you've got time MIGNAL, I'd be interested to hear how you progress with your samples.

Thanks for all the responses.

Jon

 

[Benchwayze]

All good suggestions..

But for some unknown reason, I cannot play a guitar with a 'maple' coloured fingerboard. I don't know why this is. I just cannot find my way around a fretboard that has a pale finish.

Even after 50 years of playing, I sound like a complete novice. Give me a rosewood, ebony, or mahogany fingerboard any time. (I.e., a dark coloured neck.)

Am I alone in this strange malady? :mrgreen:

John