Stabilising large(ish) rectangular piece of timber

[alex robinson]

I have a decent sized piece of birch with some lively colours in I would like to use for an electric guitar body. It has some slightly punky bits and a few cracks / possible ring shake so it needs stabilising. (I had a piece from the same tree give way spectacularly on the lathe and you could see fungal growth between the rings of the timber where it broke).

Does anyone have experience of using cactus juice or other stabilisers without a vacuum? Just soaking it would be the simplest option.

Alternatively, has anybody tried a DIY rectangular vacuum chamber? I am thinking of something very simple - some melamine faced board, with wooden bracing struts on the outside and a lot of silicone for the joins. I don't have a vacuum pump yet, but have been considering one for a while for use on the lathe, so this could be the push I need!

Thanks,

Alex

 

[Ttrees]

There's a few things which need to be cleared up regarding you're query.

Has the timber been air dried for a few years?
If not and fresh, then sealing the ends should be done pronto.

Are you planning on using the pith, or are you thinking of ripping the pith out
and using either quartersawn side,
or indeed, if using the best plank for bookmatched top instead.

Is there punky grain on the good timber, or is it just the pith and sapwood?

Tom

 

[alex robinson]

There's a few things which need to be cleared up regarding you're query.

Has the timber been air dried for a few years?
If not and fresh, then sealing the ends should be done pronto.

Are you planning on using the pith, or are you thinking of ripping the pith out
and using either quartersawn side,
or indeed, if using the best plank for bookmatched top instead.

Is there punky grain on the good timber, or is it just the pith and sapwood?

Tom

The piece has been drying indoors for a couple of years and has been in a centrally heated room for a several months- weight change has stabilised so reasonably certain it is dry.

I don't particularly want the pith in, but is is only along the very surface. It has enough thickness that I will be able to avoid it completely once the actual blank is machined out of it. Being able to quarter saw and bookmatch would be nice, but my bandsaw isn't big enough.

It was a tree that had rotted from the base. This is why it fell in a storm (and why I was able to acquire it). I planked it within a few days of it coming down, so the sapwood is the bit in the best condition! Some of the problem is actual soft punkiness, the rest is fungal growth between the rings.

Cheers,

Alex

 

[Jacob]

Sounds like a non starter to me. Firewood.
Electric guitar needs to be stable under permanent stress from the strings, not to mention the frantic playing! I'd guess the timber needs to be pretty solid for acoustic reasons too.

 

[Jameshow]

Put it through a planer thicknesser and see what it looks like?