Elias Graves
Senior Member
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2011
- Messages
- 421
- Reaction score
- 200
There is a tree that grows near me that most consider a weed. Maclura Pomifera, aka bois d'arc, osage orange, hedge apple, horse apple, etc. is a gnarly tree that is full of twisty, turning branches with lethal 2" thorns on it.
Farmers use it for fence posts because it's hard and doesn't rot. Some posts last 50 years or more!
Anyway, I've never messed with them much other than cutting them down and burning them on the bonfire. It does burn a long time but it pops a lot.
I've been doing some reading about its use in guitars. Some people have used it successfully as a fretboard wood as well as back/side sets for acoustics. Some say it is a drop in replacement, tonally, for Brazillian rosewood (though what species hasn't been declared the successor at one time or other?)
I knew it was hard enough when green but I didn't realize exactly how hard the stuff is when dry. One scale used often to measure hardness is the Janka scale. It gives a rough estimate of several properties with one test. A 1/4" diameter ball bearing is pushed down into the surface to a depth of 1/8". Measuring the force required to do that is the Janka number. Alder comes in under 600. Mahogany about 900, hard maple at 1,400 and ebony at 3,250! Osage orange comes in at 2,750. Way harder than maple and naturally reaistant to decay and insects.
Well, I knew I had to give it a try, so I cut down a small tree in the creek and set to work.
This was the log I cut out of the trunk to be my fretboard.
Very heavy stuff!
Stopped by to see my buddy Rodney at the cabinet shop. He was nice enough to let me use the Big Band Saw to get it started.
One reasonably flat side I can get into the planer!
The wood is white as maple when first cut but begins to turn orange quickly with sap running.
Farmers use it for fence posts because it's hard and doesn't rot. Some posts last 50 years or more!
Anyway, I've never messed with them much other than cutting them down and burning them on the bonfire. It does burn a long time but it pops a lot.
I've been doing some reading about its use in guitars. Some people have used it successfully as a fretboard wood as well as back/side sets for acoustics. Some say it is a drop in replacement, tonally, for Brazillian rosewood (though what species hasn't been declared the successor at one time or other?)
I knew it was hard enough when green but I didn't realize exactly how hard the stuff is when dry. One scale used often to measure hardness is the Janka scale. It gives a rough estimate of several properties with one test. A 1/4" diameter ball bearing is pushed down into the surface to a depth of 1/8". Measuring the force required to do that is the Janka number. Alder comes in under 600. Mahogany about 900, hard maple at 1,400 and ebony at 3,250! Osage orange comes in at 2,750. Way harder than maple and naturally reaistant to decay and insects.
Well, I knew I had to give it a try, so I cut down a small tree in the creek and set to work.
This was the log I cut out of the trunk to be my fretboard.
Very heavy stuff!
Stopped by to see my buddy Rodney at the cabinet shop. He was nice enough to let me use the Big Band Saw to get it started.
One reasonably flat side I can get into the planer!
The wood is white as maple when first cut but begins to turn orange quickly with sap running.
