Tonewood grains per inch

[Richard Brekne]

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Phillip Ford wrote:

> This just in.  The latest issue of The Catgut Acoustical Society Journal
> reports

And from the site http://www.soundboards.co.uk/  we have the following except. I
just love all the agreement there is in the world. :)


     "It is becoming far more difficult for any acoustic musical instrument
     making establishment to hold stocks of aged softwood timbers such as
     Sitka Spruce. It is costly to store timbers and ties up capital.   In
     general, stored softwood timbers tend to become darker over time thus
     making it hard to match joined sheets.  Ageing of timber in the musical
     instrument-making field usually means simply that the timber becomes
     harder, thus giving the timber far better structure   to distribute
     vibrations evenly throughout the whole soundboard area.

     Sitka Spruce stands along the northwest coast of North America.  For
     musical instrument making it  is generally (1/4 ) quarter sawn after the
     timbers been felled making the timber more desirable for acoustic
     instruments.  In general, the tighter the timbers annual rings the
     better resonating qualities the timber will have. Shakes and knots are
     undesirable as they impede the pure musical vibrations through the
     timbers structure. Our width of soundboard timber do not exceed 6"
     (153mm) . To have a consistent and even grain span over a given area we
     suggest 4" (102mm) widths.  Boards more than 6" (153mm ) tend to have
     the annual rings too wide on one side of the board. This reduces the
     potential of finest sound production. For example: 15 to 21 growth rings
     per inch is good for most instruments but 21 to 27 growth rings  per
     inch is ideal but usually hard to find and will cost you more. We like
     to try for between 18 to 24 annual rings to the inch.


     Guidelines in choosing Musical Instrument Grade Timbers
     a) If you are using newly felled timbers..  Make sure it has been kiln
     dried and the moisture content is around 10%  to 14%
     b) Do not use Air Dried timbers unless you know  it has been many months
     in storage and the moisture content is around 15% or less
     c) The tighter the timbers annual growth rings, the harder and better
     the resonating power of the timber
     d) Only purchase 1/4 sawn timbers for Soundboards or Tonewood
     e) If you can afford the extra expense of Knot Free Soundboard Timbers,
     stick to it."

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
UiB, Bergen, Norway
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no
http://home.broadpark.no/~rbrekne/ricmain.html


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