I have been a wood worker since I was about 5 years old. When I was about 5, I found my fathers tool box and took out the hammer and a bunch of nails. I must have hammered 25 nails into our wooden porch right in front of the door. I got a spanking, but it did not stop my interest in wood working. Now I am off making a classical guitar, but not a regular one. That is the point of this blog.
As a pilot, I have access to some old airplane parts. All the early airplanes had Sitka Spruce spars for the wings. Wood was chosen because it was strong and light, plus the fact that it was not subject to "fatigue". Fatigue is where after stressing something many times, it suddenly cracks into. This is what happens with wire when you bend it back and forth to break it. All metals are subject to this affect and for that reason, in airplanes, you can only plan on about 1/3 of the metals basic strength. This means that members have to be much heavier and this is bad for airplanes. Pound per pound, wood is stronger than steel. Now, back to the Guitar.
I am using an old Sitka Spruce spar from a 1946 Taylorcraft airplane for the sound board of my guitar. The spar is 3/4" thick, 6" wide and about 16'-0" long. There are a few nicks and screw holes in it but it is in good shape. I cut off a piece about 30" long and resawed it with my band saw into 3 panels about 3/16" thick. I ran these thru my drum sander and took them down to about 0.125" thick. I trued up the edges and glued them together. I held the panels in place with masking tape and now you can't see or feel the joints. Next step is to cut out the shape and put it onto by building platform.
I have the neck finished. It is make from Black Walnut with a strong back of Locust running down the middle. I also plan to use Locust for the finger board. Locust is one of the strongest and hardest woods native to North America. East coast Native Americans used to make their bows from Locust.
I also make up a bunch of wooden wood clamps like the ones used by luthiers. The design is simple and luthiers have been using these hand made clamp for hundreds of years. Why fix something that is not broke?
I'll keep you posted on progress.
