Ambrosia Maple?... just curious

[soliver]

I'm no Luthier, but I am a cabinet maker and I am in the process of remodeling my kitchen. I've been using ambrosia maple for the countertops and the stuff is BEAUTIFUL. I couldn't help but wonder if it was suitable for luthierie? Not only does it have some gorgeous flame and figure in it, but it also has loads of color striation and is super interesting. Or do the inconsistencies in the wood created by the ambrosia beetles make it unsuitable? Not that I'm planning a build... mostly just curious.

Good stuff

[JackCO]

Man oh man I'm no luthier but I sent this to my friend who is, hopefully he has something to say. All I can say is that makes a beautiful countertop! Well done my friend. That looks fantastic!

[Bluetickhound]

It's beautiful no doubt but even as a neophyte builder myself, the inconsistency in grain direction/spacing would be enough to keep me from using it for anything other than decorative use, like a headstock overlay or something like that. Maybe a few more experienced builders will have a different take...

[Timbofood]

I'd like a 12x16x1 1/2 cutting board! Maybe only an inch thick, no need to be greedy!

[billhay4]

I agree with bluetickhound.
But I'd like to know exactly what ambrosia maple is? I've never heard of it. Is it a native tree?
Bill

[soliver]

Not sure if it's "native" but it's essentially Maple that's been invaded by, eaten and tunneled through by the Ambrosia Beetle. It has little holes in it from the bugs' tunnels which create lots of interesting color variation in the natural wood. It's beautiful stuff, but my assumption was mostly that it would not be useable for luthierie because it has a lot of inconsistencies in the grain and stiffness due to the bug infection.

http://www.wood-database.com/ambrosia-maple/

http://www.lewislp.com/wormy-maple-or-ambrosia-maple/

Reading the above, it says it is typically a soft maple and that the coloration is caused by a fungus on the beetles' legs.

Mostly just curious really.

[Marty Jacobson]

It would be fine to use as long as it's not punky. If it's solid enough for a cutting board (no open tunnels) then it's probably fine. The problem is that there may be major flaws that are not visible, and so most luthiers would opt not to use it due to the unknowns involved. Then again...
http://benedettoguitars.com/boutique/il-teredo/

[juneman]

I have used it on a couple builds. The wood i have is very hard and dense as compared to the pa maple that i usually use. I am not sure where i got the wood from but i have had it for quite a few years.
Walter "JUNE" mandolins and guitars

[soliver]

Thanks guys for satisfying my curiosity!

Marty, the guitar in that link looks AMAZING! And Walter that's mando back is a beauty too!

[Paul Busman]

OP-- where did you get that wood? I'd love some turning squares to make my Irish Penny Whistles. I'd need 1x1x12" pieces

[Skip Kelley]

Spencer, that's some fine work!!

[soliver]

Thanks guys! Paul, its readily available at my local lumber place (Peachstate lumber). I'll PM you and maybe we can work something out for me to send you some.

It really has lots of variation in color. I currently get the main breadth of the countertop in 8/4 and 4/4 (really closer to 3/4) and I bought about 6 pieces of 5/4 live edge from a guy up in North GA who's contact info I got from the guys at Peachstate. The Live edge has been air dried for 2 years and allowed to spalt MUCH more than the other stuff which was probably kiln dried. The air dried, live edge stuff is much darker with a lot of orange and grey in it. The kiln dried stuff is more like your typical maple with lots of dark streaks in it and color variation from very white, to pinkish and even a deep grey as well.

I've used mostly a lot of the live edge stuff thus far. Here I've done a ledge shelf in an opening over our sink passing into our sunroom:






and a smaller cantilevered shelf for coffee mugs and glasses to live over the coffee maker:







I'm now finally to a point where I'm replacing the lower cabinets and we are fortunate that our kitchen is situated such that I can do them one at a time in a piecemeal style. So now I'm finally to where I can start making the counter tops. The piece above is a small piece for my first cabinet which is only about 10" wide and 24" deep.

[Ivan Kelsall]

I've never seen or heard of Ambrosia Maple before,but it looks incredibly beautiful. I remember seeing my first chunk of 'Spalted Maple', an electric guitar body made by Ed Roman guitars in Las Vegas, Nevada. The grain & colours in that wood were also amazing,
Ivan

[Mike Conner]

My first builds (a 16" archtop and a 14.5" GOM) were from red maple from a tree in my front yard in Seneca SC. Red maple is fairly common around here, and I have purchased some curly red maple with both mineral and ambrosia figures in GA.

Last year I completed a 14.5" archtop guitar using curly red maple like this:
Wetted down (no finish):


Finished with Transtint Honey Amber and Endurovar:

Sorry about the sideways orientation - not sure how to fix that.

A 16" archtop guitar with my first sunburst attempt was built from the same source board:


The board started out like this:


You can celebrate the figure and build a wonderful instrument!

[John Soper]

soliver: Why no Mandolin Cafe mugs above your coffee maker? Better fix that for the next photo shoot!



jts

[soliver]

With all the kids and projects I have, I drink enough coffee to keep an elephant awake for a week, I should get one of those MC mugs.

Beautiful work on those guitars, Mike!

[Eric Oliver]

I did take a bite of that apple...
but I'm no luthier, nor cabinet maker.

[soliver]

That's really nice Eric... apparently we share the same last name

[soliver]

Thanks to everyone to help satiate my curiosity.

I've finished the first small cabinet that I made that little countertop for... forgive me for this not being mando content, but I'm super pleased with it and have to show off, and so you all can see it in context:

[Marty Jacobson]

Looks great, man. We may have to work out a trade...

[Mike Conner]

Spencer, the counter top and drawers look great, but how do they sound?

[Marty Jacobson]

Spencer, the counter top and drawers look great, but how do they sound?

Woody and balanced, already opening up nicely.. takes a cup of coffee to wake up in the morning though.

[soliver]

[soliver]

Looks great, man. We may have to work out a trade...

Hmmmmm.... you know I have been wanting an oval hole

[Karl Hoyt]

There's a really great lumber yard in Ashland NH that specializes in figured maple.... I got some rediculous curly maple there and on a whim I bought a plank or two of 4/4 ambrosia maple. It was supposed to be a gift to my son, who is a great woodworker . The ambrosia I think got 'lost' in my lumber shed.... it might be strange that some of it ended up in a stringed instrument of some sort ;-)