A friend of mine has just been clearing a fallen silver birch from his land. It is about 2" (600mm) in diameter near the base, so could yield pieces big enough for backs. He would much rather it became instruments than firewood, and I am keen to take any opportunity to use local wood.
I know that birch has been widely used for lower-end mas-produced mandolins and guitars. As I understand it, it's rather dull in appearance, compared to maple (I haven't actually seen this particular lot of birch yet, so I can't comment on figure etc.). But does anyone have experience of building with it? Can it make nice sounding instruments? Does it finish well? Is it worth bothering with? If it were ready to use now, I would certainly give it a try. But, since I have a few years to wait for it to season, I thought I might as well see what people think.
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