cutting tone wood lumber

[GTison]

Hello folks
I am going to attempt cutting some lumber. It is Mimosa (Albizia julibrissin ). I was thinking about building an instrument, perhaps starting w/ a ukulele, and a army/navy style mandolin.

I was reading up on it. It seems this type of wood may be similar to koa. Many folks say that they generally do not grow but about 8 inches in diameter. I have at least one on my farm that is 14 inches in diameter that I already cut down. So this is a salvage operation. I killed it and it was standing for about 6 months or more dead. It does have some beetle or worm holes on the outside 2 or 3 inches. Perhaps it still has useable wood.

I would like to know how best to cut it. I can take it to a band saw mill. He can cut any length he said. I would like directions on cutting it for use. I'm not familiar with directions to tell the sawyer. Do I want boards or just quarter the trunk and wax it for a year? I split a piece to see what it looked like. If I quarter it won't I lose some diameter because of the worm holes, ie will it be wide enough if quartered? I have at least a 12 foot, 12 to 14 inch diameter log.

[Spruce]

I have a...12 to 14 inch diameter log.

No, you have a 6 to 9 inch diameter log because:


It does have some beetle or worm holes on the outside 2 or 3 inches.

So-ooooo, "no" is the answer to:


...will it be wide enough if quartered?

I guess you could slab-saw some stuff out of it, but it hardly seems worth the effort??

[CedarSlayer]

The problem with working unknown wood is that it could warp crazy later after you have invested 100 hours or so of work and 100 dollars and up on materials. So free wood is no great assurance or cost saver. If you have a lot of free wood and a place to dry it, then go for it.

That size might be fine for a neck or even a side.

With wood of unknown stability, You want to square it, and have the sides line up with the grain. Wax all exposed endgrain, or if you want to be classic, coat the end grain with nice rich dung. (really!)

Pencil in exactly what it is and what it's history is, on the boards you make.

For unknown wood, make a test system.
Make a long 90 degree angle out of plywood. With paper lined up to marks on the angle, make an outline of the wood on both sides of the angle. This is so that you can check it over time to see how much it has shrunk. After it drys, check it when the humidity changes. If the length of it changes much, don't use it for an instrument. If it warps, don't use it for an instrument. If it checks or cracks much, don't use it for an instrument.

If after all that, you can put it on a pillow and tap it with a mallet to make a decent sound, by all means, use it for an instrument. Or send it to me. :)

Bob

[Jim Adwell]

On the other hand, mimosa has been used to make furniture, and it does look a bit like koa. If it were mine I'd have it flat-sawn and sticker it for a year or two and see what happens.

[John Arnold]

I would cut it into boards about 1 1/2" thick and sticker it for at least a year before attempting to resaw it.
If it is the same mimosa that invades TN, there are plenty of big ones here. I have seen them approaching 30" in diameter.

[GTison]

I'd still kinda like to do it for sentimental reasons. So I guess from spruce's post I'll just slab up the whole thing into 1.5 "

Wax the ends?

[sunburst]

Wax the ends?

If it's not already too late. If the end grain has already started to check, sealing the ends may not do any good. If the end grain is freshly cut, yes, seal the ends to help prevent checking and the resulting wood loss.

[GTison]

Because of weather and other factors, the log is still laying in the edge of the field. It hasn't been cut to lengths or checked that I can see anyway. It is about 14 ft long. I hand split a 2 foot piece at the first fork of the tree to see what it looked like inside. That's where I saw the little worm holes. That short piece DID check in a few days time. So, I could imagine that the log could also check internally and especially on the ends. The weather has been very wet. ... It seems I don't know enough. This whole idea may just be a waste of time and won't work out at all.

[sunburst]

This whole idea may just be a waste of time and won't work out at all.

It's possible, but it's not really hard work, and you can learn from the experience even if you don't get any useable wood, or you only get a little wood for projects.

[Spruce]

It seems I don't know enough.

Take solace in the fact that you never will... ;)