Lacewood useage

[buckhorn]

I have been asked to built an F5 using Lacewood. Checked to see if this type wood is toxic..It's listed as being an irritant (?) .. but so does maple..has anyone used this for back and sides ? And is it bendable ? The customer wants a three piece back with a maple strip in the middle...He has supplied me with all of the materials and I need to know if I need to start using masks....thanks , Keith

[Paul Hostetter]

It sure wouldn't be my first choice, as it's quite porous and soft. I wouldn't worry too much about dust, but you can always just sand a piece and see for yourself what happens.

I recall a wood dealer demonstrating the porosity of lacewood once by taking a 2x12 and dribbling water on it. The water quickly leaked straight through onto the floor. Filling those pores will be a major undertaking. I think there's a reason no one uses it—it looks great, but is not an appropriate wood for lutherie. Also, the medullary rays—its big beauty appeal—show best on dead flat surfaces. A carved back wouldn't look as flashy, comparatively.

[Jim Adwell]

Here's a lacewood mandolin back:



http://www.gradymandolins.com/lacewoodmandolin.html

[pollywaffle]

I've heard Lacewood (Silky Oak here) is a decent tonewood. It has a wonderful figure. I made a banjo neck from it and I am really pleased with how it turned out.

It is an irritant and a lot of people are allergic to it I believe.

[Martin Jonas]

For what it's worth, my "Baroq-ulele" has a solid lacewood back. This is a pseudo-Baroque 4-string bowlback which is sold as a soprano ukulele, but as the scale length is the same as a mandolin I have it in that tuning.

So, if nothing else, this confirms that it bends just fine as it makes a perfectly nice bowlback.

Martin

[tom.gibson]

Silky Oak is a local timber that was used extensively for joinery here until it got rarer. My windows, bed, tables are made from it. If you keep an eye out, you can still find beautiful pieces in curbside rubbish piles. I've worked with it a lot for non-luthiery purposes and never had the slightest irritation, but apparently some people do.

It's pretty variable in terms of hardness, stiffness and working properties, partly due to the fact that what is called Silky Oak (or Lacewood) comes from several species of Proteaceae with similar ray structure. But even Gevillea Robusta (which I assume most US Lacewood is) varies a good deal. Wood from smaller or faster-grown trees can be soft and porous, though I've never seen any quite like what Paul describes. All reports are that it bends easily. It's been used a fair bit here for guitars and even double basses.

A Silky Oak mandolin has been on my to-do list for a long time. It has a real chime when you tap it.

[bruce.b]

Herb Taylor uses it. There are photos on his website of Lacewood instruments.

[sebastiaan56]

I've used Northern Silky Oak for a bent top with a flat back and it come out really well. I've also done a few necks and seen a stunning fretboard which was stabilised. Easy to work. The trick is to get it cut just off the quarter. It comes from a huge geographical area so there is going to be a lot of variation.

[peter.coombe]

I am one of those sensitive to it. I bought a lovely piece of quarter sawn Grevilia robusta , but went into a coughing fit when I tried to cut it to size. Sold it and will never use it again.

[Paul Hostetter]

See this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacewood

As Tom advises in post #6, above, there are a lot of woods called lacewood, and they do not share working characteristics at all. This is why it's always better to refer to potential tonewoods by their binomial (genus and species) name.