Bookmatch thickness

[Jacob Hagerty]

Here is a quick question....

If I was to buy figured maple and spruce to build a mandolin from scratch, how thick does the wood need to be before book matching? Thanks. Also for mahogany blocks what thickness mahogany should I purchase? Ok 1 more. Neck block thickness before any shaping. Thanks y'all!

[billhay4]

5/8" is just enough, 3/4" is better. Depends on whether it's planed smooth and perfectly flat first. If not, go with 1".
Bill

[Jacob Hagerty]

5/8" is just enough, 3/4" is better. Depends on whether it's planed smooth and perfectly flat first. If not, go with 1".
Bill

So after book matching I want both sides to be 5/8, 3,4, or 1 when starting?....so my board need to be twice those measurements?

[Marty Jacobson]

What kind of mandolin are you planning to build?

What are you going to resaw the board with?

How good are you at resawing?

All of those things will impact how thick the board should be in order to successfully bookmatch it.

If you call up a good tonewood supplier (Orcas Island Tonewoods is a good place to start), they can help you select wood that will work with your intended plans.

I like the music on your YouTube channel, keep it up.

[Jacob Hagerty]

What kind of mandolin are you planning to build?

What are you going to resaw the board with?

How good are you at resawing?

All of those things will impact how thick the board should be in order to successfully bookmatch it.

If you call up a good tonewood supplier (Orcas Island Tonewoods is a good place to start), they can help you select wood that will work with your intended plans.

I like the music on your YouTube channel, keep it up.

Thank you. I will be building a F-5. I built an F-5 International Violin kit this year and really enjoyed the process. A friend sold me his Stew Mac F-5 Kit that he never got around to, son I'm currently working on that.

#3 will be from scratch, my uncle purchased me some wood from a tone wood supplier.....the main reason I ask is because I have a random 5'x1" piece of curly maple and wanted to know if I could use it for something other than side sets.

I haven't decided how to cut it yet....I have lots of friends with full wood shops and access to their tools. Any suggestions are appreciated.

[Dale Ludewig]

As mentioned before, 5/8" is good After they're joined. In the middle. It can taper down toward the edges but be careful about the scroll area. It's thicker than the edges.

I like your music on you tube also.

[billhay4]

Jacob,
Marty is right. Resawing a board to bookmatch is tricky. You really need a really good bandsaw for this. You'd want it more than twice 5/8"; I'd say 1.5". I don't think the 1" piece will work for bookmatching, but it would work for a back if you can live without bookmatching. Depending on the grain, this may not be a problem.
Bill

[Spruce]

.....the main reason I ask is because I have a random 5'x1" piece of curly maple and wanted to know if I could use it for something other than side sets.

How long is it??
If it's 27" or so or more, you could do a "slip match", where you cut the board down the middle, and create a "match" with the two resulting 1 x 5 x 13.5" pieces...
A lot of Loars were put together like this...

[sunburst]

It is correct that a book matched F5 top of full thickness cannot be made from a 1" thick board, but if book matching is not important to you, you can saw the piece at an angle like this. (Looking at the end of the board, the red line is the saw path.) If the board is flatsawn, and/or if the figure is nearly identical across the piece, this can look like a pretty good match.

[billhay4]

John is right and this can eliminate different reflections of light that bookmatching can produce.
It can also let you use a thinner board.
Bill

[bernabe]

Ive done Bruce's method with good results if the figure doesnt change too dramatically over the length...flip and slip.

[Mark Gunter]

The simple answer is that you will need a bare minimum of 8/4, but 10/4 or thicker rough stock would be better. Also, your woodworking friend should be one who is experienced in milling rough lumber: Re-sawing, jointing, planing.

Best advice of all for a beginning woodworker buying a piece like that to re-saw would be to purchase wood that is 10/4 or better and S2S. If you cannot get it that way, then 10/4 or better and straight line cut.

EDIT: If any of your friends with woodworking shops are experienced with re-sawing and producing good bookmatched pieces, they can advise you what and where to buy good rough lumber, and exactly what to get in order to produce the end result S4S thickness you desire.