Wenge anyone ?

[fleabag]

I'm pondering buying a wenge body blank and giving it to a guy who who does this sort of work, but reading up about wenge is almost putting me off.

Sounds like it's a right bar steward to rout / shape / work.  I dont yet know if the guy i'm using has worked with wenge before,  so at this point, not sure whether to buy the blank.

I've read tales of tear outs and splinters - whats the trick with wenge ?  It would be expensive ( £96 and then the cost of routing and what not ) so a bit worried about it.

Anyone of the brilliant builders here ever made a body from a wenge blank ?

 

[rubis]

I made a Wenge and Ash Blingray

It’s a stunning wood, the neck is lovely and rock solid, but what you’ve read is correct, the dust and slinters are nasty

A Wenge body might be heavy too, so be mindful of that, but once done, it’s easy to keep tidy looking and feeling nice with a bit of wire wool

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/188653-wenge-chambered-blingray-build/?tab=comments#comment-1827521

 

[TheGreek]

I had a headless Wenge ACG - well over 11lbs - maybe think about a Wenge laminate.

[fleabag]

I'm tough - i can take it 

[Manton Customs]

I probably wouldn't use it for a body unless you're going to make it very thin, a smallish body size, or really chamber it. It's a super heavy wood at 54 lb per cubic foot...for reference Ebony is 60 and on the other end of the scale Alder is only 28.

As far as working it goes, yeah it's splintery and can tear out when routing if you aren't careful. So it's important to pay attention to the grain direction and climb cut wherever possible, as well as trimming as much as you can before routing. That said it polishes up beautifully and has a great feel to it, I like it for necks.

[Christine]

Never a Wenge body but I've made a lot of Wenge furniture, I bought several hundred cubic feet of the stuff about 25 years ago. It works quite well but you need to keep your tools very sharp all the time, even planer knives. Keep finish sanding to a minimum and scrape with a sharp scraper to get to a near finish otherwise you will get a badly undulating surface as there is a big difference in hardness between spring and summer growth in the wood. It does splinter badly too but shallow cuts with the grain will see the job done

[fleabag]

Thanks people. I'm getting worried about the weight now - maybe i'll go for black/american walnut.

To be fair, i;m struggling to find a nice planed top and bottom blank in the right size anyway. The wenge was available from the seller, but not walnut, which is why i thought i'd go for the wenge.

I asked my local firendly luthier and he's worked with wenge , but now that weight that Mick and Manton has mentioned, i might give it a miss

Edited October 27, 2018 by fleabag

[SpondonBassed]

8 hours ago, rubis said:

I made a Wenge and Ash Blingray

It’s a stunning wood, the neck is lovely and rock solid, but what you’ve read is correct, the dust and slinters are nasty

A Wenge body might be heavy too, so be mindful of that, but once done, it’s easy to keep tidy looking and feeling nice with a bit of wire wool

https://www.basschat.co.uk/topic/188653-wenge-chambered-blingray-build/?tab=comments#comment-1827521

 

I could only see one of the photos in your topic.  Is there any chance you might still have the others?

[Guest Marcoelwray]

Wengé is one of my fav woods. With Bubinga.

I worked a lot with it (not only for musical purposes).

I work with a french wood supplier and I have a nice discount on listed prices (as a person, not with my company)… 

http://www.kauffer.eu/bois-de-lutherie/guitares-electrique/tables/

I didn't get very well if you want a 1 piece blank, I'll advise to you in two pieces. Maybe a sandwich Wengé/Ash/Wengé will save you some weight?

Anyway, I can rout/ work with Wengé for you if it is your only problem.

[Woodinblack]

I love wenge. I have two 5 string ibanez SRs. The 5005 has a wenge neck and a wenge front and back. The 1605 has  poplar (I think) on the top and back.

The wenge is so much heavier than the 1605, it is amazing that those are the only differences.

[TheGreek]

Veneer?

[fleabag]

No need, as i've stumbled on some very sweet English Walnut, and we'll be off and running in the new year. 

 

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 2, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[fleabag]

That ten times That ten times That ten times That ten times That ten times That ten times That ten times That ten times That ten times That ten times

Have i won  the prize ?

[Jus Lukin]

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Edited March 2, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[Christine]

6 hours ago, Jus Lukin said:

Where's the 'quickly', and why repeat it?

Jeez, you make a simple request and waddaya get?!

There's no pleasing some people!!