Paulownia - anyone sell it??

[Phil Starr]

Yandles in Martock have stocked it. Might be worth a ring.

 

[Happy Jack]

44 minutes ago, Phil Starr said:

Yandles in Martock have stocked it. Might be worth a ring.

 

Yandles in Martock was a great album ... folk/prog at its finest. 😉

[Guest]

I had Yandles in my Martock. The doc gave me some cream and it did clear up, but left some terrible pitting on my weapon.

[Martin E]

I guess there must different types of this wood. I assembled a bass some years ago with  a paulownia body. It was so light, liberally like a piece of balsa, that it had impossibly bad neck dive.  It also had the consistency of a piece of cheese, I was really concerned that the bridge screws would rip out.

It also little in the way of grain.  

A bad experience but I know that it is being used in some good quality instruments and it can have attractive figuring.  So it must be a rather different timber to the body I bought.

 

 

 

 

[Andyjr1515]

2 hours ago, Martin E said:

I guess there must different types of this wood. I assembled a bass some years ago with  a paulownia body. It was so light, liberally like a piece of balsa, that it had impossibly bad neck dive.  It also had the consistency of a piece of cheese, I was really concerned that the bridge screws would rip out.

It also little in the way of grain.  

A bad experience but I know that it is being used in some good quality instruments and it can have attractive figuring.  So it must be a rather different timber to the body I bought.

 

 

 

 

Not really...that's a pretty accurate description 

 

Most of my previous lightweights have been actually using pretty heavy timbers (the lightest  build I did actually used oak, which is a notoriously heavy wood!).  My challenge with @Happy Jack's will be to take design or construction steps that can take advantage of the lightness of paulownia but avoid the downsides of its softness, balance, etc

 

I haven't got my head round all of the challenges yet but it will certainly include: the use of screw inserts and machine screws throughout; a long top horn to balance on the strap; a forward-placed lower waist so it also balances over the knee; some way of 'case-hardening' the wood so that it doesn't dent too readily; probably hardwood inserts where specific toughness is needed - and no doubt other stuff I haven't even considered yet 

 

Should be a fun project

[kodiakblair]

30 minutes ago, Andyjr1515 said:

avoid the downsides of its softness,

 

Only holes I pre-drilled were for the neck screws.

The rest went in using only a screwdriver, in hindsight I'd have then removed each screw and flowed thin SuperGlue in to the hole.

 

I say in hindsight but nothing has slackened off since I put the P-bass together.

[tauzero]

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

I haven't got my head round all of the challenges yet but it will certainly include: the use of screw inserts and machine screws throughout; a long top horn to balance on the strap; a forward-placed lower waist so it also balances over the knee; some way of 'case-hardening' the wood so that it doesn't dent too readily; probably hardwood inserts where specific toughness is needed - and no doubt other stuff I haven't even considered yet 

 

Headless, of course. That's an easy way to lose a kilo or so of unsightly wood.

[Andyjr1515]

6 hours ago, tauzero said:

 

Headless, of course. That's an easy way to lose a kilo or so of unsightly wood.

Afraid not...I'm designing a lightweight body to fit to an existing 5-string neck 

[Happy Jack]

Trigger ... meet Broom.

[tauzero]

3 hours ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Afraid not...I'm designing a lightweight body to fit to an existing 5-string neck 

 

Amputation, you know it makes sense.

[Cosmicrain]

On 25/06/2022 at 20:56, Andyjr1515 said:

Great - thanks.  I'll see if Fyne's can sort me out and, if not, I'll drop Mike a line.  Thanks again for the lead

 

I have a vast stock of it.  Most of the billets I have are 1110mm long X 175mm wide X 60mm thick.  These are rough cut billets, but I can machine for a few quid more.  Prices =  £32.00 per billet + shipping  ( For Cutting, planing & thickening add £5.00 per billet). 

[Chienmortbb]

On 03/07/2022 at 00:03, Andyjr1515 said:

screw inserts and machine screws throughout

Andy every bass and guitar I have owned would have been better with inserts and machine screws.

[Andyjr1515]

2 hours ago, Cosmicrain said:

I have a vast stock of it.  Most of the billets I have are 1110mm long X 175mm wide X 60mm thick.  These are rough cut billets, but I can machine for a few quid more.  Prices =  £32.00 per billet + shipping  ( For Cutting, planing & thickening add £5.00 per billet). 

Excellent!  I'll PM you shortly.  Quality-wise the timber I've got from Fyne is good, but the pieces are narrow and that does mean more joints.  Even though this body is due to be solid-painted, that is not ideal.  I can always use the pieces I've already bought for other stuff 

 

 

[Cosmicrain]

1 hour ago, Andyjr1515 said:

Excellent!  I'll PM you shortly.  Quality-wise the timber I've got from Fyne is good, but the pieces are narrow and that does mean more joints.  Even though this body is due to be solid-painted, that is not ideal.  I can always use the pieces I've already bought for other stuff 

 

 

No worries, I look forward to hearing from you.  Regards, Mike at Zoot bass.

[Paulownia Timber]

Hi Andy, we are a UK stockist and can offer you Paulownia timber boards direct from stock. Contact us for a sample, or Let me know your requirements and I will provide prices.  John - [email protected]

[Andyjr1515]

On 11/12/2024 at 16:04, Paulownia Timber said:

Hi Andy, we are a UK stockist and can offer you Paulownia timber boards direct from stock. Contact us for a sample, or Let me know your requirements and I will provide prices.  John - [email protected]

Hi John

I'm not doing any building at the moment but that's good to know - I'll pop your details in my 'Useful Contacts' book 👍

Andy