Toona Ciliata

[Parlourman]

Hello all.

I have some beautiful quartersawn Toona Ciliata (Aus Red Cedar) boards.

Some are perfect for neck stock.

Some have been resawed too thin - and would only get sides/backs out.

Does anyone know how good/bad/indifferent this timber would be for sides and backs?

I know its steam bending properties aren't great - but i'm thinking of giving it a try. . . . . . .

Any thoughts appreciated

Parlourman.

[woodrat]

Hi Parlourman....I have used it for a few necks. I feel its a good wood and I cant see why it has been so overlooked in guitars by Australian makers. I have not done a guitar with AU red cedar back and sides though....

John

[liam_fnq]

I've used it for a few ukulele necks. It seems similar to Spanish cedar in weight and stiffness but with courser grain that wants to tear out if you're not careful. I found there is also a fair bit of difference in how the end grain verses side grain takes up finish.

[Allen]

I've used it for tops on guitars and ukes. Be warned that if you want to have a pore free finish you are going to have your work cut out for you. They are absolutely enormous. Tone from the top is quite fundamental. Very little overtones. I think it is more suited to a ukulele than a guitar for that use.

Micheal Connor has built back and sides from it on a uke or two and quite liked it.

[Tod Gilding]

My Current build is Au red cedar Back and sides and neck and I see no reason why it would not be suitable, but I will reserve my verdict until it's finished,
I have used it for two necks previously and it does require carbon fibre reinforcement,but a beautiful wood to work with, nice to shape into a neck.
at this point I have only just finished the rim set. here's some pic's.

Sorry I posted small pic's if you would like to see larger PM me

[Tod Gilding]

I forgot to mention that it bent like rubber with a silicone heat blanket to aprox a standard OM shape, but it started to crack on the cutaway, So a non cutaway it is

[Kim]

Nice bit of insight into bending Toona/AU cedar Tod thanks.

With the cutaway concerns would you think a veneer softener like super soft 2 would get it over the line?? Just ask because traditionally one would thin down to >.090" to get the radius of a cutaway but given the soft nature of Toona I would be really concerned about doing that.

Cheers

Kim

[Tod Gilding]

Kim, I thinned the area around the cutaway to 1.8 mm I didn't use a softener,but I did bend the sides to their current shape over the inside mold with a blanket and then I attempted to bend the cutaway on a pipe ( and I am not very experienced with the pipe) I got the first bend in ok but the bend back to the headblock, I could feel the fibre's starting to seperate so I stopped and was able to get the first bend back to initial shape and thought best to leave it as is

[David Aumann]

I bought the front of a cedar chest at a garage sale once, and made a tenor uke out of it. I'm attaching a few low res pics. The uke sounded good, but perhaps I made the top a little on the lightweight side because after a time it developed a longitudinal crack behind the bridge, which I then had to cleat. I'd use it again, but work it a little thicker.

[EricDownunder]

With Aust Red Cedar, I remember when I was an apprentice there was a sealer used to fill the timber before french polishing to a brilliant gloss finish but no idea what the filler was, maybe you should enquire with the companies that manufature french polishing products.

[Parlourman]

Thanks everyone - great feedback.

Parlourman

[Kim]

Kim, I thinned the area around the cutaway to 1.8 mm I didn't use a softener,but I did bend the sides to their current shape over the inside mold with a blanket and then I attempted to bend the cutaway on a pipe ( and I am not very experienced with the pipe) I got the first bend in ok but the bend back to the headblock, I could feel the fibre's starting to seperate so I stopped and was able to get the first bend back to initial shape and thought best to leave it as is

I reckon given its relatively soft structure that a veneer softener would be worth investigating to assist in bending Toona.

I would imagine rather than bending like really hard woods do that are made up of many tightly packed cells which lend support to each other when under bending stress, Toona is more susceptible to breakage because its made up of much larger thin walled cells and these are incline to collapse and fold over each other when under the same stress. My understanding is that veneer softeners work by relaxing the lignin or glue around the cells which bonds them together. Perhaps this would be just the ticket for Toona as it would allow its large cells to 'slide' over each other instead of folding under stress? Certainly worth a shot anyhow especially if you feel greater mass and stiffer sides is a good thing tonally.

Cheers

Kim