Spotted Gum

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sebastiaan56
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Spotted Gum

Post by sebastiaan56 » Sat May 31, 2014 1:06 pm

I've managed to score some very attractive Spotted Gum. The pieces are not wide enough for backs but sides an certainly necks are a possibility. I know it's used for tool handles so stability shouldn't be an issue.

Does anyone have any experience with this timber?
make mine fifths........

curly
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Re: Spotted Gum

Post by curly » Sat May 31, 2014 7:29 pm

I've been researching Spotted Gum -Corymbia maculata recently as a back and sides timber . It's very available , often figured , colour in the northern variant is a good chocolate,red and its a good bending timber . The one thing that has stopped us stocking it as a tonewood is it's moderately high movement in service . The radial unit shrinkage or change coefficient values are 0.0032 .
Incidentally movement in Eucalypts is often less than people think . For example Red Gum is .0022 . Brazilian Rosewood 0.0023 . Red Gum moves less in service than B.R.!

Pete

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charangohabsburg
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Re: Spotted Gum

Post by charangohabsburg » Sat May 31, 2014 8:11 pm

sebastiaan56 wrote: The pieces are not wide enough for backs but sides an certainly necks are a possibility.
3- and 4-piece backs can look absolutely amazing when using contrasting separation strips between the pieces.
Markus

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Mark McLean
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Re: Spotted Gum

Post by Mark McLean » Sun Jun 01, 2014 8:26 pm

I love spotted gum for its colour and texture. If it has the physical characteristics to work as a tonewood I would love to use it. The trees don't develop the girth of most species that we think of as guitar-making woods, so it might be necessary to adopt Markus's suggestion for a guitar back. But a spotted gum three-piece back might be just gorgeous.

jeff crisp
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Re: Spotted Gum

Post by jeff crisp » Mon Jun 02, 2014 2:23 pm

I know from my flooring days that not all coatings will adhere to it properly. Seen many with delamination and unfortunately caused a couple myself in early days.

curly
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Re: Spotted Gum

Post by curly » Mon Jun 02, 2014 4:59 pm

Small girth is only a result of spotted gum being heavily logged . For a class 2 durability timber it saws and dries very easily and quickly .
There is a particularly big old Spotted Gum on the main road that crosses the Richmond Range ( north to south ) inland of Grafton in northern NSW that measures 1.8metres dbh . Old growth trees will often go aver a metre .
Pete

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sebastiaan56
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Re: Spotted Gum

Post by sebastiaan56 » Wed Jun 04, 2014 9:18 am

Can you tell us more Jeff? Id like to avoid the learning curve :-)
make mine fifths........

jeff crisp
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Re: Spotted Gum

Post by jeff crisp » Wed Jun 04, 2014 2:53 pm

sebastiaan56 wrote:Can you tell us more Jeff? Id like to avoid the learning curve :-)
With flooring a fast drying solvent based sealer coat is the main form of prevention. Like floors there are many coating options and systems being used for guitars. If you're spraying, the speed at which the coats flash off may be enough...I don't know. The main problem with coating oily, waxy, resinous timbers is the contaminant leeching through the first and then subsequent coats. Coating as soon as possible after final sanding is always good practice and wiping with a suitable solvent (thinking about nitro here) between coats can help. Shellac may be helpful if a sealer coat is not avialable for the product you use. Any kind of rubbing oil (as a finish) should probably be o.k. and 2 part products of any elk may have an advantage.
Sorry I can't give you a definitive answer, just thought I should alert you to potential problem.

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sebastiaan56
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Re: Spotted Gum

Post by sebastiaan56 » Fri Jun 06, 2014 5:57 pm

Thanks, I'm a TruOil guy so it should be ok.
make mine fifths........

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