@nsj

I'm now thinking about a possible steel barrel or such that I can suck the air out of and stick on a bed of hot embers, put something inside to support the maple. I think it's generally done under vacuum which might be to stop the wood burning.

Would that be a bit like making a jig then?

I do like you're inventiveness. I would be a bit reluctant to heat up a sealed steel tube though, we don't need another flying scotsman.

@robin in a vacuum, no air, no expansion, no expansion , no boom! No new method of transport lol

Besides, I'd send the wife to check on it 🤣 

I like a bit of mad professor experimentation!

Particularly when i'm not in the room ...

So far so good, think I'll make this one to fit my first build, it's the only one I haven't made the neck for.

Used Mark's method shapping today, a lot quicker than the gazillion facet method I was using before!

Happy new year all!

Posted by: @nsj

↑

suck the air out of and stick on a bed of hot embers

Hi NSJ, embers will become very cold very quickly in a vacuum as there will be no oxygen to sustain combustion but I guess you are effectively talking about placing the evacuated tube on a low, smouldering bonfire. I think that it would be better to build in electric heating if you are planning to roast maple in a vacuum chamber although it’s not entirely clear to me why the vacuum would be advantageous (open to suggestions). However you roast the timber remember that you will then have to let it season in reverse to come back up to ambient moisture levels before you start to machine it if you want it to remain stable.

Cheers

Darren

@darrenking this is what I get when googling.

"How do they make roasted maple wood?

@nsj 

I was wondering what the advantages of a roasted maple neck would be, so did a bit of googling too and came up with this, https://myguitarlair.com/roasted-maple-guitar-neck/   

Posted by: @robin

↑

I was wondering what the advantages of a roasted maple neck would be, so did a bit of googling too and came up with this, https://myguitarlair.com/roasted-maple-guitar-neck/   

• Improves tone of the wood (clearer and richer)
• Better tuning stability and intonation.
• Makes the guitar lighter.
• Increases sustain.
• More warp resistant.
• Prevents “fret sprout

Here's me-the-cynic ...

Those are - mostly - relative advantages, ie improves, better, lighter, increases, more.  So the question is relative to what?  

TBH, I've never had a problem with fret sprout, nor warping necks.  Any reduction in weight must be marginal against the overall weight of the instrument (similar to going down a string gauge, or cutting off the ends you left after winding them)! And I can't really rationalise the better intonation claim.

Unless the comparison is between a piece of maple that wouldn't really be suitable for use as a neck, and roasting it helps the stability.

So perhaps the benefit is in making an unsuitable piece of wood more suitable for use as a guitar neck?

I can say this neck feels pretty light compared to a previous one made from the same wood not baked. I was mainly interested in the colour and stuff, heard plenty talk about it, thought I'd try it.

Regarding stability I think it would be good for highly figured wood like birdseye that in my experience can certainly warp! I've made about 11 necks and the birdseye is the only one that's warped on me

Posted by: @nsj

↑

Regarding stability I think it would be good for highly figured wood like birdseye that in my experience can certainly warp! I've made about 11 necks and the birdseye is the only one that's warped on me

Ahhhh - I’ve never used anything other than fairly plain woods for necks, so never had that experience (thankfully!).

So far this neck weighs about 570g, still got to do the heel too