Hi md54,

Quarter cut is as per an acoustic guitar sound board ie the grain runs at close to 90° to the surface. This cut typically displays lots of straight, closely spaced growth rings on the face. For clarity (hopefully!) crown cut veneer has the grain running in the same axis as the face and the grain appears to have much wider swirling patterns with the growth rings appearing as large arches.

Hope this helps explain why quarter cut veneer tends to be narrower.

Posted by: @darrenking

Hi md54,

Quarter cut is as per an acoustic guitar sound board ie the grain runs at close to 90° to the surface. This cut typically displays lots of straight, closely spaced growth rings on the face. For clarity (hopefully!) crown cut veneer has the grain running in the same axis as the face and the grain appears to have much wider swirling patterns with the growth rings appearing as large arches.

Hope this helps explain why quarter cut veneer tends to be narrower.

Thanks for this. Crown cut is what I think of as slab cut. Not sure where I got that from. Thanks for the clear explanation. Gibson laminates are usually crown cut for the surface. I actually like the swirling grain. On special editions they will use birds eye types. I guess that’s quarter sawn. Usually more expensive. 

Sorrento 

Thanks Darren - what a useful graphic!

Ok, so I can get quarter cut 1.5mm tulipwood (poplar by any other name) and 1.5mm maple in either crown cut or quarter cut. Most of the images online suggest that the face veneer is crown cut, which is handy because the qtr cut maple- is only available at about 130mm wide max. The tulipwood should be available in just over 200mm but it might be sensible to use a three piece inner layer so that the longitudinal joint doesn't coincide with those on the outer layers of maple. Three layers of 1.5mm veneers will give a finished thickness of almost exactly 4.75mm once you take account of the glue lines.

I am hoping to go veneer shopping towards the end of this week so I'll pick up a bundle of each and send some to Mark to experiment with, hopefully in time for his next live webcast.

Awesome - Going to dig out the old Archtop forms and give that a whirl for sure!

@md54 Hmm...

- No centreblock so it must have a heel block and tail block

- 2 'Parallel' braces sounds reasonable - make sure they go right under the bridge posts

- How are the pickups mounted? (Any reinforcement under the surrounds to screw into?)

Ok, I picked up the veneers yesterday and have trimmed them and edge glued them into oversize sheets with the maple being long grain and the poplar cross grain. I have also put them through the wide belt sander, taped on the leading edge to a carrier board, to remove various knife marks and other surface defects. The pencil squiggle helps to assess how much of the surface has been removed by the sanding belt. The lesson is that to finish with 1.5mm thick veneer I should probably have started with 2mm material as the layers are now around 1.25mm - 1.3mm so the finished thickness is likely to be just about 4mm. Whether this is a deal breaker remains to be seen. I have also sent Mark some kraft paper, also known as Yorkite, which is a very hard phenolic impregnated paper which gets used as a balancer 'veneer' and as a surface finish on panels that will end up being spray painted. This material is about 0.4mm thick so adding a layer of it on either side of the central poplar will bring the thickness back up to 4.75mm. It might be interesting to compare one lamination with the kraft paper and one without with regards to strength and conformity to the mould shape. I would suggest that both combinations of the material first be sucked down onto the mould dry, ie without any glue, to check whether they are likely to work, prior to mixing and applying the adhesive.

If I had had more time I would have prepared additional 0.6mm poplar veneer but the courier was standing in the door looking a bit hacked off to be kept waiting and the kraft paper was a much quicker solution.

Anyway, hopefully this will at least give Mark an opportunity to try something out with his existing archtop moulds in the Bagpress and report back. Have a great weekend

Darren

@md54 Birdseye veneer is mostly rotary cut and occasionally crown of or flat cut I believe. Cutting it on the quarter would result in much narrower leaves, which would reduce the value, and so it is rare to find birdseye cut in this way.

You want expensive? I had a look at some beautiful quilted maple yesterday, really stunning, very 3D figuring and lovely and white. Why didn't I buy any? 100 reasons + VAT per m2 is why!! Even a small bundle was coming in at close to £1000!

@darrenking

That is fantastic - got a workshop course starting today so will be busy for a few days but can't wait to have a go at that!

Any video coming from the workshop courses Mark?

You should all watch this!

Steve Anderson’s guitars fetch big money. The guitarist in the vid is world class. He doesn’t need to sponsor SA. 
Very interesting alternative to the normal. It’s true that this technique is now used for some classical guitars. 

Interesting video - good looking and sounding guitar!