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- About the
Wood -
Old
World Tonewood specializes in European
Carpathian Spruce and
"Sycamore" Maple
tonewood. Our wood is harvested from the Carpathian
Mountains of Eastern Europe. We also
occasionally have other species including indigenous North
American species. Generally, the wood is offered for
sale as soon as the it reaches equilibrium moisture content.
For pieces listed individually (You Select! categories), the last
two digits of the
item number indicate the winter the wood was cut (e.g. Piece
"V1P003-06" was cut Winter 2005-2006); for pieces not individually
listed please inquire as to age. Current prices are listed below
for inventory stock, however many pieces are individually
listed and priced
- see You Select! categories in the
Catalog.
We always welcome questions about the wood and prefer to
work directly with you in selection of your tonewood. We are happy to
send photographs and descriptions, too.
Carpathian
Spruce…
This
native spruce of Europe is known in various
languages as Sapin blanc du Nord, Epicea de Suede or
Epicea de commun,
épinette de Norvège,
Abete rosso,
Abeto rojo, gemeinefichte, jel europeiskaya, and
in the USA as Norway spruce. The scientific name is Picea
abies (formerly classified as Picea
excelsa). Even though Picea abies is
widely distributed throughout Europe, there are subtle
differences in its characteristics from region to region -
possibly because spruces readily hybridize. Our spruce is
harvested exclusively from the Carpathian Mountains. This spruce generally has a low specific gravity, a very desirable strength to weight
ratio, and is creamy white in color. It is a joy to
carve and has a beautiful ring-tone. Carpathian spruce
has a unique character, and one I think you will find very desirable.
Pieces supplied for violin measure
approximately 17 inches (43 cm) long, 5+ inches (13+ cm) wide,
and about 1-3/4 inches (45
mm) on the thick end of the wedge, so these pieces are
normally of sufficient size for most viola or mandolin
patterns. For viola, the
piece will be approximately 17 (43cm) inches long - please
let us know if your pattern is long ( more than 16.5")
and/or more than 10-inches wide at the lower bout.
Spruce Tonewood Grading...
Unlike
the lumber industry, there is no standard for grading of
tonewood. Our spruce is graded as "AAA", "AA",
"A", and "B". Some suppliers have expanded the
number of grades to include 4A, 5A, even 7A, and so
on! Because there is no standard, you must understand
how each individual supplier grades. Otherwise,
grading is of little objective use to you in selecting wood
sight unseen. We prefer to stick with the
four-tiered grading nomenclature.
Our
Grade AAA has very uniform
progression of grain width or uniform grain width, no color
variation, no discernable runout,
excellent cut ("quartered"), and will exhibit a clear sustained ringtone (taptone).
Grade B, the least expensive grade of spruce and may have wide and/or
uneven grain, wide latewood, other blemsishes. However,
many builders find Grade B wood tonally excellent and compare its
appearance to much of the Adirondack spruce used in guitars
today. Of
course, Grades A, and AA are have qualities between "AAA"
and "B". We are happy to work with you to select wood
you will find both visually and tonally desirable.
Bearclaw is not abnormal in Carpathian spruce. If you
find this characteristic is desirable, please let us know
when ordering.
Maple…
The
maple we offer is Acer pseudoplatanus, which
translated from the Latin means
“false-sycamore” maple. And as such, it is sometimes
referred to as "sycamore" maple. Acer pseudoplatanus is
a relatively low density maple, light in color, carves
very well, and is the maple of
the violinmaking tradition. The maple is graded
primarily on the quality of the flame and overall beauty of
the wood, but also with some deference given to grain
quality and density. Although it is usually impossible to detect
minor imperfections beneath the surface of the wood,
visible imperfections (i.e. color,
knots, staining, etc) result in a lower the grade,
as does a skew cut. One-piece maple backs are offered
radially cut ("quartersawn") and slab cut (plain sawn).
Wood for 2-piece violin backs measure approximately
16-17+
inches (40 - 43+ cm) long, 5+ inches (13+ cm) wide, and about
1.5 - 2 inches (3.8 - 5 cm) on the thick end of the
wedge, and are therefore of sufficient size for most viola
or mandolin.
For pieces listed for viola, the size will be approximately 17 (43cm) inches
long - please let us know if your pattern is long ( more
than 16.5") and/or more than 10-inches wide at the lower
bout. To help
you with your selected of maple backs, we have listed some
of our maple backs in our on-line Catalog. For these
listings, please go to the You Select! category for
the instrument of your interest to see descriptions and
photos of selected maple backs.
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