Re: [Harp-L] Dating harmonica woods

[David Payne <dmatthew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I know Joe, that's why I said "about the most" I don't know about these fancy woods of the wide world, but American Chestnut is more resistant than locust, but, as far as decay goes, it's like saying Roger Maris hit more home runs than Babe Ruth in a season- they're still both dang good. Locust was my favorite wood for making longbows back in the day. I have noticed a lot of similarities between chestnut, now that I'm working with it, and locust. I wouldn't be surprised if they were related somehow. The main difference I've noticed thus far is that a thin piece or projection of chestnut is far more stable than such with chestnut -- I've been thinking about this because I'm looking at making some chromatic from them. 
Ultimately, the wood I am most interested in is hophornbeam for chromatics. When I was a kid, I drove nails with hophornbeam just to prove it could be done.





________________________________
From: Joe and Cass Leone <leone@xxxxxxxx>
To: David Payne <dmatthew@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Cc: harp-l@xxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Friday, June 12, 2009 11:27:20 PM
Subject: Re: [Harp-L] Dating harmonica woods


On Jun 12, 2009, at 11:12 PM, David Payne wrote:
> American Chestnut because it is about the most decay-resistant wood on earth.

Honey locust (from same general area as your chestnut and your babalones).
Iroko (Africa)
Lignum Vitae (C. America)

> We all have our fortes here and I know there are lurkers on this board who
> are whiz kids with wood. If anybody can help me with this, please lemme
> know. I can get a 6 inch square crosssection when I cut the next piece.
> 
> Dave
> ___________________________
> Dave Payne Sr.
> Elk River Harmonicas
> www.elkriverharmonicas.com
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