Excellent Paul, I always assumed people ordered wood to make scales from. Going into the woods to find something is not only really impressive but of course cheaper :rock:
Can a person use any wood for scales?
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Some woods are better than others. I have bought some that had wood that looked like it was made from boards from an old fence. This wood I use is from an old dead tree, maybe dead for 150 years. Plus it is Southern Live Oak which is so hard it will smoke a 10" carbide table saw blade. That's what the US Navy made ships out of in the 18th and 19th centuries because it was so dense and hard cannon balls would bounce off of it. It is so dense that Tru Oil won't soak in to it.
Sorry didn't mean to hijack the thread.
That's good information. I didn't know, or maybe didn't think about, that stabilizing would strengthen the wood. I don't know why, especially in light of the name. Duh! :confused:
Yeah, it basically turns it into a composite material. BTW for spalted maple scales (or something similarly thin), really thin - i.e. the watery consistency - CA glue can work as well. It's thin enough for it to soak right through and effectively stabilize the whole thickness. For thicker stuff, a vacuum chamber is needed to get the stabilizing material to soak right through.