Would you choose 100 year old pine, or something else?

[gsoutherland]

For your next build, if you had the choice between 100-year-old pine joists from a barn, or buying something like alder or ash from the mill, what would you choose? I found a guy that is selling some joists from an old barn that are 2" thick by 10" wide by 17' long. 5 of them for $175, or 1 for $45. I think that works out to around $1.59/board foot if I buy 1. He says they are pine, but definitely not white or yellow pine, so I'm not quite sure how that would look. He's not exactly close by, so I'm debating whether or not I want to make the trek to check it out.

[blakktode]

Well, it's a good price, and you know that the wood will be as seasoned as it's gonna get...

But unless you've got a market, how many pine tele bodies do you want ?

...not to say I wouldn't buy a joist if I was in the area...

[gsoutherland]

Yeah, I figured I'd probably only buy 1 if any. I'm sure I could find something else to build with the rest after I cut out a couple of bodies.

[jkingma]

Would you choose 100 year old pine, or something else?

I'd go with something else. Something completely different.
Between 100 year old pine and perhaps 40000 year old Kauri... which is lighter in weight like some pine. Plus it looks great.

[Groovey Records]

Get enough to buy 4 or 5.

Set them up and shape them.

Pick the 2 best for you and sell the other three so you break even.

Jkingma thats a nice body but how does your answer help the OP?

TDPRI is about sharing what you know and learning what you don't

[Southern Ill Electrics]

Go old pine !!!!!!!!!!!

[lammy]

Old pine!

[Lostheart]

Alder or ash for me!
Both sound great and are not a PITA to work with like pine!
Pine is great and the bodies I've cut all came out great and I've yet to hear a complaint, but it is so soft and you have to be super-careful not to gouge the wood or have a tearout. I'm sure I'll cut another pine body or two somewhere down the line but for now I prefer other wood...

[mr newhaven]

i never understood the obsession with old pine UNTIL i got my Kirn Barn Buster...

its a bit softer than alder or ash...but it sounds CRISP as hell!

go old pine...worst case scenario...make a birdhouse!

[jrich99]

If you buy the pine and make an extra body, I'll buy it from you...I just don't have the equipment to rout it myself.

[fernando]

go pine. I would buy one from you if I like the grain.

[guitarbuilder]

You may find the pine has some parts that have cracks, nasty knots etc. You may not have as much left over as you think right now.

[hackworth1]

Seventeen feet by ten inches wide. You'd need two or three boards depending how you want to rip it and glue them up. Say you've got half of seventeen feet. Eight and a half feet. You might get five bodies if you're lucky and the knots or other boogers work out well. If you cut nice bodies, you can sell them on ebay for anywhere from $25 to $150 each. Don't matter if they're two or three piece bodies if they look good.

You can always add a laminated top or bottom or both if you get hard up.

[gsoutherland]

Well, I went ahead and bought one board from him today. Not too many knots. There are some cracks near the ends, but at this point it is hard to tell how deep they run. I did have to cut it in half in order to transport it. I'll hopefully get access to a planer soon, so once I get it cleaned up I'll know more and have a better idea how many bodies I'll get out of it.

I have a book-matched walnut cap I'm planning on using in a project and also have a birdseye maple veneer to use on another. Maybe those could get paired up with a section of wood that has knots. Depending on how well it goes with this piece I could end up going back to him for more.

[hackworth1]

Hard to beat the price. Now you've got inventory for guitar making. I like having materials and inventory on hand. Its fun just to ponder what to do with it.

[gsoutherland]

Here are a couple pics of the pine. I need to get it planed down so I can get started on these bodies!

[mcgeorgerl]

CLEAN THE BOARDS BEFORE YOU PLANE!

I made a huge mistake years ago when I started to work with reclaimed lumber. I ran some old white pine through the planer and all was going well for the first few passes then the boards stated to get gouges, scratches, tear-out.. you get the ugly picture.

There was 100 years of dirt, dust, grime and who knows what else down in the first layers and the planer knives had to be replaced.

Now I always run a belt sander over the boards to knock the outer layer off, wipe 'em down with mineral spirits then run 'em through. This, of course, is always after running the Wizard metal detector over the boards... you'd be surprised at what it can find that the naked eye cannot.

[gsoutherland]

mcgeorgerl, since I took those photos I've started sanding the top layers off, only I don't have a belt sander so it is slow going. I bought a 36 grit belt and glued it to a 2x4 and have been going over them. That is a great tip on the metal detector, my dad has one I can use and I'll certainly be doing that now. Thanks!

[gsoutherland]

Well, I bought a belt sander. I haven't been able to get access to a planer, so I'll be using a router jig to do the thickness planing. Here is what the pine looks like after some cleaning up with a belt sander.

[Groovey Records]

Very nice

Good Job

[getbent]

oh man. I'm envious. I'd go pine. I have a one piece pine caster that i got the body from Marty... it took awhile (with my rudimentary skills) but it is a great playing guitar... I think I love pine the best... If you can get the barn boards... that is how I'd go... something singular about playing pine... (even with tons of guys with them.)