>I'm getting more reluctant to use tropical hardwoods for health reasons. I've had strong allergic reactions to sawdust from even domestic hardwoods like oak, so I'm real careful when using tropical hardwoods. I've only used small amounts, for pegs and bridges, and I keep an air cleaner running, wear a mask, and wash my hands thoroughly when I'm finished. I don't think I would want to work with enough rosewood to make an entire back of a lute, for example. Although I have to admit, it's the most beautiful wood I've ever seen.
For parts that see a lot of wear, though, like pegs, bridges, and the edges of the fingerboard, there don't seem to be a lot of attractive North American substitutes. Or have I just not looked at enough woods? Personally, I've wondered whether the increasing number of ribs on lutes as you move into the 17th century is a sign that luthiers were running out of easy-to-obtain yew in large slabs. If not, it would have been a tremendous waste of wood to cut such narrow ribs to get the dark/light contrast. You can see the gradual loss of ancient hardwoods from North American logging in historical American furniture. The museum where I work has a 19th century sideboard with a top made out of a single piece of hardwood. The tree must have been huge! You never see contemporary furniture built that way; wide pieces are almost always pieced together. I'm just building an occaisional lute as a hobby, but I've decided to use as much wood from my own region as possible. I've been wondering whether it would be practical for me to use wood from storm-damaged trees that have been cut down. The city where I live has a wood lot where they put such wood for people to take for free. Most of it gets cut up for firewood, which seems like such a waste. I have some small billets of mountain ash from when a neighbor's tree was pruned that I'm hoping to use for tuning pegs. But splitting large pieces for lute ribs seems like a pretty big project. Has anyone on the list done that? I know it will have to dry for a long time before it can be used. Kiln-drying would seem to negate the ecological value of using windfall wood. Tim Motz > > >---- Original Message ---- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] >Subject: Re: The ecological sustainable lute & luthier >Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2003 05:54:41 -0500 > >>Gimme a break, >> >>There is no way that the needs of luthiers for exotic woods can >endanger the >>trees. Luciano says that his woods come from dead trees, but it >isn't >>necessary that he say that. The massive endangerment of the rain >forests in >>S.A. is not only from the loggers but also the cut and burn of the >native >>agriculturists. Any wood sold as rosewood, or whatever, comes from >someone >>who knew the value of the rosewood. The problem is those who don't >know that >>the wood has value and just cut it to get it out of the way (either >of their >>crop fields, or of their lumbering). The forests of England and >Spain were >>stripped of fine oak in the time of the great fleets, but the yew >wasn't >>stripped for the archers. The bow had to be made from just the right >branch >>of a mature tree - whereas the masts of the Armada and the English >fleet >>required the entire trunk of the straightest and best oak. >> >>Take any wood you will, the entire production of hand crafted >musical >>instruments in the world won't impact the ecology. But if the elite >decide >>they need rosewood dashboards on their cars, and the polloi follow >them, >>that would be a problem. >> >>There is an old joke, The Lawyer's Prayer: Dear God, if there is a >God, and >>for the purposes of this prayer we shall assume there is a God. Well >then >>I'll say that that god invented rosewood, cherry and all the other >exotic >>wood specifically for the use of luthiers - to be harvested >carefully and >>nurtured for the making of music for mankind. But not for clear >cutting or >>burning. >> >>Best, Jon >> >> >>
