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My landlord has just cut down a Peppermint Tree that was in danger of falling (onto a neighbour's house).
Can Peppermint be used for guitar bodies?
I did find some results for "Caps", but nothing on Bodies.
Here's some info on the species: https://www.stirling.wa.gov.au/Servi...20flexuosa.pdf
And here's some photos of the former tree:
Attachment 23030 Attachment 23031 Attachment 23032
You have nothing other than some time and effort to loose if you give it a try...
Cut the right way virtually any piece of wood could be made into a body, however how it responds to drying out and its eventual weight will be the major issues discovered before you ever find out its tonal contribution...
Pity he cut it up they way he did, as it always preferable to have any wood used for instrument making quarter sawn, for structural integrity.
I suppose you could quater saw what bit's are there, but it would depend how long the pieces are on what you could use them for.
Was it a peppermint gum tree ?
Some info I found on what it could possibly be.
BLOODWOODS. These trees form a very distinct group from their congeners, their morphological characters being well defined, while their timbers are also sui generis. The species are not numerous, but they extend from Western Australia in a northerly direction round to the East coast as far South as the Victorian border. They can be detected in the field at once by the leaf venation alone. The timbers are hard, heavy, open in the grain, some having a large figure, but are very prone to gum (kino) veins, hence their utilisation is limited. They are nevertheless strong and very durable in the ground, this quality being due probably to the tan in the kino. They are very suitable for railway sleepers, posts, bridge decking, etc.
The principal species are :-E. corymbosa, E. calophylla (the red gum of Western Australia), E. eximia, yellow bloodwood, E. intermedia, E. terminalis, E. trachyphloia.
(xi.) PEPPERMINTS. These do not comprise a numerous section of eucalyptus trees. They derived their name originally, from the presence of the peppermint odour in the leaves, attention to which was first drawn by the medical officers of the First Fleet. The constituent giving rise to this odour has since been isolated and named Piperitone, and promises to be of considerable value in pharmacy.
The timbers are not generally found on the market, although in the country districts where they occur they are used for many purposes, and some have a reputation for durability in the ground. In recent times the name unfortunately is being applied to trees which have a bark similar. to the original peppermint tree, E. piperita, but have no trace of Piperitone in the leaves.
There are a few longer logs which could be cut with enough length for a Tele, LP or even Strat body.
Anyway, I might just grab some and put them away in storage to dry out.
Could be pretty interesting to see how this all goes.
If it's what I think it is, it's going to be pretty dense wood, and looking at the core of one of those log's, possibly as hard as Iron-bark.
If so, you might be better off cutting the logs quartersawn ASAP, then air drying the more manageable pieces.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvUPJPFg4wM
Air drying lumber
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xA81Ko0qZgg
Thanks Tweaky, definitely out of my comfort zone now. Maybe DB or Wokka will see this and come and grab some if they think its usable.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tweaky