Scratch builds - potential Aussie timbers

[Muzza]

I thought I saw a scratch-build section here somewhere, but it must've been late at night...

Anyway, 12 - 13 years ago I chopped down a few hefty old trees when I built this house, and I'm wondering what makes a good timber for a guitar body or a guitar neck and if this timber would be suitable.

I've got 2 types of tree I'm looking at;

1) Scribbly gum - hard as f@<& to split with a log splitter and pretty darn heavy. Very interesting grain patterns. Anybody tried this stuff for a body or neck?

2) Bloodwood. REALLY straight grain and lighter than Scribbly. Beautiful colours from deep red to almost white. I'm pretty sure it's still part of the Eucalypt family.

I've read that, ideally, guitar wood should be dried out naturally over a period of about 40 years. These logs have been on the ground for 12 years, I'm now 56... I'm not waiting for another 28 years.

So, the other option, instead of waiting, is to kiln dry the stuff. How / where would I go about getting this done?

[dingobass]

Ok, forget the scribbly gum but the Bloodwood could be ok.
First, you would need to have it milled down to 50mm planks and stack and sticker it (chunks of 2x2 pine spacers between the slabs)

Generally speaking, 12 months per inch drying time but as the trees have been down for this long it might not need much drying time.
It would be handy to have a moisture meter, and if the timber is between 9-15% it's ok.

The best bits of tree to use are the quarter cuts off the heart (provided it is solid). Quarter cuts won't move anywhere near as much as flat or rift sawn planks.

[stan]

Sounds cool. Being hard and straight grained, sounds just right for necks if nothing else.
As for kiln drying, perhaps if you can find a local timber merchant they can lead you the way...