Some historic keyboard instrument timbers used today

Many different woods are used in musical instrument making. If you live in Australia, you will probably not find many of these timbers in your local timber yard. The woods shown here are just some of the wide variety used by leading makers involved in recreating early keyboard instruments. The best harpsichords today are often made from similar, if not identical, timber species to the originals. In this regard our Northern Hemisphere colleagues have a natural advantage.

Each timber must be carefully chosen and appropriately prepared for its purpose. Probably even more important than the choice of timber is its quality and treatment—The end result cannot be certain just because a particular species is used! A most obvious example may be the arrogant use of a European spruce soundboard, poorly selected and dried, and insufficiently aged, instead of perhaps a more reliably obtainable “lesser” timber which all other design considerations being equal, would give a more desired end result.

The aesthetic consideration is also important: It may be quite incorrect, for example, or even upsetting to some, to use a highly figured hardwood as a keycovering, no matter how elegant it might seem. There are no Australian timbers found here, not because they are not beautiful or useful, but because generally we have few equivalent species to the European timbers necessary for the traditional construction practices of keyboard instruments, or even violins for that matter. (It took an American flute maker, Professor Felix Skowroneck, to discover and show us what enormous variety and beauty can be found among the natural Australian hardwoods.) What can be made from local timbers may be remarkable, but in all likelihood, meet the perception of neither player nor audience.

One of the largest problems we all face is that wood is just so useful for so many things, and has until now been so plentiful, that far too much has been wasted without thought on items of little use or doubtful lasting value. Conservation must be of utmost concern to everyone. Fortunately, many of these timbers are now farmed and can be regarded as a truly renewable resource. Others can be sourced more efficiently from ethical suppliers with regard to the preservation of our environment, or, in the case of some tropical species now becoming rare, appropriate substitutes found.

All the samples are direct scans of aged, 400-grit sanded surfaces of the actual timber.

	SAMPLE	NAME	CHARACTERISTICS	USE
S O F T W O O D S		Alaskan yellow cedar Chamaecyparis nootkatensis	Fine, light, stiff & stable, remarkable aroma	Italian cases & mouldings
		Cypress Cupressus sempervirens	Fine grain, distinctive aroma, highly resistant to fungal and insect attack, darkens to honey color	Italian cases, mouldings & veneers
		Swiss pine Picea abies	Strong & light, stiff, now rare in high quality	Soundboards, bracing, large Italian cases
		Sitka spruce Picea sitchensis	Strong & light, once used for aircraft	Bracing, soundboards
H A R D W O O D S		Lime Tilia vulgaris	Uniformly fine texture, straight-grained, stiffer than basswood	Cases, panels, key levers
		Canadian Basswood Tilia americana	Fine, straight-grained, easy to work, comparable to the European lime (linden)	Cases, panels, key levers
		Poplar Liriodendron tulipifera	Fine, somewhat harder surface than basswood	Case parts, trestle stands, turned & fluted legs
		Hard maple Acer saccharum	Hard, heavy, straight-grained, good for steam bending	Virginal bridges & mouldings
		Alisée Sorbus aria	Fine texture, easy to work	Registers, jack bodies, clavichord bridges
		Holly Ilex aquifolium	Interlocking grain	Jack tongues
		American beech Fagus grandifolia	Fine, even spotted texture, good for steam bending	Bridges, mouldings, registers, turned stands, music desks & lid sticks
		American red oak Quercus rubra	Hard, very coarse-textured	Wrestplanks
		French oak Quercus petraea	Hard, coarse-textured, attractive figure	Wrestplanks, turned stands, music desks, lid sticks
		Boxwood Buxus sempervirens	Hard-wearing, polishes to a fine smooth surface	Key covers
		Red alder Alnus rubra	Soft, straight-grained, subtle figure	Bentside spinet cases, panels & turned stands
		Honduran mahogany Swietenia macrophylla	Medium texture, open grain, strong cabinet timber of great beauty	Fortepiano & clavichord cases; turned stands, music desks
		French cherry Prunus avium	Fine, often attractive wavy-grained wood	Clavichord cases & stands
		American cherry Prunus serotina	Hard, straight-grained, takes polish well	Fortepiano cases & panels; virginal key covers
		Swiss pearwood Pyrus communis	Very fine-grained, natural lubrication when polished	Bridges, mouldings, keycovers, jacks
		French walnut Juglans regia	Straight to wavy-grained with attractive color & figure	Clavichord cases & stands; Italian wrestplank veneer & accidentals
		Mozambique grenadilla Dalbergia melanoxylon	Extremely heavy & hard-wearing, polishes to a fine surface	Reverse key covers, solid accidentals

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