Okay, maybe I'm a little enthusiastic about the packaging...it wasn't incredible or anything. But what was inside the packaging certainly was!!
This particular type of wood is called African padauk. Generally when you look at most higher end commercial marimbas, you'll often see bars that are made out of either Honduras rosewood or this stuff. Personally, I chose to go with the padauk because of its amazing orange-y reddish color and the fact that it costs only about a third of what the rosewood does. Before I purchased any sizable amount of lumber, I bought a small, craft-size sample of the padauk, and I made a few practice bars with it in order to make sure I enjoyed the sound. While the practice sample was not the same dimensions as what I will be using for the actual bars, I still loved the tone I got out of it, which was rich and had a lot of sustain.
I ended up purchasing 19 board feet: Six 7" by 60" boards and one 8" by 30". This will be enough lumber hopefully to construct a little more that half of the bars on the instrument. It will be interesting to see how this works out, as the instrument I am building, which will be a five-octive, C2 to C7 range, will use a lot more lumber on the bass end than on the higher end. While one board can only fit the first six bass bars on it, a board with the same dimensions would be able to make up several of the smaller, higher bars. I'll ultimately have to order a few more boards, but not until these are all spent.
19 board feet of the padauk cost about $300, and I'm estimating that I'll need to purchase about an extra $150 in the near future to complete the keyboard. I won't know for sure how much more I need to order until I've exhausted my current supply. While this is a lot of money, I know that I'm saving a ton by not buying a commercial instrument and making my own in the first place. Besides, I know that this whole project is an investment that will provide me with many wonderful, musical experiences for the rest of my life! Oh the joys of playing music!
Here are pictures of the wood grain as best as I could get them. Overall, this wood definitely has a lot of character, and it sounds amazing in bar form. I'll be working on marking the boards for the cutting to begin before long; I'll be sure to post again once I've cut some of the bars so I can show you guys! :D
Hi, i saw the rest of your blog already, and the marimba looks great!! I am thinking of making a marimba as well, but am wondering... What was the thickness of wood that you ordered, and from where? Thank you so much!!
ReplyDeleteGreetings! The wood I used was ordered as 4/4 inch lumber, but it actually is milled to be 13/16 inch, so if you do decide to go through with it, make sure you plan for it to be that size.
ReplyDeleteAlso: I ordered it from woodworkerssource.com , but if you have the ability to hand-pick it from a lumber yard near I recommend doing that.
ReplyDeleteWhat size marimba did you end up building? I am looking at building a 5 octave marimba and would be interested in knowing if you could give a rough estimate as to the amount of wood needed for a 5 octave marimba (just the bars) so I could begin to figure the cost
ReplyDelete