Today I’m starting a new solid body electric build using some very special timber. This is American chestnut, and in a former life it was a tongue-and-groove floorboard from an 1800s farm house. I’m going to turn it into an electric guitar. This is the first time I’ve built an electric body this way, so it might be a huge fail. Then again, it could be pretty cool.I’ve already built a few things out of this wood, so I’m hoping I’m as familiar as I need to be with it’s properties in order to get it to cooperate with me. It’s a very heavy wood – much like white oak. Very hard, dense, prone to chip-out, and heavy. This presents a few challenges. First and foremost is the thickness of the board I’m using. It’s a perfect 1″ thick, but I need at least an inch and a half, so I’ll need to rip the board into 1 1/2″ wide sections, rotate them 90 degrees, then glue up that way.

First I crosscut the 8 foot-long board into 19 1/2″ long sections, which will give me plenty of wiggle room for the body shape I’ll be using.

Edges jointed.

A few passes through the thickness planer to remove the old finish and we’re ready for some ripping. Next, the glue-up!