Graphite composite source

[Greg Martin]

Hi im looking for an online source for graphite stiffeners,rod and thin sheet stock.anyone have a good source other than stewmac and LMI, for small quantity purchases?

[David King]

Allred.com aka dragonplate.com You want the "pultruded" rectangular sections.

[Eldon Howe]

I've used Rock west composites
They have CF and a
flax cloth I used as a sandwich (cherry/flax/cherry) for the back of an archtop it is too stiff. The next time I'll omit the inner 1mm of cherry.
They also have many shapes of cf tubes.

[Barry Daniels]

I also recommend the Dragon Plate composites.

[Christ Kacoyannakis]

Eldon, I read your post, and since I had never heard of flax cloth, I checked out the Rock West web site. Very interesting. I would really love to see pictures of the back of the archtop you made with the flax cloth. In addition, the web site notes that flax cloth is vibration damping. I thought carbon fiber was not vibration damping, so I am just curious about how it affected the sound of your guitar. Looks cool though.

[Eldon Howe]

Too many things going on in this guitar to attribute one to another.
The back plate has a bell/glass like tap tone as you tap, but very long.
I’ve only tried it sandwich between two 1mm layers of cherry.
It seems a little stiff in the recurve area, that may be due to fact that the plate is a constant thickness even in the recurve.
In addition, the top uses a nomex core. You can see it in the double top arch top thread.
It’s a little louder than my Taylor 314 Koa and other luthier guitars I have. I think due to sound hold placement and double top.
Also, it has low tension with low break angles at the zero fret and bridge.
I can adjust the tail piece lower to increase the break angle.

[Gordon Bellerose]

To address the original post; I too have just purchased from Dragon Plate.
Quick service and delivery.
When I got the product I measured it with my digital caliper. It was within .001 of advertised measurements.
I got the link from David King.

[David King]

Just to confuse things further, Aircraft Spruce sells the woven flax composite.

[Mark Swanson]

Eldon's guitar is pretty cool, I played it and was pleased. I can hear the influence of the CF in it. It seemed quite loud.

[Bob Shanklin]

Goodwind Kites. https://goodwinds.com/ for carbon fiber flats for neck stiffeners. Inexpensive with cheap shipping to the states but expensive shipping to Canada. Great prices on fiberglass rods for go-bars as well.
Bob