1 piece slab cut for Cello

[pioneerfiddler]

I have a beautiful piece of slab cut wood that I plan to use for a cello. I understand that slab cut is not the best wood to use for a back of a cello, but this piece of wood is too beautiful to waste. Is there anything I should take into consideration before I start carving up this back? Not sure if I should make it thicker or perhaps not use such a flat arch due to strength of the wood. 

To push this conversation a bit further, I'm sure that some of you have noticed that there has been quite a glut on cello wood for the past couple of years. Because of this, I think I might need to improvise a little bit. I have two pieces of very nicely flamed maple that would be big enough for cello, but, again, they are both slab cut, so I was considering gluing the two slab cut pieces together to make the cello back. I was wondering if they might have a tendency to double warp, which would be awkward and probably not good for sound. They might warp into a W type configuration. But, due to the fact that there seems to be no good cello wood on the market, I might need to venture down this road. 

[David Burgess]

Slab cut wood will generally expand and contract dimensionally a lot more with moisture content and humidity changes than quarter cut.  Consequently, I've seen a lot more cracks on slab backs than I have on quartered. 
It's the same thing going on as Don mentioned in your thread about slab ribs.

But it's up to you whether you want to do it or not. I don't and never have.

[nathan slobodkin]

12 hours ago, David Burgess said:

Slab cut wood will generally expand and contract dimensionally a lot more with moisture content and humidity changes than quarter cut.  Consequently, I've seen a lot more cracks on slab backs than I have on quartered. 
It's the same thing going on as Don mentioned in your thread about slab ribs.

But it's up to you whether you want to do it or not. I don't and never have.

I have made about 100 cellos using slab cut wood mostly willow or poplar. I haven't seen any cracks yet. i have posted before about this and reccomend putting the inside of the tree to the outside of the cello so the sound post pressure is not in the weakest radial direction through the back. When working with maple I would add .3-.5 mm to the grads on a violin and .5-1 mm on a cello. I am not a big fan of slabbed ribs however.

[Jay Higgs]

On 11/9/2025 at 3:22 PM, nathan slobodkin said:

I have made about 100 cellos

Wow!  That's impressive.  I am still working on finishing my first one, but I am not a pro.  My back is quarter-cut maple, and it was a lot of work.  I imagine poplar would be a bit easier.  What do you use for the sides with a poplar back?

[The Violin Beautiful]

I was also thinking it would make sense to add a bit to the thicknesses to account for the lower structural rigidity of the wood.

I’ve seen some slab backs that cracked and some that didn’t. I don’t see use of that cut as necessarily detrimental if it’s worked thoughtfully. 

[pioneerfiddler]

On 11/10/2025 at 1:22 AM, nathan slobodkin said:

I have made about 100 cellos using slab cut wood mostly willow or poplar. I haven't seen any cracks yet. i have posted before about this and reccomend putting the inside of the tree to the outside of the cello so the sound post pressure is not in the weakest radial direction through the back. When working with maple I would add .3-.5 mm to the grads on a violin and .5-1 mm on a cello. I am not a big fan of slabbed ribs however.

 

Interesting. I wonder if willow and poplar might be more forgiving than maple.  Not sure if maple might be more prone to cracking due to higher density of the wood. 

Do you generally use 1 piece backs for these cellos with slab backs? Or are they two piece?

 

[nathan slobodkin]

7 hours ago, Jay Higgs said:

Wow!  That's impressive.  I am still working on finishing my first one, but I am not a pro.  My back is quarter-cut maple, and it was a lot of work.  I imagine poplar would be a bit easier.  What do you use for the sides with a poplar back?

I have used either the same wood as the back or sometimes plain maple. I tried to find the closest thing to straight quarter sawn in every wood shipment and save that for ribs.

[Randall The Restorer]

On 11/9/2025 at 2:04 AM, pioneerfiddler said:

I have a beautiful piece of slab cut wood that I plan to use for a cello. I understand that slab cut is not the best wood to use for a back of a cello, but this piece of wood is too beautiful to waste. 

 

1.  Highly figured slab cut wood tends to be more unstable and more difficult to work than plain looking slab sawn wood.

2.  Using a visually attractive - beautiful - piece of wood for the back of a cello IS a waste. Most people will never see it and the owner or player will rarely see this "too beautiful" wood.

As a cello music lover, amateur luthier, cabinetmaker, and visual artist, I urge you to rethink your plans. Use this special piece of slab cut wood for furniture or simply displayed as wall art.

 

 

 

[Randall The Restorer]

On 11/9/2025 at 2:04 AM, pioneerfiddler said:

".  . .  quite a glut on cello wood for the past couple of years."

".  .  .  there seems to be no good cello wood on the market . . ."

Dear pioneerfiddler,

Your above statements are contradictory. The word "glut" means an excessively abundant supply of something. 

Also, "good" is a vague, relative term that needs qualification ( density, appearance, workability).

Personally, I haven't seen a shortage of "good" cello wood available, either online or in-person from tonewood dealers here in southern Ontario, Canada.

Have you checked the For Sale ads on this forum's Luthier Market Exchange, or posted a wanted ad yourself?

Please read my other posts about alternative sources of tonewood and alternative luthier wood species.

I wish you success.

Sincerely,

Randy O'Malley