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Most of our wood is sourced from John Boddy Timber, a hardwood specialist supplier based in Yorkshire. John Boddy Timber is a member of the Timber Trade Federation, a body which sets out an environmental policy for the purchase of world timbers. A summary of their objectives is given below:
All TTF members are required to adopt and comply with this Code of Practice for use as a public and promotional document forming an integral part of the TTF Code of Conduct. Its aim is to provide a generic set of commitments to ensure that companies are taking all possible steps to minimise their impact on the environment and source their timber and timber products responsibly.
This code is binding on all TTF members.
1. Members are committed to sourcing their timber and timber products from legal and well-managed forests. Members unreservedly condemn illegal logging practices and commit themselves to working with suppliers and other stakeholders towards their complete elimination.
2. Members recognise that the independent certification of forests and the process chain is the most useful tool in providing assurances that the timber they deal in comes from legal and well-managed forests.
3. Members will avoid misleading and unsubstantiated claims in relation to wood products supplies.
4. Members will make every reasonable effort to minimise the environmental impact of company activities in other ways including:
By ensuring the efficient use of energy
Minimising waste and utilising residues
5. Members undertake to ensure that all relevant personnel employed by them will be conversant with and abide by the Code of Practice and its implications.
6. Where members knowingly contravene any part of the Code of Practice, the TTF will invoke the Code of Conduct Complaints Procedure and members agree to abide by the current TTF Code of Conduct Complaints Procedure.
We are often asked why all the timbers we use are imported. The answer is quite simple, there are certain of our home-grown timbers which can be used to make instruments, but the availability of the material, particularly in amounts with a known quality, is variable and sparse – the quality and reliability of the timber from John Boddy is assured.
We use the following timbers to make harps:
American cherry
American cherry has heartwood which varied from rich red to a pale red/brown with contrasting light creamy/brown sapwood. It has a well defined grain, often with narrow brown pith flecks and small gum pockets. It has a fine smooth texture. When newly machined it is quite often pale, and darkens down rapidly over a period to a more mellow colour. It is of medium density.
 American maple
American maple is also known as rock maple. It has a creamy-white colour and larger trees may contain a dark brown heart. It is usually straight grained although can be curly and wavy. Fine brown lines can give an attractive growth ring figure on plain surfaces. It changes little in colour over time. It is about 20% denser than cherry. This makes it heavier but stronger.
American Black Walnut
The colour of the heart wood varies according to origin. It is usually black-brown with infiltrations of different colouring irregularly distributed as streaks of lighter brown, sometimes very light. Its grain can be straight or wavy, often with a rather coarse texture. The density is similar to cherry.
Soundboard material
Our soundboard timber is the finest quality spruce. It is sourced from timber from the high mountain regions of Austria, which has grown and matured evenly. The combination of regular good summer growth and a shut down of growth over an always cold winter results in the fine and even growth rings (grain) which are necessary in the highest quality tonewood. The wood is radial (quarter) sawn to produce maximum stability and we buy it direct from a company which specialises in the production of the highest quality soundboards for pianos.
We use the following wood to make electric instruments:
 Tulipwood
Tulipwood is also known as Poplar and is a finely textured timber with very little movement in use. It has white, streaked sapwood with a heartwood which varies from pale yellowish-brown to pale olive-brown streaked with olive-green or pinkish brown. It has a uniform straight grain and medium density.
 Brazilian Mahogany
Mahogany is very variable in colour which can range from pale reddish-brown to a deep rich red. Grain can be straight or interlocked and the texture is usually quite fine and uniform. It has a similar density to tulipwood.
There has been quite a lot of confusion and concern about the supply of mahogany in the past, and for a while we stopped using it, until we were totally satisfied in connection with the validity of supply. John Boddy Timber now has FSC Certification in connection with their importation of mahogany.
FSC Certification:
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) promotes environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of the world's forests.
Environmentally appropriate forest management ensures that the harvest of timber and non-timber products maintains the forest's biodiversity, productivity and ecological processes.
Socially beneficial forest management helps both local people and society at large to enjoy long term benefits and also provides strong incentives to local people to sustain the forest resources and adhere to long-term management plans.
Economically viable forest management means that forest operations are structured and managed so as to be sufficiently profitable, without generating financial profit at the expense of the forest resources, the ecosystem or affected communities. The tension between the need to generate adequate financial returns and the principles of responsible forest operations can be reduced through efforts to market forest products for their best value.
The FSC accredits independent third party organisations who can certify forest managers and forest product producers to FSC standards.
To find out more: www.fsc.org
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