Flaxwood Guitars

Flaxwood is a Finnish manufacturer of guitars and instrument parts based in Heinävaara, North Karelia.[1] The company produces the instruments from a natural fibre-reinforced thermoplastic through a patented injection moulding process.[2] Flaxwood was founded in 2005 following a research project on natural fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites led by Heikki Koivurova.[3][4] A prototype was developed initially in 2003 with the design input of luthier Veijo Rautia and two years later Flaxwood introduced their first line of guitars. In 2011, they released a line of hybrid guitars.[5]

Flaxwood Guitars
TypeOsakeyhtiö / Ltd.
IndustryMusical instrument
Founded2005 (2005)
Headquarters
Joensuu
,
Finland
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Mika Räty (CEO)
ProductsElectric guitars and instrument parts
DivisionsWood Fiber Technologies Inc.
Websiteflaxwood.com

Design

Material

The body, neck and backplate of a Flaxwood guitar are made of a fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composite called flax. The composite material, also known as Kareline FLX, was developed through a collaboration between Heikki Koivurova, an industrial designer from Joensuu, Kareline, a Finnish manufacturer of composite materials, and the then University of Joensuu.[6][7][8][9] It consists of small wood fibres, in this case from recycled northern spruce, mixed with a thermoplastic bonding agent.[10] The semi-liquid mixture is injection moulded into shape with the fibres set in a predetermined direction. This results in a uniform material with a density of 1,2 kg/cm³ (74906 lb/ft³) and that can be recycled. It is also impervious to humidity and temperature variations.[2][11]

Manufacturing

Flaxwood produces and assembles their instruments and parts in Heinävaara.[12] The raw material is provided by Kareline and the moulding operations are carried out at All-Plast's facility.[13][14][15] The parts that come out of the mould are shaped with the cavities, pockets, joints and practically all the holes. They are then assembled and finished by hand with tools that are commonly used in traditional guitar workshops.[16]

Products

Flaxwood Series

The guitar models of the regular line come with approximately similar features and various pick-up configurations. The bodies are semi-hollow with a backplate and come with either a Gotoh 510UB hardtail bridge, a Gotoh GE-103B tune-o-matic bridge or a Schaller LP tremolo bridge. The glued in necks feature 22 medium jumbo frets, a 25.5" scale length and a 1-11/16" Tune-X Tuning System nut.[17] Almost each Flaxwood guitar bears a Finnish name representing its main personality and characteristics.

Instrument Components

Since 2011 Flaxwood has launched a line of components for music instruments such as bolt-on guitar necks, guitar blanks and fingerboard blanks for bowed string instruments.[18][19] Some of the components are used by other companies like the German violin manufacturer Mezzo-Forte.[20][21]

Notable players

References
  1. "Soitinvalmistuksesta iso bisnes Pohjois-Karjalaan". Kansan Uutiset Oy. 2010-11-03.
  2. "Method for manufacturing musical instrument and a musical instrument Patent (Patent # 7,214,866)". justia.com. Justia. 2005.
  3. Jääskeläinen, Jarmo (2011). "TONIC – 2nd Annual Seminar Summary, Heikki Koivurova, TONIC" – via YouTube.
  4. "Soitinvalmistajien huiput kokoontuivat Joensuuhun". Karjalainen. Sanomalehti Karjalainen Oy.
  5. TonalInnovationCenter (2011). "Flaxwood technology, Patented injection molding – Jukka-Pekka Karppinen". SlideShare Inc.
  6. "Kareline natural composites References". kareline.fi. Kareline.
  7. "Így készül egy kompozit gitár". aktivgitar.hu. 2013.
  8. Grace, Robert (2007). "Kareline seeks global markets for bioblends". plasticsnews.com. Crain Communications Inc.
  9. "Kareline® Natural Composites – Touch and Feel!" (PDF). rauma.fi. Kareline Oy Ltd. p. 11.
  10. Müssig, edited by Jörg (2010). Industrial application of natural fibres : structure, properties, and technical applications. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K.: Wiley. ISBN 978-0470695081.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
  11. Grosek, Mike (2011). "New Materials For An Age Of Scarcity". SlideShare Inc.
  12. "Ekologistakitarasoundia". Karjalainen. Sanomalehti Karjalainen Oy.
  13. "Pohjoiskarjalainen innovaatio saa huomiota maailmalla". Karjalainen. Sanomalehti Karjalainen Oy. 2014-03-14.
  14. "All-Plast Oy". AllPlastOy. 2011 – via YouTube.
  15. "Luonnonkuitukomposiitti soi nyt myös viulussa". Ajankohtaista. Oy All-Plast Ab. 2011.
  16. "Music Trades Mobile Editions — July 2011". onlinedigeditions.com. Music Trades Magazine. 2011.
  17. Burrluck, Dave (2011). "Flaxwood CC-H CC Custom". Reviews. Future Publishing Limited.
  18. Alexander, Lars Dallmann (2012). "Kleiner Exkurs zu Vintage-Hype und Gitarreninnovationen".
  19. "Oma Yritys Suomalainen Flaxwood tähtää 6,4 miljardin euron soitinrakennusmarkkinoille". Kauppalehti (in Finnish). 2011. Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2013-08-29.
  20. Ridden, Paul (2011). "Flaxwood's new Hybrid guitar launched at Winter NAMM". Gizmag.
  21. Parish, Matt (2013). "Perfecting the Sustainable Guitar". mmrmagazine.com/. Timeless Communications.
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