I have just returned from a visit to the CF Martin Guitar Factory in Nazareth, PA. I have been there multiple times and I, myself, have built guitars from raw lumber - so it's always cool to see the "pros" in action and take-in the latest techniques used to make my favorite stringed instrument (unless you consider piano a stringed instrument). There are various ways of deep examining wood. Most guitar parts have wood that is very thin and it can be through-viewed using a strong back light. This is what is done at the Martin Factory. In my "build it at home" world, we use tap tones and pure touch to try and uncover defects and flaws in the wood. These processes don not take very long - just a few seconds at the factory and a minute or so at home.

And so, after knowing the above information, I ask....could not the wood to be used on a roller coaster be inspected prior to using it for construction? I ask this, and have put this topic in this forum, because I am keeping Son of Beast in my thoughts. No matter how heavy the load could be on a section of coaster track or how much extra bracing would be used to accommodate that stress, if the wood is "faulty" a mere "butterfly sneeze" could split it apart. All of the world's greatest engineering could not prevent a faulty piece of lumber from doing its assigned job.

Am I way off base on this? I could be - but I feel that a better inspection and a more accurate grading of lumber to be used in such a massive project as So Of Beast should be incorporated into the planning of such creations.

Any views on this will, of course, be most welcomed.

Although I have no answer for you, I am intrigued by your question and interested in hearing the responses that we get from someone who knows more than you and I.

Can we just keep talking about guitars? Joking aside, I am anxious to hear replies. I assume it will be something like... yes they can be inspected but it is too labor intensive and therefore expensive. Or, yes the wood is inspected but quality is often not Paramount (pun intended).