Hi Folks,

Just wanted
to show you what I have been up to this weekend: A proper shelf for my zoot.
This is basically a modded IKEA shelf.

The WAS
kicked in last summer. Since then Oncle Bob and others “seduced” me to buy some
wonderful zoot like HRW, Koa, Maylasian Ebony, Ziricote, Jacaranda, Black
Limba, Walnut, etc. 

Yes, I know
what you are thinking, and you are right: The remaining space in the shelf is
limited. I still don’t know why my wife insisted on this. 

My shop
will be build in springtime. Till then the shelf is sitting in my humidity
controlled office. What do you think? How do you store your zoot? Any pics for
the rest of us?

Friday I
also visited my friends at the customs and picked up my delayed xmas present.

A brand new
No. 5 with a high angle frog and a 60 ? R. I hope that my woodworking skills
will do justice to these mighty fine tools from LN.

Old timers in the sawmill business would sometimes store their lumber on end, leaning against  a rafter at about a 5 to 10 degree angle to dry. Surprisingly, these green boards would dry flat, without cupping or warpage. Although most modern sawyers use the stack and sticker method to dry their wood, some still dry it using this leaning method.

I have wondered how dried woods that have been prepared for guitar building would do if stored on end, with a slight lean also. I have cut several billets of mahogany that I am trying this on and will know more in a year or so if it works, or not.

My issues with stickering is that it seems that I always want the sets that are on the bottom of the stack and this disrupts the whole stack when I pull out the one on bottom. Chris's method certainly solves that issue.

TX for the comments Rich, Ken.

At the risk of sounding daft ... stickering?  Is this like cellaring wine, labelling each set with the date you stacked it etc.? 

Thanks a lot for all the helpful comments. As a newbie to storing tonewood, the experience and tips of others is crucial.

The one thing I want to avoid is to ruin precious wood by inadequate storage. If that means that I have to drop my shelf concept, that is what I will gladly do. Actually I was worried about distortion while planning the shelf, but a lack of assurance made me drop the thought.

Now I understand that you should sticker the wood (which my sets are not) with some kind of spacers or bars. Should I sticker the sides of the sets on one pile, and the back pieces of the sets on another pile? Propably.

I am pretty sure my lacking language ability is playing a trick on me, but what is the difference between "stickering" the wood and "stacking" the wood?

Regarding planes: I was thinking about getting a low angle block plane like the LN No. 102 or a Modelmakers block plane for carving braces etc. Is a flat or a convex sole the way to go?

Thanks for all you patience with a non native speaker. 

Chris

TX Chris for raising your post in the first place.  Just like you, I don't want to lose a single piece of that precious wood.

Hesh and Barry ... thanks so much for sharing your wisdom.  This forum is so awesome and I love reading the collective wisdom that is so openly shared!

Cheers

Rick