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I got a couple sets of gorgeous maple from Doug, of Blue Spirit tonewoods. The red, brown and blonde striping is phenomenal, and the curl is great, too. Doug informed me that it was not fully dry, so now it's stickered up on my shelf.

I've never bought a set before that wasn't already dry. My Wagner pinless moisture meter is designed to measure moisture in boards at least 3/4" thick. How can I ascertain when this wood is dry enough to build with? I plan to use it for an instrument that I'd like to get started on ASAP.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Todd if you have a means of precisely weighing it data is around on the internet that will give you a weight at various levels of dryness per cubic meter. You can then work out what the weight should be, and check it against the weigt at your desired thickness.

More precise (without equipment) is weight the wood and record precisely (grams work good). Weight it everyday until the weight does not change for several days you'll know it has reached equilibrium for the storage area it's in. Reaching equilibrium per se, does not means it's ready to build with yet.

Thats pretty good info....haven't though of that!

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Peter M.
Cornerstone Guitars
http://www.cornerstoneukes.com

Thanks, Russel and Larry, for your suggestions.    

[QUOTE=Larry Davis]Reaching equilibrium per se, does not means it's ready to build with yet.[/QUOTE]

Can you expand on that a bit? Do you mean by this that it depends on the humidity level in the storage area it's in?    It is stickered in my humidity controlled (38-44% RH) assembly room. Once the wood has reached equilibrium there, might it still not be ready for some reason?

Thanks again.Todd Rose38813.5938541667

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/

Larry Davis knows a lot more about wood than me but that one has me stumped.

I've always assumed that once wood has reached equilibrium in a fairly dry envirorment, it is ready to build.

I'll be watching for some more help on this... Lord knows I need it.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

I think what Larry meant was that if the enviroment wasn't right then the wood wouldn't be.

In your build enviroment once equilibrium is reached, it would be ready to use.

Larrys experience is of course far greater than mine, so it would be worth finding out if this is what he meant.

Yikes!!! I didn't mean to sound like an alarmist

With instrument wood we deal in generalities, but also the specifics of wood in hand. Air dried hardwoods are a bit different than kiln dried hardwoods as far as residual stress goes. Kiln dried woods are stress induced (barely) as part of the process then the stress is removed thru additional moisture being added to the kiln. This relaxes the wood fibers and removes stress and tension from the wood. Air dried hardwood doesn't have this quick fix, so it can be prudent to store the wood for a year or two AFTER it's "dry" by moisture content standards. Give it time to stretch and breath and yawn and sneeze a bit then settle into it's life routine.

Todd, I'm not speaking specifically about your particular maple set and Doug would fill you in on it's age and cut cycle, but if it is still in the primary air dry cycle you need to make the decision when it's ready to build with. Given the colorful description I'd guess it's a mix of sap and heartwood (Big Leaf maple?)and further subjected to stress factors. If the wood has been milled into sets some time back and is merely hovering around the 12-14% air dry state most of the stress probably has worked out (if there was any) and reducing the moisture down to shop/build conditions (5-6%) should be enough .

Again, let me clearly state these are wood conversion generalities and not to be taken as "written in stone" rules for every piece of air or kiln dried wood. "Just in time" deliveries of air dried wood still in the primary down dry cycle is always risky biz if the intent is to build immediately.

Larry,

Thank you for clearing that up. I take from it that generally speaking, it is best to let the wood set a year or more before building. (unless it's a know supplier that says it's good to go) That sounds like good advice. I'm guessing if I stick to it I'll never be sorry.

Thanks again.

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Joe Beaver
Maker of Sawdust

Thanks, Larry, for the education. You've sharpened my awareness of some things I kinda vaguely knew (I should go back and reread some of my books on the subject) and given me a very thorough and helpful answer to my question. I appreciate you taking the time.

I'll PM Doug and see if he can give me a little more info on this maple. If I HAVE to , I'll let go of using it for this build... but it would be so perfect...

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

https://www.dreamingrosesecobnb.com/todds-art-music

https://www.facebook.com/ToddRoseGuitars/