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I got some nice wood for rosettes, and had it cut, but it ended up being really wet, at 40%. Im now worried about cracking, its cut to 1/8,and its in a plastic bag. How do I cure this stuff slowly without mildew or mold? Im in Colorado, so its  dry state, (no dehumidifyer yet.) Should I wax the edges, its maple burl wood.

 

Thanks

 

 

A couple months ago I received some rosewood bridge blanks.  They felt a bit odd out of the box and when i cracked them open they had this wet feeling to then.  Tried to weight the thing, scale errored, more than 100 grams.  I removed the wax and let it sit int he stash, in about about 2 weeks to weight dropped to less than 80 grams! Then it started to loose only minimal amounts each day, until it became pretty much stable.  

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Build log

Burl is made up of so much crazy grain that sealing edges doesn't mean a thing.   I'd layer the stuff with something like blotter paper or plastic window screen material between layers, stack it under weight, and let it dry. You can control the speed at which it dries by covering the stack with plastic and taking the plastic off for a few hours every couple of days, and then cover it back up.

It may go a bit nuts, but that's burl for you.   You can always flatten it out with the help of Super Soft.

Well, now you know. ASK if the dang stuff is DRY.before you buy from an unknown vendor.

Sometime you buy wet to get the good deal. You just have to learn to deal with it, pun intended.

The majority of burls that I have seen are shipped completely dipped in wax to prevent cracking, splitting and all the things that burls do. I slice mine up and do exactly as Rick stated above. They will dry fairly quick.

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Oh thanks all! Yea, dipped in wax. Is it always a bit wet also? Because I can imagine as a block it would take a year to cure. Alot of this is for turning also, so I would think turners would want very very cured wood???? .

Rick *Turner* should know...   

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Build log

Actually, a lot of turners love to turn green wet wood and then let the turned piece warp in all its lovely ways. Many also submerge the wood in polyethylene glycol to displace the water in the wood and allow a less stressed cure. There are a lot of problems with that method, though that make it unsuitable for woods to be used in guitars.