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I've finally got my shelves in my shop and have lots of wood sets that need to be stickered (they are dry and not wet). I know Mario has suggested using melamine in the past. As an alternative, do any of you see any problems with using 14" wooden paint paddles that are 5/32 inch thick? I can pick these up in bulk for around $0.08 a piece. Hoping you guys will provide some feedback before I make a mistake. TIA.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Don,

I know that this will be controversial, but once the wood is dry I just stack them, unstickered, in piles. When I am getting ready to use them, pull the sets, glue them together, get (thickness sand) them to the thickness that you want them to be prior to inlay or brace placement and then let them climatize to your environment. Maybe I do this because of the several hundred sets I have but I have been in Larrivee's factory and they do the same thing, as does a bunch of other medium size builders I know. But if you feel they need to be stickered, your paint sticks will work fine, although I would probably slice them in half as I think they are about 1.25 inches wide. I dry wood, stickered and with fans, using .25 x .75 inch stickers.

Hope this helps, I'm sure you will hear more!

Shane

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Canada

I am no expert on this. But when I was researchin it everyone told me that I needed thicker pieces than a paint paddle (~.125"). Plus, I was warned away from pine products.

I ended up following Mario's advice and cutting up a couple sheets of 1/2" melamine.

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Brock Poling
Columbus, Ohio
http://www.polingguitars.com

I agree with Shane completely, but personally I keep my hardwoods stickered,(more to keep them from transferring colour from one set to the next, than for any other reason)... the softwoods I just stack flat.
You can use any old wood for stickers as long as it's clean & dry & isn't waxy, pitchy, or oily. Some dark woods will transfer colours into pale wood & the stain can go quite deep.
Do those paint stir sticks have an inked logo on them which might stain your wood? It'd be the pits to have "Sherwin - Williams" or "Behr" written backwards on your best Spruce soundboard!
I recommend the wood be good & dry before you stack it, or you could end up with a mould problem.
If your storage area is not climate controlled to some extent, stickering & good ventilation would still be a good idea.
Of course, keep the wood away from direct sunlight.
Hope this is helpful,   Dan'lDaniel M38627.8074768518

I use 1/4" luan plywood that I rip 3/4" wide.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

I also use ripped Ply like Bob

Thanks for the replies folks.

Shane, I have been doing it your way and just stacking on top of each other. I want to go to a sticker so I can tie sets together and more easily pull sets out of the pile I'm probably setting on 80+ sets and that doesn't include soundboards. BobC probably has my mailing address memorized.

Brock, these paddles claim to be 0.156" thick and with limited space I'm trying to keep the stacks as short as possible. I could stick a couple together though to get a better height. I wonder if bleeding would not be a problem if I sprayed them with a coat of shellac?

Daniel, they don't have logos.....logos cost extra I do have my shop climate controlled and they will be placed on wire shelving for better air circulation.

BobC, you are the cause of my problem . I was thinking that the wider stickers would be an advantage or at least wouldn't hurt anything.

Thanks for your help, I'll wait a while and see what some of the others have to add. This is why I love this place.

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Don I don't see why they won't work. The wood isn't wet so it shouldn't be a problem. Now start building. Gees 80 sets. I'll never sell you anymore in my lifetime.

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Beautiful and unusual tone woods at a reasonable price.
http://www.rctonewoods.com/RCT_Store
The Zootman
1109 Military Rd.
Kenmore, NY 14217
(716) 874-1498

Hey Don,

Ya know that brown packing paper that I shipped you your wood in? That stuff is reatively inexpensive when you buy it in rolls. Also, sometines you can get the ends of news print rolls from your local news paper, stuff without ink on it yet, for free or real cheap. In stead of spraying each set just slip a piece of paper between each set. That will stop any colour bleed and it will also help you pull sets easier. The other reason that I stack all of my wood is that the stacks stored downstairs in my house do experience changes in humidity by about 15% (according to my hygrometer) over the year. So I think that the fuctuations in humidity that does occur will effect a stack of wood less than an isolated thin piece left exposed. All of my sets, hardwood and softwood, are stacked, unstickered, unweighted, and they seem to be just fine.

Shane

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Canada

I use Baltic Birch strips that I chop up on the table saw, they are fairly stable, cheap (I get them from leftover projects) and I've not had any staining issues at all...

You want something with a little stiffness and height to let air flow around the wood, even when dry and seasoned wood will still move and can warp if left unstickered. Maybe it works for Shane and some others but I don't want to take chances, if I've been storing a piece for a while and finally have a project for it, the last thing I want is for it to cup on my because the weather changed and it was not in the sticker pile.

Cheers

-Paul-

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-Paul-

Patriot Guitars

[QUOTE=Bobc] Don I don't see why they won't work. The wood isn't wet so it shouldn't be a problem. Now start building. Gees 80 sets. I'll never sell you anymore in my lifetime. [/QUOTE]

Yeh right, dream on Bob, dream on

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Don Atwood
Arlington, VA

Don,
I do exactly what Shane says. Well, I do have one sticker/press that I have my Brazilian in, as well as the flatsawn stuff. Everything else is in piles.
Until joined, then it is stored in the dry room so that air can get to all sides.Steve Kinnaird38628.5773611111

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From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

I use whatever is lying around. I like to sticker as it drys more evenly.

The sticker-material issue becomes very critical when working with fresh
maple....

You need lots of air circulation under those stickers, or sticker-stain
will result.
Not a pretty sight...

I use scraps of molding that are shaped so that there's a 1" gap between
the two minute parts of the sticker than are actually making contact with
the wet wood....
(Hard to describe--I'll see if I can snap a pic later today....)

I get the stickers from a molding mill where they throw away their scraps
and defective wood with knots....

Works great...

The other solution is to use standard stickers, and put fans on your maple
stacks to hurry the drying...
Then re-stack the stack, changing the place where the stickers were the
first time around...

Kind of a pain, but worth it in the long run...
Sticker stain in maple can travel into the wood as much as 10mm or so,
and spread pretty rapidly....

Also check out your local cabinet maker. Around here, for a case of beer (Budwieser), you can get all the cabinet grade scrapes you want. Great sticker material and can be used for tailblocks too.