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I have an old set of AAA koa that has cured into a warp similar to Lays or Pringles. It hasn't been thicknessed yet and I'm at a loss as to how I might flatten it in order to get it through the old performax...
Has anyone dealt with this problem successfully?
I've thought of taking it to the dry cleaners and seeing if they culd put it through a shirt press with steam, but I don't know if they'd do it or laugh at me...
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Art vpelleri38907.782662037

I straightened some cocobolo by wetting the inside curve, then gradually clamping it to a good flat board. I rewetted, and tightened the clamps just a little each day for about a month.

Al

Art,

I recommend you email Grant Goltz about this (ggoltz@aol.com). He's a member here, and drops in from time to time. A while back, over at the "no 's'" forum, he posted a procedure on how to straighten out tonewood that has curled due to case-hardening. Even if your wood's curling is not the result of being case-hardened, I wouldn't be surprised if his recommendations would still work.

They involved giving the wood a long soak in water, then stickering it with pressure with air circulating across the wood for a fairly extended period. I'd rather that Grant filled in the precise details.

Best,

Michael

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Live to Play, Play to Live

It's really not a mystery. Wood fiber has "memory" and will stay in a shape it dries in...think guitar side after bending although that is also a product of cell stretching sometimes on tight bends. If the distortion is not caused by natural growth, wood fiber can be re-hydrated, re-bent and re-dried to a new "memory"

True case hardening is a dryer defect caused by a specific chain of events and I don't believe is reversible in fact..perhaps it's reversible in opinion.

Art, I'm afraid your Koa is irreparably lost. You'll have to send it to me so I can give it a proper burial/disposal... Especially AAA Koa. What a shame...

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

I would guess it can work with koa - I did it with both EI and Braz rw - I wrapped the side in some parchment paper, put it on the table saw bed, then the blanket on top of that, then a flat board and some weight as the blanket heats up - you bend it back flat - then let cool. Worked great for me.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I'm with Tony on the "heat it and bend it back flat" method. Mind you, I don't have a lot of experience with this, but have had success with this method. I've used a combination of heat blankets and a clothes iron (blankets underneath, ironing on top - no paper wrapping or anything), monitoring the temp of the blankets and iron with a surface thermometer (around 310 deg), keeping a close eye and nose on the wood to avoid scorching, flipping it over a few times as I iron away... then quickly put it under a couple layers of MDF and a bag of shot and come back a day later.

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Todd Rose
Ithaca, NY

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

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

I think if you get it wet and stack it under some flat heavy stock (plywood mdf or whatever)with news paper on eack side to control the drying it will flatten out. Change the news paper every day for like a week.
I think this was a procedure that Todd Tagert (allied Lutherie)published a long time ago, and he should know.
If that doesn't work you need to send it to Alain
You owe me one Alain.

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Jim Watts
http://jameswattsguitars.com

Great advice from all the above,

I would recommend on all your zoot in storage that you store it on a flat surface with flat heavy stock like ply or mdf. Espcially AAA Koa. I keep all my back stock stored this way and during the early stages of the build up to bracing.

Mike
White Oak, Texas

Two methods that have worked for me.

First, wet the cupped side and place it cup down on a concrete floor with a weight on top, it should flatten out over a day or two. When flat keep it under pressure on a flat surface until braced.

Second, use stickers and cable ties to gradually pull it back straight. Damp the cupped sides and stack them with stickers in between with the cupped sides out. Then use six cable ties to pull them together, over a period of a few days you should be able to gradually pull the ties tighter. leave them like this until you process them.



ColinColin S38908.4052083333

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

I've used the heat blanket concept with great success. I had a cocobolo set that did the very same thing, and using two heat blankets and a pair of 9" x 24" pieces of 1/2" aluminum plate, I was able to get it flatten in a very short amount of time. I then re-stickered under weight, and it was fine. It works very well.

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"I want to know what kind of pickups Vince Gill uses in his Tele, because if I had those, as good of a player as I am, I'm sure I could make it sound like that.
Only badly."

Thank you all for your kind responses! Looks like I have some things to try before I send this wood off to Alain.

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I'd like to be able to prove, just for once, that money wouldn't make me happy...

ColinS, that is a great idea on the 2nd method. Thanks for sharing I likey!

Mike
White Oak, Texas