Wood Treatment For Away-from-home Shop:

[Dave I]

I am going to be taking a woodworking course (a ten-week course given by a local Tech School) and would like to start my first guitar build. A few (hopefully) quick questions.

1) If it starts in January, will I have enough time to buy some decent tone wood and let it acclimate to the environment it will be stored in by the time class starts?

2) I would like to store the wood/guitar at home and take it to the shop to work on it. Is that o.k., or do I have to leave it at the shop? I am wondering if changes in humidity between my home, the shop, and the 1/3 hour trip to get there, will screw it up, and I really do not want to leave my guitar-in-progress at a high school shop class.

If nothing else, I can just use the class as a way to learn to use the tools, build my wife a book case or something, maybe a file cabinet, and meanwhile work on acquiring the proper tools at home while my wood ages. But just thought I would ask.

-Cheers

[fryovanni]

I am going to be taking a woodworking course (a ten-week course given by a local Tech School) and would like to start my first guitar build. A few (hopefully) quick questions.

1) If it starts in January, will I have enough time to buy some decent tone wood and let it acclimate to the environment it will be stored in by the time class starts?

2) I would like to store the wood/guitar at home and take it to the shop to work on it. Is that o.k., or do I have to leave it at the shop? I am wondering if changes in humidity between my home, the shop, and the 1/3 hour trip to get there, will screw it up, and I really do not want to leave my guitar-in-progress at a high school shop class.

If nothing else, I can just use the class as a way to learn to use the tools, build my wife a book case or something, maybe a file cabinet, and meanwhile work on acquiring the proper tools at home while my wood ages. But just thought I would ask.

-Cheers

If you buy well dried wood locally it will be closer to being aclimated to your area. If you are in a crunch for time this is the best way to go. I generally buy wood far enough in advance (I have generally had it for at least a year prior to use) to not worry about aclimation.

As far as taking your project out of the shop and then back later. It is not idea, but if you think it is more risky to leave it, then you are probably better off taking it home). Get yourself a nice sized plastic bag to wrap it up during travel. You are most likely going to have glues curing, so don't leave it bagged the whole time. Try to avoid radical shifts, if you can set a space in your house to have a similar temp and humidity level as the shop that would work best.

Most likely the woodshop your going to be working in does not have a strickly controlled environment, so your project will be in mildly (hopefully) fluctuating condition even if you left it in the woodshop.

Peace,Rich

[Dave I]

If you buy well dried wood locally it will be closer to being aclimated to your area. If you are in a crunch for time this is the best way to go.

If I buy my woods from Gilmer (or similar dealer), how long should wait before working on the wood to assure it is acclimated to the weather? I am probably going with a Spruce & Mahogany ES-335 style guitar first and then a PRS-doublecut shaped Les Paul chambered solid body next. I can buy some time by building jigs or similar tools I will need, cut out templates, basically do EVERYTHING I would need to do before I finish the guitar. I can even build my wife a kitchen table first. That should smooth over the rest of the guitar-making process a bit.

Basically I'd like to buy the goods and get starter as quickly as safely possible since the availability of tools is dependent on the 10-week woodworking class I am taking this spring (and maybe continuing in the fall as it is offered each semester to the public), but not at the risk of making a piece of junk.

-Cheers