Storaging wood

[Bizman62]

Many of us have various pieces of guitar building wood - tops, fretboards, necks and bodies - stored on some shelf. It has happened that when you finally want to build something out of them especially the thin ones may have warped, potentially beyond being usable. Here's a simple solution. A bunch of slats and some masking tape will keep air flowing around the pieces. If needed, a level board with some weight on it will further ensure the stability.

[ADFinlayson]

pretty much how I do it! I got a couple of curly maple boards the other week and stacked them in the same way once once they were resawn. I do think it's quite important to have the sticks all at the same dimensions too for even weight distribution. This lot currently has a heavy tool box stuck on top of it. 

[Bizman62]

Adding to my original post, take a look at the ends of the sticks: The masking tape and the uppermost sticks are for keeping the boards from warping. Zip ties or rope would work as well.

@ADFinlayson, according to what I've read you're right about the sticks. At least they have to be of same thickness within a layer. And they have to be vertically aligned. Small variations in width don't matter that much as long as the vertical centerlines match.

In your stack I'd put yet another pair of sticks and a piece of plywood or other cheap board on top to spread the weight of the toolbox evenly to the uppermost boards and also allow free airflow on the top layer. A plastic box may trap moisture underneath and cause cupping.

[ADFinlayson]

7 hours ago, Bizman62 said:

Adding to my original post, take a look at the ends of the sticks: The masking tape and the uppermost sticks are for keeping the boards from warping. Zip ties or rope would work as well.

@ADFinlayson, according to what I've read you're right about the sticks. At least they have to be of same thickness within a layer. And they have to be vertically aligned. Small variations in width don't matter that much as long as the vertical centerlines match.

In your stack I'd put yet another pair of sticks and a piece of plywood or other cheap board on top to spread the weight of the toolbox evenly to the uppermost boards and also allow free airflow on the top layer. A plastic box may trap moisture underneath and cause cupping.

The toolbox has feet.

I did also see somewhere that when you're drying wet wood, it often wants to split at the ends - which is why we paint/wax the ends, but apparently ( i don't know how much truth there is to this) that the splits only ever travel as far as the sticks, therefore it's wise to start the sticks as close to the ends as possible. My maple boards are around 10% so I'm not too concerned about splitting, but worth trying out with wetter wood.