Mahelcaya Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 I have bought some walnut and mohogany lumber for body blanks, hade it planned to thickness. I got some maple for laminated neck blanks. All this wood, that was ment to be super dryed out (that is what they alway tell me at the lumber store ! ), after 3 weeks it has been laying on my livingroom table ( i put little wood tripes inbetween every piece of wood, to let the air circulate on all the surface ) , with a lot of dissapointment I noticed that the lumber and the maple warped a little! In my house I have 22 ° C and 30 / 40 % humidity....the ood at the lumber store is outdoor with baut 5 ° C averagely and variable humidity. I cut out the mohogany bass body blank 2 weeks ago ( I have planned it and glued the blanks a month and a half ago) last nignt i noticed that laying flat on the table, the body is forming a slight C shape ! What is the best thing to do? Keep it in the house 2 weeks and then plannet flat again? Will it continue to warp? Is there anyway I can buy lumber and avoid it to warp or crack, most important, is to know when is the right moment to start working on the wood you buy, to be shure it will not warp once the guitar is set and finished......... I think it's very frustraiting to buy good wood , start working on it, and after a wile se it moving ! Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 sounds like you have some green wood. No clue on what to do. Typically figure 1 year for every inch thick to dry it. I know...not what you wanted to hear. Hopefully someone around here has a clue what to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeB Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 or as i think - the wood was dryier than your house if it was super dried, then it is acclimitising to the more humidity and taking in moisture, causing it to warp and disform. im not too sure of how to treat this, id say let it acclimitise for a while (not sure how long) and after it has stopped warping or deforming plane it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Wood warps on me all the time. It's not abnormal. Wood is a living, growing life form, even after it's been cut. It doesn't have to be green or wet to warp, it can be completely dry for years and warp/cup a little. MAJOR warping is a different story, but it is pretty normal for dried wood to move a little bit. I don't have much of an answer except to say that it's just the nature of the beast you're dealing with, and if you're building guitars out of wood, you learn to become familiar with it's habits and 'roll with it'. You're dissapointment with it cupping like it did made me laugh a little (in a good natured way)...it made me think of this analogy: 'Y'know, I married a Mail-Order Bride last week and now she wants me to clean up the damned garage!' :D She may be yours, but she's still a woman...dig? So I understand your dissapointment, but you just learn to deal with it if you want to work with wood, cuz it's gonna move a little. Whenever I make heavily chambered guitars, I have to glue the front and back on pretty close to the same time, cuz if I just glue the back or front on and wait 2-3 days to do the other side, it will have cupped on me, sometimes up to 1/4". I just learn from the experience and 'roll with it'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex Luthier Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 When you get new wood you should let it climatize for at least a week, You should sticker it on a flat surface, with weight on it to keep it flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahelcaya Posted March 13, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 Thanks for help guys. I was getting scared cause the mohogany body thats moving is for my bass, so no problem, but I have even 2 blanks of nice expensive walnut for a customer (maybe friend sounds better, since no profit work) and I need to glue it in 2 weeks when I get back from US (my bro is getting married ). I am just a bit paranoid that the guitar body I'll make for him, may warp once the guitar is fully finished in his hands, and he will be like : HEY MAN what's this! Anyway Since most of the wood is in the houze from 3 weeks, and will all stay in the same place for almost a month, I'll see what happens when I get back to Italy, and probably just plane it straight again. Good tip Lex, I'll try clamping them to straigt surfaces Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curtis P Posted March 13, 2004 Report Share Posted March 13, 2004 what my dad did was when he had some green wood when he used to do some carving and whitiling, and actually just burning wood, he used to stick it under the wood stove for a day or 2 and it would dry right out might help some?? Curtis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahelcaya Posted March 14, 2004 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2004 I'll just leave it in the house for these 3 weeks I'll be gone....I covered the edges of all the blanks with paraffine to avoid cracking.........may be usefull knowing to somebody Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank falbo Posted March 14, 2004 Report Share Posted March 14, 2004 Also unless I missed something you said you cut tops or blanks, etc. after you bought it. Wood has tension in it that sometimes releases after cutting. In other words, you could have a totall dry, flat neck blank. Then if you rip it down the middle like G&L does to install your truss rod, a few days later the pieces won't line up anymore. Besides the sawblade thickness, that's why you don't see a perfect matchup of the grains in the G&L neck. Because they wait awhile, then re-plane it before they glue it back together. I've never seen a G&L neck with a twist, though. But every time you cut it something will happen. Every time the climate changes, too. I agree with working quickly once you've cut it, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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