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 Post subject: Humidity and Thickness
PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 12:08 pm 
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Cocobolo
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First name: herry
Last Name: trismono
City: malang
State: east java
Zip/Postal Code: 65142
Country: Indonesia
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Hai.. may I know How thick the wood for: top, sides and back for accoustic guitar
and how much humidity, so that the wood ready to build. thank's
herry tze. [uncle]


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PostPosted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 1:19 pm 
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it depends on the type of guitar you are building, but tops vary from 2 mm to 3.5 mm generally, and backs and sides fall in the 1.8 mm to 3 mm range depending on what you are building. Those are big generalizations, though, and you should consult a plan which will give you thicknesses that are commensurate with the instrument you are making.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 5:02 am 
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First name: herry
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Thank's Waddy, I interest to build Traditional Classical like Torres Plan 1864...
maybe you know that... thank's


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:08 am 
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I don't know them off the top of my head, but I'm sure the thicknesses are published somewhere. Probably in Romanillos' book on Torres, or in one of the plans available in various places. Torres, generally worked his tops pretty thin. 2 - 2,.5 mm for the main part of the top, but worked down to 1.5 - 1.8, depending on the wood, in the perimeter of the lower bout. His guitar, generally, fell in the smaller classical category, size wise, and it made it easier to go that thin, and have the guitar survive. Generally his backs and sides fell in the 2 mm range +/-. Probably - on the sides, and + on the back.

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PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 2:16 pm 
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Humidity in Indonesia is probably pretty high all the time, right? You generally want to build in a middle range for the area the instrument will live, so humidity control will require as little effort as possible. The "standard" level is about 40-45% RH. That way it's around the middle of all possible ranges to live in, but on the low side since low humidity tends to do more damage than high.

If it's a guitar for yourself and you have no plans of moving to a different climate, you might as well build it around the middle range for your area so you don't have to worry about it.


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PostPosted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 3:10 pm 
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Herry,

Your wood should be adapted to the conditions in which you will be building and the conditions in which the instrument will have to live. That means there is no absolute answer. However, for example, in the United States a moisture content of 5%-8% is typical for the wood.

Properly seasoned wood will not change in moisture content, after it has adapted to your conditions, regardless of what the conditions are (and unless the conditions change). So, once your wood has settled down, has stopped losing water weight, it is ok to use. Many builders seem to prefer wood that is much older than the time it takes to come to equilibrium with respect to water loss.

So, find out what moisture content is typical for seasoned wood for your conditions (properly air or kiln dried wood) - optimum being halfway between the extreme values that the wood is expected to reach during your local fluctuations.

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PostPosted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:46 am 
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First name: herry
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Thank's for all your attentions.
Waddy, DennisK, SteveCartright,

Humidity in Indonesia average is 30-60%RH, in my city Malang, East Java is mountainous
(+-450m - 800m above sea level) and humidity range 40% - 50%RH. air temperature range 20-26 Celcius degre. and Indonesia has just 2 season (summer and rainy season) and now very heavy rain in all around Malang....
Thank's I receive so many lessons that I need....
herry tze, matur nuwun (javanese) terima kasih (indonesian)


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