Official Luthiers Forum!

Most of the wood vendors that I buy from in the States use a kiln prior to selling their goods. In my recent dealings with a few European "Tonewood" vendors that has not been the case. It seems that the Europeans prefer to mark the wood on the date it was cut and then just store it for a few years. What some would call "air dried" or "seasoned". I ordered such wood from some vendors in Europe recently. I've yet to receive it. Most of what I ordered was cut in 2002-2003. I do not own one of those moisture gadgets. I know the rule of thumb is 6% moisture is about as high as it should get. I plan on letting this Euro wood acclimate to my working environment for a month or so. Do you think it's dry enough?

Also, are there places that specialize in kiln drying? Is that frowned upon if the wood was already "air seasoned" for 5-6 years? What's the low down?
-John

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I have no personal experience kiln drying or researching kiln literature; however, I have read here and there that kiln drying with special techniques aimed at instrument wood is just fine. One potential problem is that it is easy to fail to do it correctly if you are not expert and attentive. After such failure, there is really no way for the luthier to determine if the wood was handled properly. For that matter, there is no way to tell if every supplier is accurate in its claims of air seasoned vs. kiln dried. Mass produced lumber is very likely not to be treated properly for luthiers, but I have read more than one article by expert luthiers in which they mention picking up fine cedar for tops in a regular lumber yard. I saw one world class luthier cutting top braces from cedar siding. One sponsor, Hibdon Hardwoods, has a web page explaining some of the care taken for kiln drying instrument wood.

6% is great for building,but how it got there is the most important element.The slower,the better.I have nothing against kiln drying if done properly, and then finished up by air drying.When wood is dried too fast,it can get internal fractures that can't always be seen on the outside,and can finish cracking down the road as the wood moves around from different environments it will encounter through it's lifetime.That is why i prefer air dried over kiln.I also believe slower air dried wood to have better tone as well because it is kinder to the fibers within the wood that transfer sound.When those fibers are dried too fast,they break up somewhat and don't transfer vibration or sound as well.Just my 2 cents on the subject.