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I've seen some postings which show that some of you sticker your back and side sets, even after they are dried, and stable. I've got about a dozen sets of tops and about the same amount of backs and sides that are all well dried and stable, currently simply stacked one on top of the other in my shop. They're flat, in a climate controlled environment.

I can understand stickering to remove moisture from sets that may not yet be stable. Do I need to sticker the stable (in some cases these sets are 30 years old) sets as well? Thanks.

You'll probably get various opinions on this question, but I don't think stickering is necessary after the wood is dry and stabilized to your local conditions.

Stickering is not just for drying.
It helps with the aging process also.
Take a top from the unstickered pile and weight it.
Sticker it all around then weigh it in a month or more especially if you live in a humid area.
The weight should drop.
Only by a bit with aged woods but it will keep shedding weight for awhile.
as the cells release moisture their cases harden.
this also makes the stiffer top.

mike

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Mike Collins