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I recently purchased a kiln-dried curly maple billet (4" x 4" x 32") at a local hardwood dealer in my area. I figure I'll get a couple of necks and some head plates out of it eventually.

1. So the how long should I store it in my work room at 45% RH before I take a bandsaw to it?
2. Do I need to sticker it with the few tops, and back and side sets I have, or can I just leave it laying around?
3. Does the type of wood make a difference in any of the above? (They carry curly cherry, walnut, and mahogany in addition to the maple.)

With a piece that size you don't need to sticker it but you could if you want. You can just lean it against a wall so air can reach all 4 sides.

What's been the average humidity where it's been stored at the dealer's? The bigger the difference between your shop
and the hardwood place, the longer you'll need to let it acclimate.

But I'd suggest cutting it to rough size right away keeping in mind it may move a bit.

I'd guess the average at the shop to be around 50%, but I don't really know that. The owner has been in the hardwood business for 50 years or so, and knows his stuff, so he's probably not going to allow huge swings of RH. I plan to go by again this weekend, and I'll ask him what he has in so far as humidity control. With any luck he'll have some walnut and cherry billets - he only had maple last time.

If it is truly kiln dried and hasn't been stored in a wet place, you can cut into it any time. Making it smaller will help it acclimate quicker. Just be sure to leave it over size enough so you can flatten it back out if it moves. That's good practice anyway as it will probably have some case hardening and may bow as it comes off the saw.

Once cut to rough neck size, a few weeks should be plenty if you have good air movement all around and it wasn't soaking to begin with.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

What Kent wrote. I like to keep my neck blanks for a while, a few months maybe, then cut them into oversize blanks, leave them for a few months, maybe a year or so, and use them. If one twists, I true the top again, and leave it alone for a while. And so on. The longer, the better IMHO.

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Laurent Brondel
West Paris, Maine - USA
http://www.laurentbrondel.com/

I like to store my billets a minimum of 5 years , so that the blanks are bone dry. Even then, after glue up etc etc , one needs to flatten the fingerboard . Especially here in the midewest KC area where humidity fluctuates so much on a daily/ seasonal basis. I like to store my boards on a rack. Pictures of fleta/s workshop in spain show partialy completed neck blanks tied with string dangling to air dry in the shop until they are ready to be used . See what works for you. Make sure to check your RH on the neck blank when you use it . It can swell up with humidity if you leave it lying around in your shop ??

Lots of good advice. You can also track progress by weighing it periodically.

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Dave
Milton, ON

IF I have the room I sticker boards like that but otherwise it's fine to just stack them some where. Generally I have at least a three month rule. Three months in the shop ought to be ok. Having said that, I have materials that I use that are years old. So only in a pinch do I use fresh stuff. You'll be fine don't worry about it.

A couple of things it might help to understand.

About drying, there are two types of water in wood that behave differently, bound water and free water. Bound water is chemically bound to compounds in the wood and free water is water vapor that moves in and out of the cells and is responsible for seasonal movement. "Drying" is the act of removing the bound water. This can be done quickly by kiln drying or slowly by air drying. Once done, it's done. From there, the idea is to get the wood to EMC (equilibrium moisture content) in your shop. EMC is the point where the free water has fully adjusted to the RH. At 45% RH and 70F, that's about 8%. Over time, it will not get drier than that unless you raise the temp or lower the RH. This happens fairly quickly (days or weeks, maybe months as opposed to years, depending on thickness and some other factors).

There is a difference between drying and aging (or seasoning). Drying is getting rid of the bound water (and for our purposes, allowing the wood to reach EMC in our environment). Seasoning is letting the wood age and undergo some chemical changes. Although it is reported that wood may become less susceptible to seasonal movement after seasoning, it is stable to work with after drying.

Hope this helps.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

A big chuck of wood, like a neck blank doesn't exchange moisture quickly like thin pieces (tops, backs, sides). A moisture meter works great on thick stuff like neck blanks. If the moisture content is ~8% I'd use it. I do like to do the rough band sawing, and let them sit a while though.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
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