Official Luthiers Forum!

How do you prefer to store your wood? Planks are nice to store out of the way, but you never really know what you have til you open it up.

When you find lumber, do you open it up into sets, or store it as a plank until needed?

I always cut into sets when I did it.
You never know what you have till you cut it up. Some boards won't even cut, cup badly, have voids, cracks, any number of different looks than you expected from looking at the board. Sets tell you immediately what you have, stickered and stored will acclimate better in the shop.

I always cut them into sets, assuming the longer it has to stabilize at its final thickness the better.

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I'm not a luthier.
I'm just a guy who builds guitars in his basement.
It's better than playing golf.

We store boards and sets, depends on what going to be needed.

A little trick we use to aid in re-sawing. We have stable blocks of MDF 6" thick, about 6" and 10" tall, the material to be process is glued to those before sawing. This procedure prevents cupping and of course the sacrificial blocks can be used over and over. BTW we always take off slices on the outside of the blade, not pinched against the fence.

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

That MDF thing sounds like a great idea. Why do you cut off the outside?

Likely something I picked up from "Fine Woodworking Magazine" years ago -- works great the guiding edge is always perfect, no binding less friction. Here's how we re-worked a Grizzly 14" so we could do a little re-sawing on it.

http://acousticguitarconstructionforum. ... f=7&t=1819

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Ken Cierp

http://www.kennethmichaelguitars.com/

I think leaving some wood as billets will invite it to crack, even though the wood would have been perfectly fine had it been resawn right away and stickered. Also, even with weights, thick boards can warp badly. I had a 2-1/2 inch thick billet of curly redwood that I stored for 10 years. Deep shrinkage cracks formed perpendicular to the grain, at least on one side. I am sure that if this had been resawn 10 years ago, everything would have been fine. The board is in my current thread on redwood finish, but you cannot see the defects in the small photo.

In general, that is only a concern if the wood is green. In that case, cutting boards that are less than about 1 1/4" thick will eliminate that issue.
In processing green hardwood, I have found that it is best to cut boards that are no thicker than 1 1/2", then air dry the wood for at least a year before resawing. Otherwise resawing green hardwood into thin sets can result in potato-chipping (cupping and bowing).
Quartersawn softwoods are different. They can be resawn to top thickness (~ 3/16") in a green state, and will not warp. Although cracking can be an issue if softwoods are left in thick billets, the main problem is staining from mold. Blue stain can discolor the sapwood unless the wood is dried right away. That is best accomplished by sawing the wood into boards or top sets and stickering it with a fan on it to speed up drying.

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John