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I haven't heard of anyone baking their top braces. I would think that would be a happy marriage. Anyone else doing this or thinking about it?

Terry, you are always thinking. Was that a revelation or something? Sounds like it. Cook some and send 'em to me. I'm hungry.

Just kidding, we'll leave eating wood to the dog that was bending binding yesterday....

All kidding aside, what you said makes sense.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

The reason for drying tops catastropically by baking is to stabilize them
against permanent shrinkage when the completed instrument is
subjected to high heat or low humidity. It DOES work, and that's why
Collings and Taylor, to name a couple of factories, do it. Baking reduces
the possibility of shrinkage cracks and permanently sunken tops.

Since wood shrinks across grain lines (width) it's a serious issue for guitar
tops which are very wide, thin and delicate. Braces are very narrow, and
because wood does not shrink lengthwise, there would be no point in
baking them to stabilize them against shrinkage. Even gross shrinkage of
the braces in width would have essentially no effect on the instrument.

Cheers,

Frank Ford
FRETS.COM
Gryphon Stringed Instruments[/
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Cheers,

Frank Ford

FRETS.COM
HomeShopTech
FRETS.NET

Can someone remind me of the general guidelines for baking the tops as far as time and temp? Thanks.
-j.

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“If God dwells inside us like some people say, I sure hope He likes enchiladas, because that's what He's getting”
-jack handy

J- I think most people bake @ near or just below 200 F for two hours. It is a good idea to have a baking sheet between the heat source and the wood to even out the heat each gets. Some people put weight on them and others don't, but I always do.

In terms of baking the braces, I understand that the risk of the braces shrinking and distorting the top are negligable but doesn't the heat also set the pitch? I have been baking my braces slighly oversize and get quite a bit of pitch on most faces coming to the surface and hardening. This seems like a good thing, but maybe it doesn't matter?

Burton

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Burton
http://www.legeytinstruments.com
Brookline, MA.

Hello All,

This "Baking Tops" idea sounds like a good one.

However, it has me wondering -

what happens to the top after (at least in my case) it is subjected back to the average humidity level (50%-70%) of my area? Unfortunately, I do not have a work shop with a controlled environment.

Robert

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Everything has beauty, But, not everyone see's it!

I knew what Frank said is true.

Burton brings out a good point though. I'm surprised anyone has actually done as Terry suggests.

Let me tell you about a trip into my attic recently. When I built this house, I ordered Douglas Fir from out west, due to the length required for my 12/12 pitch. It's been nearly twenty years now since I built this house.

Attics here get to 130 / 140 degrees F regularly. It just cooks the structure repeatedly. After checking what I wanted to see, I noticed granular substance on my hands and a gritty surface to all the Fir in the attic.

That gritty substance was rosin. Teeny tiny pores had released small crystalline bits of rosin or resin. As they cooled and hardened they also lost moisture. It reminded me of the feel of bow hair rosin from my cello playing days. Same stuff.

Now back to the subject at hand of cooking braces. Probably not for the reason of shrinkage, but more for the reason of aging the wood for sound transmission. That may be all the reason we need. I believe I'll try a round of adirondack surprise, just to see what happens. The wife leaves at seven, the house should be aired out by the time she gets home.

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http://www.dickeyguitars.com

As was pointed out in another post, preheat the oven first or you could scorch your wood.

Kirt

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Horton, MI

I've been baking my braces too, it just seemed logical if I was already cooking tops.

Greg

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Gwaltney Guitars