Official Luthiers Forum!

I'm just starting to stock up on some wood and have never stickered before. Can you give me some tips on how best to do it. I know temp & humidity are critical, but does it matter what type of wood I make the stickers out of. Should I weight the stack down with anything? And, if I do end up with some wood that deforms a little after stickering down the road, is there a way to get it to return to being flat?

Thanks for any suggestions.

johnj

If the wood is fully dried you don't need to sticker.

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Howard Klepper
http://www.klepperguitars.com

When all else fails, clean the shop.

If the wood isn't fully dried, or you don't know whether it is or isn't...
Stickers don't need to be thick, I use whatever scraps I have lying around & cut 'em about 3/16" thick & around 1/2" wide. Spruce 2 X 4 scraps are good because there is no colour or pitch to bleed into your precious tonewood.
For tops, I use 2 stickers near the ends, for sides, at least 4. You can weight them down if needed, or make the stickers long enough to wrap elastic bands around the ends.
If backs & sides are tending to warp or cup, I use more stickers & enough elastic bands / weights to hold them flat.
Here's a quick check to see if your wood needs to be stickered... Place a piece on a flat surface in a room where the relative humidity is between 40 & 50%. If it starts to cup after an hour or two, it's still damp & needs some drying time.

Even though Howard is correct -I sticker all tops- back & sides-
Because they DO continue to age and that helps with their weight
which is important !!
If not stickered the ends of the wood still loose some moisture while the rest looses very little.
Air flow around the wood is very important for the aging (drying) !

I've done this for over 30 years and have measured the weight of pieces and have seen a drop in weight(even though the wood was ("dry") till the wood stabilizes-then slowly looses weight for years !
I believe in stickering!
I buy cheap tops and cut them into 20mm wide strips for stickers !
Do not subject your woods to heat & low humidity -this can case harden them!!
Which will cause the outside of the piece to shrink from moisture lose
while the inside still retains a bit more moisture.
This will cause the wood to cup as soon as you thickness it!!!!!!

Just my 2 cents!!
Mike

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Mike Collins