Official Luthiers Forum!

Hey fellas,
I'm a beginner builder and just started accumulating tone wood and tops.
Just unboxed five spruce tops from Alaska Specialty Woods (a sponsor) woop woop.
These are not billets, they are rough dimensioned sets.

Should I sticker these backs, sides and tops?
Do you sticker them in pairs or separate the set with stickers (one plate per layer)?
Is big box pine/ spruce strips acceptable for stickers?

As you guys know, this tone wood is a significant investment, and I didn't plan the storage very well.
I do monitor and control humidity in the shop but thinking they need to be stickered to prevent warpage.

Thanks in advance for your help.

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Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

I have always stickered mine ,for over 50 years.
wax or shellac the end grain if it has not been done already.
The air will flow around your tops and B & sides .
NEVER had a crack develop.

Mike
I have some old tops B &Side for sale if you still want some more.

Mike Good building !

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Mike Collins

Generally I am more concerned with stickering fresh cut back and side wood than I am with tops, but I never resaw my tops. Chances are the wood you got from ASW has already been stickered and wasn’t sold to you until it was dry. So while there’d be no harm in stickering it, it’s probably not strictly necessary.

I use spruce offcuts for sticks.

If you opened it, it's already too late If a set is going to cup from acclimation, it will happen in the first minute or two sitting on a flat surface after removing the plastic wrap. I just lean them up against a wall with both sides exposed to air for half an hour or so.

I sticker so air rotates around the wood -NOT just the end grain.
that air helps the wood to age .

Mike

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Mike Collins

Oh wow, I would need to triple my space if stickered. Something to think about I guess.




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I agree, no need to sticker a dry set in a controlled environment. I’d be unhappy to receive a supposedly dry, seasoned set of expensive tonewood that potato-chipped at 40% RH and would probably ask for a refund.

The wood being well-seasoned by the vendor is part of what makes up the high retail price of processed tonewood sets and if you’ve laid out several hundred to thousands of bucks on a small slice of endangered lemur habitat, it’s reasonable to expect it to have been carefully cut and dried already.

By the way, everything I’ve received from Alaska Specialty Wood has been nice and dry and flat even after travelling halfway across the planet and has stayed that way in my shop and I wouldn’t buy sitka from anyone else.


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I don't sticker dry wood either. I used too but found that I needed more room and stickering takes up space.

I stack back and side sets vertically like Brian does, tops are just in a horizontal stack only because I ran out of space. Nothing is stickered. Been doing it for 15+ years with no issues. My shop stays at 45-50% RH.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Another vote of confidence for ditching the stickers. Not something I do, either.


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I stickered my top wood for the first dozen years or so in a nonenvironmentally controlled attic . Hot in the summer and cold in the winter, humidity swings all over the place. The more wood moves initially, the less it will move eventually. Allowing the air to circulate around all sides seasons the wood more thoroughly. When I felt the wood was well seasoned I removed the stickers, skip planed the tops, and stacked the sets ready for use.
I like to use old wood and will "scrounge" old boards for brace stock rather than buy billets or new dimensional lumber if I can avoid it.

Since "a picture is worth a thousand words", here is what I do.

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Obviously, every stick takes up valuable space. My sticks are 3/16" thick/high by 3/8" wide/flat. They were cut from a brown fiber board sheet which was inexpensive. I made them all the same length so that they work for backs and sides. Since most tops that I buy are dry, I don't sticker them, but I may put some weight on top of a stack of them. When I resaw wood I I always sticker the backs and sides with the sides on the bottom and the backs on top, all in the same bundle.


I have some configurable storage bins on a 20" deep shelf at about 90" off the floor so that I'm using my air space effectively. I have a step stool to load or unload them. Note the stickered wood with 1/4" all-thread used to tighten the stack down to keep the wood flat and allow easy movement of the stack from one location to another. There are wing nuts at the top and double tightened nuts on the bottom of the all-thread. Sides get tightened in 4 spots - each end and at thirds. Backs get 3 spots - each end and the middle. You can't see all this in the picture since 20" of length is hidden inside the storage bin.


Here's a close up of the end and side of one unit.

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Here's the end of the unit.

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I store the sticks and tighteners in one area of a storage bin. It's all fairly compact. The lumber sticking out beside it is about 36 inches long overall for bindings or sides, so it sticks out about 12" from my bin. With everything up high it is not a head knocker, but is very convenient.

After a 2 or 3 years I un-sticker my resawn wood and keep the sides and backs together stacked on top of one another, marked and dated.

There are many ways to do it, and this is just one way. I don't have room for big thick sticks and big weights to put on top, which is effective, as some people do.

Karl, I sent you a PM about the ukuleles.

When stickering wood keep the stickers over top of one another (to avoid warping the wood) and periodically move them (to avoid sticker stain)

Thanks for the schooling guys, much appreciated.
A bonus takeaway is different storage methods for tone woods!

_________________
Measure Twice,

Karl Borum

This is how wood was handled for musical instruments back in the day. That which warped or cracked was deemed to not be of a good enough quality to be musical instrument stock. The resulting instruments usually held up well even when not kept under "environmentally controlled" conditions. Today we baby the wood "from cradle to grave" and Have problems with the instruments if we don''t treat them with the same care. We likely use a lot of wood for instruments which should probably have been used for other purposes. Just my observation having worked with wood for over 65 years.