Official Luthiers Forum!

Hi Folks,

 

Just wanted
to show you what I have been up to this weekend: A proper shelf for my zoot.
This is basically a modded IKEA shelf.

The WAS
kicked in last summer. Since then Oncle Bob and others “seduced” me to buy some
wonderful zoot like HRW, Koa, Maylasian Ebony, Ziricote, Jacaranda, Black
Limba, Walnut, etc. 

Yes, I know
what you are thinking, and you are right: The remaining space in the shelf is
limited. I still don’t know why my wife insisted on this. 

My shop
will be build in springtime. Till then the shelf is sitting in my humidity
controlled office. What do you think? How do you store your zoot? Any pics for
the rest of us?

 

Friday I
also visited my friends at the customs and picked up my delayed xmas present.

A brand new
No. 5 with a high angle frog and a 60 ? R. I hope that my woodworking skills
will do justice to these mighty fine tools from LN.

Thanks for looking.

Chris

Beautiful.

The dust will fly soon, ay? Great feeling too.

Nice work.

_________________
http://www.dickeyguitars.com

Christof
Love that No.5!!! Good idea on the high angle option too...
I have the LN block rabbet, its awesome,, I use it more than any other plane I have so far - I have a No.7 22" LN jointer on route,,, that Im really looking forward to getting! I wanted to get the No8 but it was too much plane for me....
I was planning on only getting vintage planes, handmade, DIY cast, or LN, but Ive also comtemplated getting a Veritas low angle block as well because it has some really cool high front knob and handle attachments....
But the point is that these tools will make you a better woodworker, they just do work better, so it only stands to reason youll do better work :)
Plus youll have pride using them, and pay closer attention to your tool and work than you would if you bought a $35 hardware store special,,,
Not saying that some of the cheaper planes arent decent tools, but c'mon using a LN is practically a Holistic experience.. well it is for me anyhow,,,
Congrats on your shelf as well but as Chris said perhaps you can find a way to exert some weight upon these layers - I was thinking offhand mabye you could replace the wooden dowels with steel, which would support more weight without flex.... then you could lay some weight upon the rows to discourage distortion,,,
Cheers
Charlie

Very nice Chris and it's great to see you using a hygrometer too.  BTW I have 3 of the Caliber III's and they are great and all read with-in 1-2% percent of each other (and mine were calibrated too).

I agree with Chris V. that you want some weight on the wood but that would be easy to do now, just nix the round dowels and use something like 1/2 X 3/4" stickers between the sets.  I don't sticker the individual pieces of a set because I know that I bought dry wood and I rarely use anything very quickly.  Besides it you keep the two halves of a set up against each other long enough maybe they just might make you some matching head plates......

The planes are a dream and I have the 60.5 and love it.

Congrats!!!

Nice looking shelf set up Chris. 

Reading this post, and in particular Charlie's comments, made me pause for a moment and think about something that is probably very basic to the experienced members of the forum i.e. how to properly store your zoot?  Apart from temperature and humidity, what is the proper way to store tonewoods and why?  I haven't started a collection yet myself but I have seen numerous pics on the OLF with neat stacks of sides and backs and figure when the time comes for my own stash I'd rather not lose any of it because I stored it the wrong way.

I hope this doesn't constitute as a thread hi-jacking.  If it does ... oops and sorry!

Rick

Old timers in the sawmill business would sometimes store their lumber on end, leaning against  a rafter at about a 5 to 10 degree angle to dry. Surprisingly, these green boards would dry flat, without cupping or warpage. Although most modern sawyers use the stack and sticker method to dry their wood, some still dry it using this leaning method.

I have wondered how dried woods that have been prepared for guitar building would do if stored on end, with a slight lean also. I have cut several billets of mahogany that I am trying this on and will know more in a year or so if it works, or not.

My issues with stickering is that it seems that I always want the sets that are on the bottom of the stack and this disrupts the whole stack when I pull out the one on bottom. Chris's method certainly solves that issue.

_________________
Reguards,

Ken H

I store my sets stickered for 6 months to a year then they get stacked. I suppose I would leave them stickered, but I just don't have room. When I am ready to use a set I will pull them out and let them get used to the shop for a few days. Then I surface and join them. Sides I will get right to bending from flat stacks (if I ever was in that much of a rush, which is never the case).

TX for the comments Rich, Ken.

At the risk of sounding daft ... stickering?  Is this like cellaring wine, labelling each set with the date you stacked it etc.? 

Rick not a daft question at all my friend.  When I started I had the same question.

Stickering refers to stacking the wood with "stickers" or spacers in between the various pieces to encourage air flow.  Stickers can be many things so long as what ever you use does not stain the wood, is flat, and supports the weight of the stack - cheap helps too.  It's also using the wood to weight itself down when in a stack as pictured below.



I write the date and what ever it is on each set.  But...... a label that could be read from the side of the stack would be very welcome here....

Sweet

Stickering is not necessary after the wood is dried and stabilized to your shop conditions. Stacking on a flat surface will prevent or minimize warping.

Thanks a lot for all the helpful comments. As a newbie to storing tonewood, the experience and tips of others is crucial.

The one thing I want to avoid is to ruin precious wood by inadequate storage. If that means that I have to drop my shelf concept, that is what I will gladly do. Actually I was worried about distortion while planning the shelf, but a lack of assurance made me drop the thought.

Now I understand that you should sticker the wood (which my sets are not) with some kind of spacers or bars. Should I sticker the sides of the sets on one pile, and the back pieces of the sets on another pile? Propably.

I am pretty sure my lacking language ability is playing a trick on me, but what is the difference between "stickering" the wood and "stacking" the wood?

 

Regarding planes: I was thinking about getting a low angle block plane like the LN No. 102 or a Modelmakers block plane for carving braces etc. Is a flat or a convex sole the way to go?

Thanks for all you patience with a non native speaker. 

Chris

TX Chris for raising your post in the first place.  Just like you, I don't want to lose a single piece of that precious wood.

Hesh and Barry ... thanks so much for sharing your wisdom.  This forum is so awesome and I love reading the collective wisdom that is so openly shared!

Cheers

Rick

Personally Rick - I dont store my wood like Chris' setup - I store mine like Hesh in a stickered pile - I was just trying to help Chris come up with a solution for the flex and warpage that might inevitably be encountered in storing that way - I really think the best thing to do in the situation would be to remove the dowels altogether and sticker with 1/2" pieces of wood -
But steel rods substitued for the dowels with a piece of lumber on top of that and then stickering on top of that arrangement would be a suitable option if suspending them higher up to begin with is a consideration
(as in if you have a chewy dog or scratchy cat and youd like to keep the wood out of thier reach)
I wasnt initially suggesting the method I mentioned as in anyway ideal however...
Cheers
Charlie