More Ageing stuff

[Richard Brekne]

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List

Did a search on Tonewood the other day out of curiosity.
There has been a some amount  written lately about this and
similiar subjects, and came up with lots and lots of sites
all saying basically the same kinds of things about wood
aging. In fact the only place I have been able to find so
far that takes the tact that the concept of tonewood, and
wood ageing relative to music instruments is a bunch of
nonsense is.... here... on the PTG list... Course its a big
internett and perhaps I will find other such sentiments as I
keep poking around. Note that here again we have a reference
to this "resin" theory which some here have disputed.

Here is a quote from one spot.

     A major criterion of high quality tonewood is
     proper ageing. Wood in general is hygroscopic,
     which means it is able to absorb and evaporate
     water like a sponge. This is very conspicuous with
     recently cut-down wood. It easily loses a quarter
     of its weight during the first weeks of drying.
     Unfortunately, a quite unpleasant effect occurs:
     The wood shrinks whilst it drys down, and expands
     again when it becomes more humid. Even worse is
     the fact that this happens only transversal to the
     fibres. This is one of the reasons for those
     unpopular cracks in instruments tops and backs.
     Therefore, it is absolutely neccessary to pay
     great attention to atmospheric humidity during
     construction. Interestingly, humidity is only one
     aspect: After a longer period of ageing, the wood
     "calms" down i.e. it looses its tendency to warp.
     I guess everybody has at some time observed an
     industrially manufactured instrument, where the
     wood was dryed down quickly, and whose neck looks
     like a banana after a couple of months!
     Furthermore, there are a number of chemical
     processes taking place whilst the wood ages,
     which, e.g. oxidate the resins located in the
     wood´s structure.  So, finally we can state, that
     proper ageing of the wood is an indispensable
     factor for the building of  fine instruments.
     Depending on the kind of wood, the  ageing process
     should take from 5 to 8 years.

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway
mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no


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