Is old wood really "weaker" ???

[Prof. Euphonious Thump]

--- Richard Brekne <ricb at pianostemmer.no> wrote:

> Really the wrong question Thumpy... or rather not a
> complete enough 
> one.  Lots happens to wood as it gets older.  It
> gets stiffer 
> perpendicular to the grain .............and its
compression
> strength is lessened. 

O.K. That's the one I'm not "sold" on. Why would
stiffer wood have less resistance to compression ?


> So is its ability to react to humidity as newer wood
> does... in a sense 
> it becomes less reactive to taking on and giving off
> humidity.

Great ! "stays in tune better" will be a big
"markering point" for me !!!! 

 He ( Del ) mentioned that doing so ( using old panels
) was amoung
> other things not such a 
> bad idea with regard to depleting stocks of good
> soundboard wood.

Yes. A lot of great big trees have been cut down, just
so "Mrs. Biffenwhistle"  can play "chopsticks" twice a
 year !!! 

Cheers,
     Thump


> 
> Cheers
> RicB
> 
> 
> 
>     O.K. Here's the part I'm not convinced of :
>     ( From an old post of Del's, I believe, that Ric
>     kindly resurrected. )
> 
>      >     Across-grain, though, we have a problem.
> There
>      > has been a lot fiber
>      >     compression due to compression set and
> the old
>      > wood is now much
>      >     weaker across-grain than it was when it
> started
>      > out.
> 
>        Has this been proven ? From what I've
> observed
>     ( ever tried to drive a  nail into an old board
> ? )
>     and Dale's comments about sparks at the sawmill,
> when
>     cutting old boards, old wood GAINS some
> strength.
>     So why would it be weaker ??? Indeed: If wood is
>     compressed, it's also more dense, and denser
>     ( usually ) means stronger. Yes, I understand
> some
>     fibers may be crushed, but wouldn't that be
> offset
>     ( somewhat, or entirely ) by the rigidity wood
> gains
>     with age ??? ( Again, by oxidation of the resins
>     within the cells: which eventually turns to
> amber,
>     which is classified as a  "mineral" and
> "gemstone". )
> 
> 
> 
>     It is also
>      >     considerably less resilient so we can't
> just dry
>      > it out and
>      >     compression-crown the whole thing all
> over
>      > again.
> 
> 
>     This I understand, 100%. If you tried to CC old
> wood,
>     it'd probably crack, pronto !
> 
>     Thump
> 
> 



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