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<p>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.
<p>Here is a quote from one spot.
<blockquote>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.</blockquote>
--
<br>Richard Brekne
<br>RPT, N.P.T.F.
<br>Bergen, Norway
<br><A HREF="mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no">mailto:rbrekne@broadpark.no</A>
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