Storing Tonewoods

[Vee_Voe]

Im fairly new to guitar build and have a few sets of spruce and hardwoods coming next week (acoustic guitar sets). I wont be using them immediately so I’m curious of the proper way to store them to prevent checking/cracking, and warping. The wood has been dried so no green wood. My plan is to seal the end grain then sticker them and a weight on top, is this a good plan to follow and am I missing anything you may recommend? Thank you in advance for your time and help!

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by Vee_Voe

My plan is to seal the end grain then sticker them and a weight on top...

That's exactly how to store them.

[redir]

It's a good plan but I store mine stacked with no stickers becasue it gives me more space. They are stored in a climate controlled shop though. Once dried I don't think stikering is necessary but I definitely stack and sticker fresh cut wood.

[John Arnold]

There is no reason to seal the end grain of dried wood. In fact, it will inhibit the equalization of the moisture content of the wood with the environment. Stickering the wood will speed up the equalization, but it also is not necessary if the wood is stored for a long period.
Warping of thin dried wood is usually the result of exposing one side to changing humidity. If the exposed side becomes convex, it is absorbing moisture from the air. If it goes concave, it is losing moisture to the air.

[Bill Kraus]

I store my dried woods stacked with a bit of weight on top of the stack. I live in the northeast, and I get quite a variation of humidity throughout the year. My shop is humidity controlled. My wood storage is humidity controlled to a wider parameter. I will let my wood storage area go dryer than my shop in the winter, and slightly more humid in the summer. I will not let the humidity get too high for fear of mold or mildew. My wood storage area humidity varies pretty slowly, so I do not worry about the temperature/humidity going somewhat lower at certain times of the year, I believe it may be good for the wood in the long run. Wood that is going to be used on an upcoming project is moved into my shop humidity and stickered for a couple months or so before being used. Wet wood is also stickered for quite a while before being moved to a un-stickered stack.