New Wood Storage: Wax or no Wax?

[funkymonk#9]

Hello forumistas, I have a quick question regarding new wood storage.

Picked up a bunch of back and sides, tops and neck billets.

Wondering how far i should go in keeping movement to a minimum.

It will be in a temperature controlled storage but not humidity controlled.
Moved from Kansas to Georgia.

Main curiosity, should i wax all the ends or just sticker on shelf.

Thank you in advance for any tips.

[kjaffrey]

Waxing is usually done on wood that is still in the process of losing its original moisture, think of a tree just cut down and the lumber it produces that has not yet been air dried. Once the lumber has been air or kiln dried much of the excessive water loss through the end grain has been taken care of so the wax is no longer really needed. So if you bought recently felled wood paint it up, but if you bought from an established vendor I would say sticker it and let it be. If you're not sure I would sticker it and put it someplace cool until it settles in a little since indoor heated air can be pretty dry this time of year.

[John Arnold]

I have found waxing the end grain to be unnecessary once the wood is air dried below 12% MC. In fact, wax can be problematic in the summer heat in the southeast US. It can melt, causing it to wick into the wood deeper than I want. Wax also can be a problem when planing on a portable planer with rubber feed rollers. Once the wax gets on the rollers, it can stop the wood from feeding through the planer. I have found that the only way to resolve the problem is to stop and clean the rollers with acetone or lacquer thinner.
In the winter, I suggest that you don't control the temperature unless you are also able to control the humidity. You will get more fluctuations in relative humidity if you heat the air and don't humidify.
OTOH, wide swings in temperature and humidity can be beneficial by making the wood more stable.
If your goal is to minimize or slow down changes in moisture, it is better to stack the wood together, rather than on sticks. I wrap it up in stretch wrap. Never, ever use any kind of tape on the wood. The glue degrades over time, and very often will permanently discolor the wood.

[dekutree64]

I prefer shellac over wax, because of the melting/wicking risk John mentioned.

When woods are stacked directly on top of eachother without endgrain sealer, then when the humidity drops, moisture is sucked out of the endgrain much faster than anywhere else, so just that end of the board shrinks, and can cause a crack to start.

Ideally, you should seal all the endgrain, and stack them with stickers. That way they can move with the humidity over the years, which may increase stability, and the rate of moisture change will be pretty much equal all over the piece rather than happening faster at the ends.

In the real world, most woods can just be stacked directly on top of eachother with exposed endgrain and nothing bad happens. Especially softwoods. I've never had any cracks in my stack of spruce, cedar and redwood.

Brazilian rosewood will almost definitely crack if you stack it without stickers or endgrain sealer. Other rosewoods are less crack prone, but still should have the endgrain sealed. Also ebonies, ziricote, wenge, and other brittle woods.

[John Arnold]

Brazilian rosewood will almost definitely crack if you stack it without stickers or endgrain sealer.

That has not happened to my Brazilian RW. Before the CITES ban, I was buying green BR boards and drying them. Once air dried, I experienced no further end checking....regardless of how the boards were stacked. Some of the boards have been in my possession for over 30 years. In my experience, most of the cracking occurred while the wood was still in log form.

In the real world, most woods can just be stacked directly on top of eachother with exposed endgrain and nothing bad happens. Especially softwoods. I've never had any cracks in my stack of spruce, cedar and redwood.

I have cut and seasoned over 9,000 red spruce guitar tops, and at any thickness below 1", I never experienced any end checking (or cracking of any kind).