Ordering wood sets

Are the wood sets from the main sellers ready to use or do you recommend letting them cure a bit ?

vanflynn said:

Are the wood sets from the main sellers ready to use or do you recommend letting them cure a bit ?

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If its bought as instrument wood it'll be pretty dry. It has to be in order to be cut so thin. But ask your supplier what the moisture content is. Ideally it should be between six and eight percent when you build with it. Even so you should let the wood acclimatize to your building environment for a while until its happy and at rest.

Moore Bettah Ukuleles said:

If its bought as instrument wood it'll be pretty dry. It has to be in order to be cut so thin. But ask your supplier what the moisture content is. Ideally it should be between six and eight percent when you build with it. Even so you should let the wood acclimatize to your building environment for a while until its happy and at rest.

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What Chuck said.

While in theory it should be ready. In my experience it can be all over the place with some suppliers. One fella is fantastic, the other doesn't really have a clue. So for me and most of the pros that I know, we will put wood aside for quite some time to settle, acclimate and do any more drying that might be required. I'll rarely touch a set before it's been on my shelves for 1 year. But without a doubt some of the wood could be used within a week or two of receiving it.

I'm in the position of having more wood in stock that I could build with in my life time, so there's no rush in most cases.

As a rule of thumb, I like to keep any wood known to be dry in the actual workshop for at least 6 weeks before I brace it. Even if the wood is at 8% and considered dry, if my workshop is at 6% and I brace the wood before it has made the 2% shift results may not be quite what was hoped for. Not saying my shop wood IS 6%, but it might be. I keep it about 38% RH at 72 degrees f.