Using Weight for Drying

[mmattockx]

I have a serviceberry branch that I am waiting on drying before I attempt to turn it into a bow. I have never seasoned wood before for anything beyond firewood so this is all new.

On May 25 it weighed 1540g and on June 5 it weighed 1494g. I assume I wait until the weight has been stable for at least a few checks before considering it done.

1) How often should I be weighing it?
2) How long after the weight stops changing do people wait to start cutting into the stave?
3) How much weight variation should I expect due to RH changes? The piece is sitting in my unheated wood shop so it sees most of whatever the outside RH fluctuations are. The last several weeks have been pretty wet, but that will typically end by July and it will be dry the rest of summer.


Thanks,
Mark

[willie]

Are you going to do any reduction before you monitor the drying? some reduction to near thickness helps. If it were to be a bendy handle, an even thickness through out works ok.
No old pickups around, that get the morning sun, to keep it in for a while?

I know, I didn't answer a single question you asked.

[mmattockx]

Are you going to do any reduction before you monitor the drying? some reduction to near thickness helps. If it were to be a bendy handle, an even thickness through out works ok.

I don't quite know what I want to do with it yet in terms of width and thickness. Once I figure a direction I can rough it out that way. I think it is too short for anything but a bendy handle.

No old pickups around, that get the morning sun, to keep it in for a while?

Unfortunately not. I could put it out in the sun and the breeze every time I have the woodshop open, though.

I know, I didn't answer a single question you asked.

No you didn't...


Mark

[wizardgoat]

I usually don’t even start weighing blanks until the staves have been seasoning for a year or 2 depending on species. When they are roughed our I’ll weigh them and bring them inside.
I’ll check the weight every 1-3 weeks and maybe daily when it seems like it’s good to go.
If the stave is really truly dry, you shouldn’t see much variation in moisture content by weight, maybe a gram or 2

[DC]

I usually don’t even start weighing blanks until the staves have been seasoning for a year or 2 depending on species. When they are roughed our I’ll weigh them and bring them inside.
I’ll check the weight every 1-3 weeks and maybe daily when it seems like it’s good to go.
If the stave is really truly dry, you shouldn’t see much variation in moisture content by weight, maybe a gram or 2

Pretty much what I do except I start weighing them right away just because it's satisfying watching the weight drop rapidly for the first few weeks. I like to get the initial weight recorded on the stave. Other than that, same as Goat.

[mmattockx]

If the stave is really truly dry, you shouldn’t see much variation in moisture content by weight, maybe a gram or 2

Great, that is good to know.

I like to get the initial weight recorded on the stave.

That is a good idea, I will put that on today when I get out to the shop.


Mark

[DC]

In the long run it's basically "leave it in a dry spot for at least a year". I think everything else is just dealing with human impatience I know it is in my case.

[scp]

I just love working with unseasoned wood. All I have to do is to remember not to bend it at all. It is kind of fun to imagine how the stave or "floor tillered" bow would bend when it is seasoned properly without ever bending it. The good question would be how do we "floor tiller" a bow without ever bending it. It helps to have made several same style bows with similar wood. I guess I am mainly doing the bow blank making exercise. Now I even heat treat the belly before I start weighing the bows. Have fun learning to be patient.