Soundboard Clamping for Downbearing

[Ron Nossaman]

>".....and placing new crowned ones, drying the board and the ribs 
>carefully to a MC as low as possible and then gluing and clamping them 
>together."
>
>Drying the board as much as possible will permanently damage the wood. It 
>is not difficult to dry the board WAY BEYOND that desired. Most soundboard 
>designs call for a EMC of 4.5% to 6% for rib glue-up. I think the 
>compression crowned boards will tend to the lower end of that range and 
>the rib crowned boards will tend to the upper range.
>
>Terry Farrell

Terry,
Yes, he shouldn't need to dry the panel below 4.5% (if that), but I wonder 
about the permanent damage from over drying. What's your source on that? 
I've heard this before, but haven't found any verifiable source to 
substantiate it.

Ron N