--- Richard Brekne <ricb at pianostemmer.no> wrote: > Really the wrong question Thumpy... or rather not a > complete enough > one. Lots happens to wood as it gets older. It > gets stiffer > perpendicular to the grain .............and its compression > strength is lessened. O.K. That's the one I'm not "sold" on. Why would stiffer wood have less resistance to compression ? > So is its ability to react to humidity as newer wood > does... in a sense > it becomes less reactive to taking on and giving off > humidity. Great ! "stays in tune better" will be a big "markering point" for me !!!! He ( Del ) mentioned that doing so ( using old panels ) was amoung > other things not such a > bad idea with regard to depleting stocks of good > soundboard wood. Yes. A lot of great big trees have been cut down, just so "Mrs. Biffenwhistle" can play "chopsticks" twice a year !!! Cheers, Thump > > Cheers > RicB > > > > O.K. Here's the part I'm not convinced of : > ( From an old post of Del's, I believe, that Ric > kindly resurrected. ) > > > Across-grain, though, we have a problem. > There > > has been a lot fiber > > compression due to compression set and > the old > > wood is now much > > weaker across-grain than it was when it > started > > out. > > Has this been proven ? From what I've > observed > ( ever tried to drive a nail into an old board > ? ) > and Dale's comments about sparks at the sawmill, > when > cutting old boards, old wood GAINS some > strength. > So why would it be weaker ??? Indeed: If wood is > compressed, it's also more dense, and denser > ( usually ) means stronger. Yes, I understand > some > fibers may be crushed, but wouldn't that be > offset > ( somewhat, or entirely ) by the rigidity wood > gains > with age ??? ( Again, by oxidation of the resins > within the cells: which eventually turns to > amber, > which is classified as a "mineral" and > "gemstone". ) > > > > It is also > > considerably less resilient so we can't > just dry > > it out and > > compression-crown the whole thing all > over > > again. > > > This I understand, 100%. If you tried to CC old > wood, > it'd probably crack, pronto ! > > Thump > > ____________________________________________________________________________________ Never miss a thing. Make Yahoo your home page. http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs
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