Where do you guys get seasoned (kiln dried) riser blocks? It seems that all the suppliers I run into have green exotic wood coated completely in wax. I don't want to put these into a bow. I'm afraid they will check in the hot box when the epoxy is curing. The air in my northern MN shop is very dry in the winter and green wood checks almost overnight if exposed.
Chad
i've got mine through binghams and never had a trace of wax --maybe my choice of wood-i don't know
Bought a chunk of Cocbolo from Fedora's Trad Supply store. Did not notice that one end was not seal in wax and after about two weeks it started to check very heavily. Sealed it now and it has stopped. Hope it is ready for use in a bow by June?
The wax does not necessarily mean the wood is green. Wood dries radially different than it does length wise. The wax keeps the ends from drying out faster and causing checks so that the wood will dry radially. The wax is put on as soon as possible to help control the drying rate from the end and to prevent checking.
If you have a moisture meter or access to one you can use this to determine. All the good kiln dried exotics I have ever seen come treated on the ends. That isn't saying that it isn't green but if they are exotics, considering the distance they have to come, most of them are aged a bit. The wax is just good practice.
I just picked up a paduak block at Woodcraft and it appears kiln dried and sealed on the ends just like the block of cocobolo I got from Jay at fedoras....
My Bocote from Woodcraft checked once I trimmed it to length I thought about pushing some smoothon into the cracks and applying a little side pressure with clamps.
I was told buy an employee at Rockler that the turing sticks they had are sealed completely in wax to keep them from checking when they are shipped all around the country. Said they are "dry" and shouldn't be a problem. I guess the only way to know is to scrape all that wax off and check with a moisture meter (if I had one).
try cookwoods.com they sell musical instrument woods and should be no issues with their's if they are intended for delicate instruments. They have thick wood. also try paxton lumber in KC missouri. you will find it in google or yahoo search engines. FYI hope this helps you. David S.