what's the most stable wood you've worked with?

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jonnyfontaine

New User
Jonny
i'm looking for a medium hard wood, but most importantly it has to be as dimensionally stable as possible, and for this discussion Genuine Mahogany doesn't count. Like on like 8-9 occasions this wood Narra is incredibly stable but everyonce in a while you'll get a board with tension all over it and it just moves no matter what. Oh and very importantly, all these species have to be dry enough to reach equilibrium with the relative humidity of your shop. I've worked with dozens of exotics, but i'd like to hear from people that use woods that I don't use often... domestic, exotic, doesn't matter just that they are of medium density say a specific gravity of 46.-.60, for example maple is way over in the .70s and Genuine Mahogany is around .59, Walnut .64., Cherry .58. So i'm looking to see what species you guys have think are really stable. Thanks so much, Jonny
 

ehpoole

Administrator
Ethan
Stability is predominantly a matter of how the wood has been cut (e.g. quartersawn versus plain/flatsawn). Tension, or reaction wood, can happen with any species as such is a product of either the conditions the tree was subject to in life (such as on a hill or mountainside, exposed to high winds, growth constrained in one direction by another tree, etc.) or can be created by faulty kiln drying (case hardening).

Wood is the product of a living plant and all wood is subject to movement when exposed to changes in humidity, though some cuts, such as plain/flatsawn, greatly exaggerate the movement by constraining movement in some dimensions while forcing movement in another, leading to cupping in accordance with grain and ring orientation. Woods with a very high resin content will tend to move more slowly in reaction to changes in humidity, but they still move and will continue to move until equilibrium is achieved with their ambient environment. When looking for woods that minimize humidity induced moisture dimensional changes, look for woods with a low shrinkage rate (typically under about 3%) from green to oven-dry (such tables are available from the U.S. Forestry Products Laboratory, USFPL).

Some example woods with low shrinkage rates (2-3.4% radial) but by no means an exhaustive list:

(Common Name, Radial %, Tangential %)

Bigtooth Aspen, 3.3, 7.9
Butternut, 3.4, 6.4
American Chestnut, 3.4, 6.7
Horse Chestnut, 2.0, 3.0
Balsam Poplar Cottonwood, 3.0, 7.1
Silver Maple, 3.0, 7.2
Striped Maple, 3.2, 8.6
Black Willow, 3.3, 8.7
Cedars (most species below 4% radially), (2.2-4.6), (4.7-6.9)
Balsam Fir, 2.9, 6.9
Grand Fir, 3.4, 7.5
Subalpine Fir, 2.6, 7.4
White Fir, 3.3, 7.0
Balsa, 3.0, 7.6
Butternut, 2.4, 6.4
Eastern Hemlock, 3.0, 6.8
Eastern White Pine, 2.1, 6.1
Sugar Pine, 2.9, 5.6
Redwood (young/old growth), (2.2/2.6), (4.4/7.4)
Primavera, 3.1, 5.2
Afrormosia, 3.0, 6.4
Balsa, 3.0, 7.6
African Mahogony, 2.5, 4.5
Cocobolo, 3.0, 4.0
Honduran Mahogany, 3.0, 4.1
Purpleheart, 3.2, 6.1
Brazilian Rosewood, 2.9, 4.6
Indian Rosewood, 2.7, 5.8
Iroko, 2.8, 3.8
Jelutong, 2.0, 4.0
Teak, 2.5, 5.8​

Complicating choices a bit is that while there is a correlation between radial and tangential shrinkage rates the correlation is not perfect and so some woods will shrink/expand considerably more on one axis versus another, which may influence one's choice depending upon how the wood will be used in its final application. In some applications you may wish to go with the lowest tangential shrinkage rate instead. There are a relative few woods with unusually low combined radial and shrinkage rates but they tend to be either exotic woods (such as Mahogany, Rosewood, Cocobolo, Iroko) or domestic woods less commonly used in fine woodworking (such as Cedar and Redwood).

But, hopefully, the above give you some ideas.
 

KenOfCary

Ken
Staff member
Corporate Member
You eliminated the one I would have mentioned already. The genuine Mahogany that I bought at Klingspor has been the easiest wood I've ever worked with. Worked well with both hand and power tools. Didn't splinter or warp - never had to even joint the flat sides. It was like butter to cut.

I've also used some Heart Redwood for stair railings that was very clear and easily worked. Nice straight-grained wood of pretty much any length you want.
 

JackLeg

New User
Reggie
Good, clear and straight grained cypress works very well for most of my projects. Yes, you will find an occasional board that shows signs of wind stress, but if you pick tight grained pieces you will see very little movement, IMHO. Good density also.

:notworthy:
 

danmart77

Dan
Corporate Member
Jonny
For me, wood movement is minimized by using quartersawn stock. Ethan's list is useful if you want to span the list of woods that ar low expansion woods but some are so soft you can dig your thumb nail in without any effort. Not sure they wood be useful in your work (assuming it is musical instrument focused)

I have cut a fair amount of wood on my bandsaw for guitar builders over the years and the quartered stock is just hard to beat for stability.

I start my preparation by selecting the wood at the log(sawyer's site). You pay more but some of the better sawyers with Woodmizers and other horizontal bandsaws can give you premium stock that you just can not find standing up on a wall in Gibsonville.

We have several sawyers on the forum who cut and stock some very high quality domestic wood. It comes down to how much time are you willing to put into finding, selecting and storing the best quality wood.

Good luck in your search
Dan
 

srhardwoods

New User
Chris
I'm not sure what the numbers for Quartersawn Sapele are, but I use it quite often, has always been very stable for me. It's almost as hard as Hard Maple but machines like poplar. I'm doing a set of cabinets right now, and i had all the rails and styles cut, sanded and I got pulled off that project for a couple weeks. Went to assemble and everything was still nice and flat.
IMG_1353.JPGIMG_1142.JPGIMG_1144.JPG
 

danmart77

Dan
Corporate Member
Chris that looks beautiful to me. I too use sapele instead of mahogany for some projects where I can substitute one for the other. The price is right that's for sure.

From the photos it looks like its quartered for the stiles and rails. Very nice.

Love the panel wood on the ends.

What is the trim bead wood. Its dark.

Very nice cabinet indeed.

Dan
 

danmart77

Dan
Corporate Member
Nice stuff Chris. Do you mill your lumber? I see you have a WM and quite a storage set up in your photos. Very impressive.

Dan
 

srhardwoods

New User
Chris
Thanks Dan, yes I mill most all of my lumber. Some doesn't make sense to though.

The bead is Wenge, I did a 1/4" radius with a 1/16" shoulder to offset it from the face frame, the bead stands proud 1/16" of the doors. The figured cherry I resawed and bookmatched for the panels. The counter top is going to be solid surface Copper color (Pollystone), thought it would be nice. These are for a series of cabinets in our showroom.....if I ever get them done
IMG_1337.JPG

The other cabinets are going to be a concrete countertop I need to start making the molds for
 

srhardwoods

New User
Chris
Johnny, love your guitars. I played many years ago, and have had the itch to get back into it. I am going to build a 59 les paul some day, and have a nice piece of quilted Quartersawn Sapele I want to use for it. I don't even remember how to play. I might need to opinions on the electronics when I get to that point
 

truckjohn

New User
John
Maybe it's me - but there seems to be several problems....
One is warping and twisting from bad wood selection, bad milling, and bad drying... And any wood seems susceptible to this.
The other is the natural movement of otherwise good wood.... Some of that can be minimized by wood cutting and selection. A lot of this is generally handled within furniture design.

For me - the last one has the largest impact. Not jointing flat sawn to quarter sawn wood. Not jointing woods with different reaction to humidity.... Don't glue flat sawn oak to quarter sawn mahogany...
 

CrealBilly

New User
Jeff
Wood is wood it's gonna do what wood does that's what makes it wood after all <--- wise words from FredP :). But If you don't want it to move make your guitar out of a man made material like plastic or ...

A truss rod helps "correct" wood movement somewhat in the neck and binding helps hide it's movement along the joists.

But for me the most stable wood I've worked with is eastern red cedar although very hard to find long wide clear pieces. The next most stable was quarter sawn box elder again hard to find clear long and wide pieces.
 
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