wood memory

[curlyoak]

When I slice open a board of fas kiln dried hardwood, likely it was milled 1 or 2 years ago. The board has memory and can revert back to memory when ripped. Grain tensions cause that too. 

I recently got lucky and found a stash of 200' of beautiful 1 inch cherry. Up to 16' and up to 17" wide. Hardly any sap with almost no defects. Far above fas for cherry. Also this wood was put into perfect storage in terms of flat and dry. The owner died and 25 years later I got it. No one knows how long the man had it in storage before he died.

So my question is can some of the memory from being a tree be lost and some or all of the memory becomes the experience of decades in storage? Logic makes me guess yes. But does anybody have knowledge on this? Thanks.

[Bmac]

This is an interesting question. I'm not sure if I know the answer, but I'll give you my thoughts. 

First, I believe kiln dried lumber has more tension that can be built up in the wood compared to air dried. But I don't think that tension dissipates with time. If the lumber is air dried you are less likely to have built up stresses, if it was kiln dried my guess would be that there could be some internal tension/stress still in the wood. All this is just my best guess.

[..Kev]

All wood moves.  Account for it as you build.

If you remove a bunch when milling, let it sit for a day or 2 before using it.  If you're only removing a little, try to do it just before using.

 

[curlyoak]

Kev, I am aware of wood movement. And I have experience in managing that. And I expect this batch of cherry to show good behavior regardless. But will it be enhanced?  My question is will decades of quality storage change the memory to the storage?

When I get a commission for a cherry project I will report my experiences. That could be next week or 3 years from now. I never buy wood in advance unless it is compelling. 

[Mark J]

It's an interesting question.  I don't know the answer, but I've been pondering.  

Certainly if you steam bend or soak wood you can change the memory.  But without that level of moisture and pressure I would be surprised to learn there is a change in memory.  At least not over usual periods of time.

Does an archery bow made from a single piece of wood loose power over long periods of time if kept under tension?  Actually come to think of it you are supposed to unstring the bow, but I don't know why.

[Ronn W]

One of my end tables remembers when it was a tree on a hilltop and it misses the view.