Wood Problems

[Bayha]

Been searching around for quite a while now and can't find anything specific about it. One of my biggest issues I just can't seem to get around on my first build is the wood moving. I mean, I get it all sized and squared up, surfaces flattened and when I come back to it in a day or two or however long it seems to warp a little. This is not a huge deal on it's own, but I re surface and it happens again. It's to the point I'm starting to worry about the piece being unusable it goes on much longer. This thicker wood for the body, where I'm using African mahogany (everything I've read about mahogany states it's a stable wood) storing it at the most consistent temp/humidity as I have possible for my setup, the grain seems straight, I don't know about moisture since I don't have a meter but, I bought it from a good hardwood store so I'm assuming it was cured fairly well.

Could this just be a bad piece of wood? Or could I be storing it differently to prevent the movement? If it were a question of moisture in the wood or anything relating to selection, would anybody have any tips on how to select good quality wood? Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[mikeyswood]

Wood will move for the first 20 years after being felled.

Good sawyers and kiln operators can reduce this but it is part of working with wood. With experience you'll be able to see where the wood will go. Until then, you must keep experimenting.

Experience is something you get just after you need it.

 

[Triad]

I'd leave that wood alone and would try to find something "better". Wood moves, yes, but an instrument takes so much time and effort... I wouldn't risk 100+ hours of work on a wood that keeps moving that much.
I had the same problem with some american Cherry I wanted to use for bodies. I left it alone for a looong time (even if Cherry keeps moving anyway).
For the body (that's thick and won't create disasters) you could even try but trust me: you definitely want to use good stuff for neck and fingerboard.

 

[T2W]

mahogany, stable? keep in mind there is way over 500 species in the mahogany family.. Ive found Sapele to be slightly better than khaya, speakin of stability, can't say for honduran, haven't worked with it enough. but Khaya is a b***h, really. Is your shop 'climate controlled', in the sense, is it the same temp all day long, and night?

 

[Stone Age]

work slowly. If you're taking thick stock and trying to get it to a much thinner working thickness, take it from point A to point B in increments. Let it sit in between and let it move.

One of the recommendations for planing is to take equal amounts off of each side so it dries consistently and doesn't move around as much. If you're resawing, that's out the window and the wood will move around anyway. Give yourself room to joint it and plane it one or two more times after it sits and does all the cupping, bowing and twisting it needs to.