temperature range for building

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Andrew

Posts: 34
Joined: Dec. 25 2008

temperature range for building

What is an acceptable temperature range to build in, or is this factor not as critical as humidity?

Andrew

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 1 2010 2:51:58

Armando

Posts: 302
Joined: May 27 2005
From: Zürich, Switzerland

RE: temperature range for building (in reply to Andrew)

Hy Andrew

Generally speaking it can be said , that humidity is the bigger issue than temperature during construction but the temperature of the room where the instrument is built should ideally be about the same as the average room temperature of the room where the finished instrument is going to be stored later.

A guitar could be built at lower or higher temperatures assuming the humidity is around 50% all the time during construction. Nevertheless if a guitar is built under such conditions we must take great care to absolutely avoid fast changes in temperature during construction. We should not forget that the air temperature has a direct relationship to relative air humidity as warmer air is capable to absorb more humidity.

A guitar could be built at higher humidity as well allthough it wouldn't be favourable for the tone of the guitar but it would not cause any serious problems as long as the instrument is kept in the same climate. The problem would appear once the guitar is stored in a much drier place. Therefore the cubans, mexicans, brasilians doesn't have problems with their guitars as long as they use it in their country. However if we want to buold guitars which are qualified for export, we need to control the climatic conditions in our workshop.

best regards

Armando

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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 1 2010 6:02:38

Peter Tsiorba

Posts: 130
Joined: Oct. 27 2009
From: Portland, Oregon Pacific Northwest

RE: temperature range for building (in reply to Andrew)

What kind of glue do you plan on using? If you use (mostly) hide glue, as I do, cold room is going to be rather problematic. Open time, or gel time of hide glue is already very short, and a cold room will make it only shorter. You can get around the problem somewhat by thoroughly pre-warming the surfaces you are gluing, but it would sure be simpler to work in a warm room. If you are planing on using modern glues, the situation is more flexible. Just out of curiosity, what kind of temp range are you expecting in your building environment?

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Peter Tsiorba
Classical-Flamenco-Guitars
tsiorba.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 1 2010 22:50:25

Andrew

Posts: 34
Joined: Dec. 25 2008

RE: temperature range for building (in reply to Peter Tsiorba)

Thanks for the plan drawing methods, very helpful.

I use hide entirely, can be tricky for things like binding/purfling.

I live in Australia which has a lot of high temperatures(excluding winter of course), but the humidity can vary from low 20's to high 90's depending on which state your are in. I'm in the process of building 2 guitars - one for a player who lives in a state where 40degC and low humidity is not uncommon but he tours around to other states were conditions typically can be 28degC with high 90's RH. The other guitar is for someone who lives in subtropical climate i.e high 20's temp & 70 to 90's r.h.

My present climate is high 20's/low 30's temp and high humidity 70 to 90's R.H.

If i run a humidifier to bring the rh down the temp goes up a degree or two. Do i need to run air con as well?

Andrew

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 2 2010 2:32:57

Peter Tsiorba

Posts: 130
Joined: Oct. 27 2009
From: Portland, Oregon Pacific Northwest

RE: temperature range for building (in reply to Andrew)

Andrew,

When building for someone who will be in dry/low humidity area, I'd go down to that humidity, or a bit lower. It's a compromise, there is no way to stop the wood from moving. So, if the musician travels to humid areas, the tone may suffer, and it is tough on the glue joints, but the guitar at least should not develop cracks in the soundboard or back. I hope this helps. Most people shoot for 40--50% RH in their building environment.

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Peter Tsiorba
Classical-Flamenco-Guitars
tsiorba.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 15 2010 11:30:15

Andrew

Posts: 34
Joined: Dec. 25 2008

RE: temperature range for building (in reply to Peter Tsiorba)

Yes, I'm shooting for 40-50% RH. But by the time the dehumifier obtains that the room temp is around 28 degC - so my main question is wether or not this temperature is too high to be assembling/glueing ?

Andrew

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 22 2010 2:41:30

Peter Tsiorba

Posts: 130
Joined: Oct. 27 2009
From: Portland, Oregon Pacific Northwest

RE: temperature range for building (in reply to Andrew)

Andrew,

While 28degC may be a bit too warm for you (sweating a bit!), it is PERFECT for hide glue! Having a very warm room gives you more time to align the parts you are gluing.

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Peter Tsiorba
Classical-Flamenco-Guitars
tsiorba.com

REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE | Date Jan. 22 2010 9:57:58