Workshop humidification question

[tippie53]

One of the best ways to understand what all the mumbo jumbo means is this . In a perfect 50% RH at 70 degrees take 2 pieces of wood , dissimilar typed one hard and one conifer , glued the conifer cross grained to the hardwood.
Watch what happens to this stick. Make them 1/16 thick each and you can watch this move with the rh changes. The thing that still fascinates me is that 50% RH at 70 may be similar to 35 at 45 degrees. Make one and enjoy it is more accurate than anything else. I saw one at Monticello that Thomas Jefferson made and is still working.

[nkwak]

What's happening to the temp in the basement when the RH drops and the furnace is running? If the temp is going up no real change in the actual water content of the air has happened (where did it go?) and very little transfer of moisture will happen from wood to air in a short period. Relative humidity is related to the temperature and the actual amount of water in the air. As the temp goes up it can hold more water and the relative humidity drops. Keep the temp stable and I imagine too much moisture will be your problem over the long term being in a basement unless it has had a tremendous amount of waterproofing.
Instead of taking snapshots of RH peaks and troughs, I would put your RH meter in a closed box (Guitar case?) for a few weeks and let it stabilize. You may be surprized how high it is.

The temperature has stayed around 60. FWIW the hygrometers in my guitars' cases have stayed above 45% even if the humidifier sponges are bone dry.

[tippie53]

45% is very doable . I agree you can't get too worked up over the peaks and troughs of the heat cycle. The humidifier I use has a built in sensor and turns on and off automatically and if isn't that expensive . Historically basement shops often need dehumidification more than adding humidity .
As pointed out stability is important . Your wood can tell you much. I do rely on my stick more than the gauges as humidity in the air is relative to temp . I keep my shop above 40% and below 55%. I like dryer better than wetter.

[kencierp]

Ditto John --- "dryer" better than wetter

Once assembled, cracks are more likely to occur if the wood shrinks do to moisture loss.

[nkwak]

OK, the hygrometer now reads 20% @ 60 deg. F. I bought a large bin to clean up some of the tool clutter but could just as well use it to store materials if I used some sort of humidifier like the ones I use inside my guitar cases. FWIW I have 2 guitars that I actively humidify with a combination of a Planet Waves soundhole humidifier and an Oasis gel-type case humidifier and an Oasis hygrometer that mounts inside the case next to the fretboard. Those both read 48% @ 70 deg F which is a tad high because I've found anything over 45% muffles my guitars.

I'm thinking of putting one of those Oasis humdifier/hygrometer combinations inside the bin and storing my work in or maybe biting the bullet and putting one of those whole house humidifiers on my furnace. I'm leaning toward the latter because the whole house is a little too dry for comfort. Even my (mostly) nonverbal and autistic son says he's "itchy" so it MUST be bad if he's made the effort to bring it to our attention!

[Ken Hundley]

I have an aprilaire humidifier on the house, and even when you set it to 50%, the house never gets above 35-38%. Even then, condensation is running down the windows, which means for climate control, we have it set too high. It's definitely good to have, less snoring or static in the house, but not going to get you where you need to be for guitars. In my little guitar shop (the in-house one anyway), I have a 2.5 gallon evaporative I use, keep it set at 45. I will humidify to 50%, then turn offuntil it hits 40%, then kick back on again. It generally keeps the room between 40 and 46%, and I fill it once a day, less if its in the 40s or above.



This is the latest picture I have of my office/shop, and the humidifier is off to the left just out of hte picture.

[Tarhead]

The Oasis in a large plastic bin is probably a good idea. A damp sponge in a clean plastic lunch meat container with holes drilled in it works very well for me and is much cheaper if you are monitoring the humidity level. Run a small humidifier/vaporizer while you are working to boost the humidity temporarily around the work area if you feel you have to have it. Just be careful and don't over do it and grow mold/mildew in your basement. Once it starts it's about impossible to clear up.

[Kevin Sjostrand]

I'm using the large tub with the wet sponge technique on my India destination guitars, and think it has helped. I've been able to maintain about 50% humidity in the tub, when the humidity outside is at 20%. If I take the wood out to work on it, it goes right back in when I'm done. I have not had a problem yet.

Kevin