"Dr. Deb" wrote in message
...
I just turned a piece of mulberry (about 11.5 x 6.5d) to rough shape and
have set it back to dry. I heard somewhere that it was better to put the
piece in a brown paper bag than to leave it just set out in the open air.

So, (with apologies to the Bard) "To Bag or not to Bag, aye, that is the
question . . "

It's all relative. Humidity, that is. If you have high relative humidity
right now, say 70% or better, even a nasty wood like mulberry could be all
right. If not, you might want to create a microenvironment inside a
container which will keep the relative humidity at or above that level until
the water has a chance to leave the wood for a while.

Paper bags are a particularly advantageous medium, because they're basically
delignified wood. As such they will adsorb water to roughly 30% moisture by
weight inside, and then lose it slowly to the outside air. With a short
distance for the water to travel, they aren't the same as storing in
shavings (dry, in my preference) or a bag of shavings. I like cardboard
boxes. Makes for a slow come-down. It's the differential drying rate
between the surface and the interior that you fear most. If the surface
doesn't check, there is much less chance that the checks will grow to
destroy your piece.

If you don't have one, buy a hygrometer. That's where the valuable
information lies. That, and
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fp.../fplgtr113.htm chapter
three. Look at figure 3-3 for the direction of warp, and compare to your
piece. The curvature and annual ring interval are big determinants of
success.

I'm boxing everything at 40% RH right now.

Did I mention there's no such thing as a free lunch? Keeping the wood at
high relative humidity for fairly long can grow some ugly black mildew.
Spin the water out, blow it out, and don't bag until the surface looks dry
if you can't tolerate re-turning a lot of wood away.