On Mar 10, 6:51 pm, "George" wrote:
"Fred the Red Shirt" wrote in ...

It is commonly accepted that kiln dried wood is more stable than
air dried, but luthiers tend to prefer air-dried and the folks who
make
wooden-bodied planes in Europe claim to air dry their billets for
5 years or more. Maybe it depends on the species, climate, or
the patience of the person drying the wood.

Commonly accepted by people who have not examined the data. See Hoadley or
the FPL Wood Handbook.

The reason it was used in planes here, other than tradition, has more to do
with its even and slow wearing characteristics than stability. Beech as was
differs greatly from beech as is. Dimensional stability depends on the
degree to which the the annual rings are parallel or perpendicular to the
face(s). A big beech tree provided a lot of wood where a chunk the size of
a plane could have them that way. The smaller stuff not so much. Now the
bigger trees we've been "conserving" have caught some nasty virus, so we're
pretty much limited to smaller stuff.

That makes a lot of sense.

I'll add that beech has an interlocking grain that resists splitting,
which is important when tapping a wedge into a square cornered
mortise to hold a plane iron in place.

Even some of the old planes that show splits, the splits
are only part-way through, whereas a wood like red oak
or maple would have separated.

Beech has kind of a rubbery feel when handplaning or
paring. Hand planing leaves a very smooth surface.

--

FF