The difference between drying wood and seasoning it.

[Pappy]

Told yall where this was going. The best answer is if you think their is no difference in dry and seasoned then don't worry about it. That will solve the debate. 
   Pappy

[sleek]

HAHA, Pappy, looks like you are trying to put a lid on my can.... I get this image of you sitting on top an over boiling lid on a pressure cooker.....

[Holten101]

Told yall where this was going. The best answer is if you think their is no difference in dry and seasoned then don't worry about it. That will solve the debate. 
   Pappy

With so little empiric evidence, dogma is bound to surface....and dogma always polarize debates;-).

Cheers

[Pappy]

Yep it's all an opinion Holten 101 and you know how opinions are. Sleek it has went good,I have said it before,this is a great bunch and most of the debates stay
civil.  Their are just some things that will never really be solved, they come up from time to time but usually no ones minds are changed. 
   Pappy

[PEARL DRUMS]

Got anything with my name on it Carson ol' buddy? WOW your lucky Gordon, I know you will make a fantastic bow with those billets.

Funny you should ask that Pearl.  This vine maple had your name on it since the day I cut it    I know how you can handle some reflex 

Let me at it buddy! No such thing as too much reflex in my thin, little book. Vine Maple has always intrigued me. The 8-9 types of Maples we have growing around here wont ever be harmed by my tools. It doesnt hold a candle to what I know about Vine Maple.

[Holten101]

Yep it's all an opinion Holten 101 and you know how opinions are. Sleek it has went good,I have said it before,this is a great bunch and most of the debates stay
civil.  Their are just some things that will never really be solved, they come up from time to time but usually no ones minds are changed. 
   Pappy

I agree....Im amazed (again) of how little drama even "hot topics" (good luck explaining your wife how seasoning wood is a hot topic;-) create in here....indeed a great bunch of people.

PA and PP are, by a margin the most pleasant, thought provoking, inspiring and educational sites on this internet thingy;-)

Cheers

[Keenan]

Gordon, Good link and read, to bad it didn't give more data on "Bow wood" like Osage or Yew. With moisture being removed when dried, it would be interesting to see the effects of resin leached out of the wood cells when kiln dried as apposed to what  happens if slow dried.

[Buckeye Guy]

About a year ago we had the same debate !
Still fun !!!
Back then I said that Gary Davis went from tree to bow in like 14 days or something !
That bow was as good as or better than any other bow any of us do ,but I still think with some seasoning it could have been better !
A hard headed worthless old nut !

[Gordon]

I have yet to find any reference that suggests that "cured" natural occuring resins impart strength to dried wood cells. Maybe there is some supporting research out there somewhere, but until I find it I remain skeptical.

[Roy]

It's out there Gordon, keep looking.

[George Tsoukalas]

"I think I get it now." Roy
I think that post may have made my morning! Jawge

[Albert]

Ok so I haven't read the whole thread but here's my take on it: during aging (prolonged state of rest of a dry piece of wood) wood's chemical composition slowly alters and it's physical properties can be altered too.

here's an article (I can only post the abstract because of copyright laws): 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1296207412000404

Effects of aging on the vibrational properties of wood. Noguchi, Takunori ; Obataya, Eiichi ; Ando, Kosei Journal of Cultural Heritage , 2012 , Vol. 13 (3) , S21 -S25

Vibrational properties of aged wood (121∼296 years old) were compared with those of recently cut “new” wood (8 years old). The aged wood showed higher sound velocity (VL) and lower mechanical loss tangent (tanδL) than the new wood. The ratio of Young's modulus and shear modulus (EL/GL) remained unchanged or increased slightly during the aging period. These results coincide with musicians’ empirical observations that the acoustic quality of wooden soundboards is improved by aging. In addition, the reduced tanδL of the aged wood indicates the qualitative difference between the naturally aged and heat-treated wood. The experimental results were explained by using a cell wall model when we assumed the following: increase in the volume fraction of cellulosic microfibrils; reduction in the shear modulus of amorphous matrix substances, and; reduction in the loss tangent of the matrix. These assumptions appear reasonable when we consider the crystallization of cellulose, depolymerization of hemicelluloses, and cross-linking in the lignin complex during aging.

[Albert]

Here's another one that found that after one year of seasoning there is a chemical alteration of wood. Wood physical properties have not been examnied though.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10564039

Evolution of phenolic compounds of spanish oak wood during natural seasoning. First results. Brıgida Fernandez de Simon, Estrella Cadahıa, Elvira Conde, and Marıa Concepcion Garcıa-Vallejo

Low molecular weight polyphenols and ellagitannins were analyzed by HPLC, and the molecular weight distribution of ellagitannins was calculated by GPC, in oak heartwood of Quercus robur L., Quercus petraea Liebl., Quercus pyrenaica Wild., and Quercus faginea Lam., grown in Spain, before and after 1 year of seasoning, in Bordeaux, France. During this process, the concentrations of low molecular weight polyphenols (acids and aldehydes, benzoic and cinnamic, and coumarins) increased, and those of ellagitannins (castalagin, vescalagin, and roburins A-E) decreased. A similar behavior for the A and B compounds in all species was not found. This modification in the chemical composition was similar in the four Spanish species of Quercus studied and allowed the differentiation between the unseasoned wood and the wood after the first year of seasoning.

[Albert]

So it seems something is happening over time. The question we have to ask is: how can we work it to our advantage? is it significant? Still lots to discover.

[Pappy]

WOW,That's like reading the Saint James version of the old Testament. Tough reading for a red neck like me much less understanding. OK I give,dry wood is no different than seasoned.
   Pappy