Care and storage for Shin Kaya go boards

[Faro]

Maybe 3 or so years ago I bought a Shin Kaya board from YMI. I stopped playing Go for a long time, and I just left the board out on a table in my room, more for looks than anything really, Although I told myself it was there for when I wanted to play again.
Well, Now I want to play again, but when I went back it had started to split!! Not very bad, maybe and inch and a half along the 3rd or 4th line. I sent an e-mail to YMI asking them what I could do to keep it from getting worse but never got a response.

How should I properly protect my Shin Kaya board? How should I store it for long time storage and what can I do to keep this crack from getting worse? Right now I have it in the box it was sent to me in (Inside a plastic sleeve, inside a foam liner, inside a box) and it is sitting vertically.

I would post a photo of the crack but it's hard to see and I have not been able to get a decent photo of it.

Thank's a lot for any help guys!

[gowan]

Some common causes of wood cracking are:

++Insufficient drying before being made into its final state

++Variation in temperature or humidity

There isn't much you can do about the first cause, unfortunately. Boards are usually made overseas and shipped to the USA or Europe to a country where the climate conditions are different from where they were made. The cracking happens as the board adjusts to its new environment. If the board is subjected to cycles of humidity,for example going from dry heated indoor air in the winter to hot humid air in the summer, over a period of years a crack may open. The best way to prevent cracking, assuming the board was made of sufficiently dried wood, is to keep it in a climate-controlled place so there are no large swings in temperature and humidity. Dangerous situations could be keeping it on a table exposed to the sun for long periods or keeping it in an unhumidified room heated by a woodstove. By the way, wooden go bowls can also be subject to cracking.

[judicata]

I would like to hear others' thoughts on this. My understanding is that well-made boards should tolerate fairly wide climate variations without cracking. In other words, the second cause of cracking gowan mentioned would only happen in fairly extreme circumstances if the board is well made (of course "fairly extreme" is imprecise). But my knowledge is very limited--I'd be interested in what others have to say.

[Faro]

Well I do live in Missouri and heat my house with a woodstove. So the board would be subject to large differences in temp and humidity through-out the year. If it gets any worse I'll try and contact YMI about it again. But right now it's playable. The crack doesn't disrupt the stones at all.

My bowls seems to be fine however.

[EdLee]

Well I do live in Missouri and heat my house with a woodstove.

Hmm, interesting. I bought two 2.25-inch thick shin kaya boards about 10 years ago (2003?) --
Japanese, through http://www.samarkand.net/ when they used to sell Go equipment --
No cracks. Still very good condition. Active use. Zero maintenance other than
the occasional wiping with a soft fabric.
Temperature fluctuations here throughout the year: moderate.
Humidity fluctuations here throughout the year: moderate, to dry.

[Faro]

I bought two 2.25-inch thick shin kaya boards about 10 years ago (2003?)

Hmm, your boards are at least twice as thick as mine. I don't exactly remember, But i think mine are closer to around an inch or so. Would you think a thicker board would hold up longer? That would make sense, assuming the wood had been properly dried like Gowan mentioned.

Also, Is storing the board vertically ok? As I said above, it's in the box so the edges are protected.

[palapiku]

I would like to hear others' thoughts on this. My understanding is that well-made boards should tolerate fairly wide climate variations without cracking. In other words, the second cause of cracking gowan mentioned would only happen in fairly extreme circumstances if the board is well made (of course "fairly extreme" is imprecise). But my knowledge is very limited--I'd be interested in what others have to say.

Board makers can't do magic. Wood is a delicate living material and it responds strongly to variations in humidity. This is a big issue to wooden musical instrument makers (for example) so you'll find a lot of advice on musical instrument forums if you want.

It's true that a well made board should survive "fairly wide" climate variations, especially if the climate is reasonably humid. If you live in Arizona, that counts as extreme. Aside from that, the biggest practical issue is winter, when air is made very dry by indoor heating (heating up air while keeping water content the same lowers its relative humidity).

I live in Vancouver so I don't even bother humidifying my guitar - it rains all the time anyway. But other climates may be more problematic.

Temperature is not a concern as far as I know, except for very rapid variations in temperature (this is why direct sunlight may be problematic).

[EdLee]

Faro,

Also, Is storing the board vertically ok?

As others mentioned, it seems the two most important factors are the original quality (treatment) of the wood from the goban maker,
and your environment (temperatures and humidity). So the storage orientation does not matter.

[bogiesan]

Faro,

Also, Is storing the board vertically ok?

As others mentioned, it seems the two most important factors are the original quality (treatment) of the wood from the goban maker,
and your environment (temperatures and humidity). So the storage orientation does not matter.

Careful seasoning of the wood stock over several years is the only way to stabilize wood. Few manufacturers are wiling to spend that kind of money (time) to store and rotate stock. If the board was made before the the wood was stabilized there is nothing on this earth that will prevent it from splitting if it ends up in an environment that is more arid than where it originated. Moisture moves from and through the cells to the drier air. The cells change shape. Eventually the pressures build and a crack develops.

[Faro]

So it seems that if conditions aren't met, the board will split regardless of care. This begs the question will this time period be elongated by a thicker board? If so, that would mean thicker boards are a better value? So lets say my 1in board becomes unplayable, it would be a better idea to buy a 2.5in replacement?

[bogiesan]

So it seems that if conditions aren't met, the board will split regardless of care. This begs the question will this time period be elongated by a thicker board? If so, that would mean thicker boards are a better value? So lets say my 1in board becomes unplayable, it would be a better idea to buy a 2.5in replacement?

Maybe, no way to know. Look around your home at the wooden objects you have. If you know the wood species, the time the wood stock was cured and how it was seasoned, how it was milled, how long it was seasoned after it was milled, country of origin, and how long it has been sitting in your house under the current atmospheric conditions... then maybe. Some woods are more stable than others. There is an oily product from Asia called "sheesham wood" that distorts and cracks within days of being uncrated in Idaho. You see this stuff on the shelves of import shops in the form of card and jewelry boxes.

The migration of moisture from the interior cells to the external atmosphere is easily researched.

I've seen four and six inch hunks of wood, including go boards, warp and then crack explosively. Why someone would bring a multi-thousand dollar cultural artifact like a handmade go board from the coast of Japan to the desert of Idaho is unknown to me but some people do. Each lasted no longer than four years. I have owned two Korean floor boards, about 3 inches of what I was told was agathis, and neither warped in more than ten years. I had a lovely "birch" board from the olden days of Ishi Press that warped and then cracked marvelously.

[judicata]

So it seems that if conditions aren't met, the board will split regardless of care.

You can't absolutely prevent cracking, but humidifying is your best shot. In winter, keeping my guitar from getting warped can be a struggle.

Guitars (acoustic) are obviously made of much thinner pieces wood--including different types of spruce, mahagony, rosewood, etc.--and can be surprisingly resilient. I panicked the first time I saw the body of my Larrivee guitar warp a bit (it was slightly concaved), but was relieved to discovery that it recovered its shape after re-humidifying. Of course, if it had actually cracked, it wouldn't mend itself. My point is that, up to a certain point, you can reverse over-drying.

EDIT: Fixed quote tag.

[Faro]

So it seems that if conditions aren't met, the board will split regardless of care.

You can't absolutely prevent cracking, but humidifying is your best shot. In winter, keeping my guitar from getting warped can be a struggle.

Guitars (acoustic) are obviously made of much thinner pieces wood--including different types of spruce, mahagony, rosewood, etc.--and can be surprisingly resilient. I panicked the first time I saw the body of my Larrivee guitar warp a bit (it was slightly concaved), but was relieved to discovery that it recovered its shape after re-humidifying. Of course, if it had actually cracked, it wouldn't mend itself. My point is that, up to a certain point, you can reverse over-drying.

Hmmm, I have a Banjo that isn't cracked or warped at all. I'll start keeping a better eye on it as well.