Q: We are selling red elm products, including flooring. We have used some data to show that this wood is nearly as hard as oak. But a recent customer indicates that the wood is quite a bit softer than he requires. Any idea what is going on here?

Q. We are just now getting into maple cabinets and have a problem. We can color match the pieces but when we put them into a door, sometimes one piece will look like it is not even close in color to the other pieces. Yet we know that they did all look alike. This is before finishing; the same is true after finishing. Second question: We sometimes see maple that seems weak and does not hold screws in the hinges well.

Q: I am concerned about the moisture conditions inside a home. I asked one the experts at the university here and he said that you could calculate the interior relative humidity (RH) from knowing the outside temperature and RH. He did a few calculations for my location (central and northern Midwest) and his numbers seem awfully dry in winter. Do you have any comments?

Q: How can we use a kitchen microwave oven to oven dry our wood to get an accurate MC?

Q: The RH range in my home and workshop is roughly from 20 percent (wintertime) to 80 percent (summertime). This gives a range of 4.5 to 16 percent EMC, winter to summer. The Wood Handbook gives the expansion of cherry from bone dry to 30 percent MC of 7.1 percent. In proportion, then, my cherry should change 2.7 percent in size on the average. However, I have never found an expansion higher than 1.3 percent in unfinished wood or oil-finished furniture in my shop and home. I also monitor the top gaps of twenty drawer fronts on furniture in my house (oil finished). They show that the fronts expand by between 0.6 and 1.0 percent. Other fine woodworkers that I know generally work on 1/8 inch per foot, or less, for expansion gaps, i.e. 1 percent or less. I would greatly appreciate any comment you can make on the anomaly between published figures and my measurements.

Q: I have been inundated for the past six months with questions about wood (and products) received in North America from countries across the Pacific Ocean. The typical complaint is that there is some warp, shrinkage, surface or end cracks, and/or open joints.

Q: After sanding the glue lines flush in a glued-up panel, they were smooth for several weeks. However, now they have crept up slightly. I can't imagine this will keep happening, do you think? What I was also wondering is how helpful mineral oil will be in minimizing the change in MC. I appreciate your advice.

Q: What is rock hard maple?

Q: Would you happen to know the answer to this non-wood question? Given a choice of a single phase motor or 3-phase motor, which is best?

Q: We just planed some red oak lumber and we noticed a lot of small surface cracks showing up immediately and even more later on. Help!