Do wooden arms warp


I hate to sound stupid or pedantic, but I have historically done a lot of woodwork - turning/routering/bedmaking. The single biggest problem is locating wood that does not warp.
Wood cut and left to settle over 50 years continue to warp, likewise, even very old wood warps as well. In my experience when a piece is smaller/thinner it is more pronounced unless there is some lamination (not always a cure). I am yet to come across or find a treatment which stops warping. It would be nice if a manufacturer of such an arm chimes in on this thread, because arms such as: Durand, Shroder, Reed etc all have wood arms/options and they really are the most expensive arms out there.
lohanimal
The comment about a human being able to survive for 45 minutes at over 400 degrees fahrenheit has very little to do with wooden tonearms, as well as being untruthful. I suspect that in a sealed chamber, at that temperature, the first real breath and a human body would know that death is very close.

I believe the comment about the level of heat generated at the stylus/ vinyl interface during replay was made in counter to someone else's comment suggesting that movement within a wooden tonearm due to atmospheric variations would be sufficient as to make an accurate and stable cartridge setup with a wood-wanded tonearm, impossible, or even difficult, which is just not true. Someone laid out some figures about movement in wood without telling the whole story. First, different woods move different amounts. Second, wood movement occurs radially at a much higher rate than it does in a longitudinal direction. Making a tonearm wand that stays true to it's axis can be accomplished easily enough if care is taken. Change in length of a wooden tonearm wand is pretty much a non issue given the short length of the wand, the fact that it is stabilized, and that wood just does not move that much longitudinally.

Also, that significant heat is generated at the stylus is not really a problem. Who knows though.. maybe the next significant advances in cartridge technology will come with nano-liquid cooled cantilevers ;)
Swampman, by the way, I am in the sauna at the club frequently for periods of ten minutes or more. The thermometer in the sauna reads more than 210 degrees F most days. No prob-prob-problems here.
Geoff, I have to side with the others; I think you'd be looking like a baked potato after even 10 min at 445 degrees F.

Probably the best way to determine the temperature developed at the stylus contact point in the vinyl would be to point a laser-based temperature sensor at the contact spot, during play. One interesting thing that fell out of this particular discourse is that most likely the outer grooves heat up more than the inner grooves during play, because the angular velocity of the stylus tip, and therefore the kinetic energy that has to be dissipated, is greatest at the outside edge of the LP surface. But on the other hand, the groove undulations may be less tortuous at the outer grooves, thereby reducing friction compared to inner.

Anyway, I agree with Ilikmangos, as one might imagine.
Lewis, I didn't say 445 degrees, I said 425 degrees. I'll take every degree I can get. Lol You guys ain't thinking about this the right way. Humidity is the thing that kills you. You can stand very high temperatures if the humidity is near zero. As I said I've been in the sauna at the gym when the air temp is over 212 degrees, I.e., boiling. Hel-loo!
If I were suddenly thrust into 425 degrees, I'd grasp for anything in panic.....
even The Teleportation Tweak. What else is there to lose... :)