Okay, ran a quick submerge test on some offcuts - in case anyone is interested.
I stuck a leftover piece of Maple Proofgrade plywood and a leftover piece of Baltic Birch plywood acquired from Amazon into 1/4" deep water and left them in there all afternoon. Both had lasered edges.
Proofgrade Maple on the Left/ Baltic Birch on the Right
The Proofgrade did expand slightly, but only where it had been submerged completely. (From 3.43 mm it swelled to 3.57 mm at the bottom edge after about 6 hours in the water.) delta=0.14mm
There was a pretty clear line of demarcation on that one. It wasnāt wicked up higher into the pulp above the water line.
The Baltic Birch though - wicked up a large quantity of the water into the pieceā¦about 3 to 3.5 inches up from the cut edge that was submerged in the same 1/4" water. (From 3.10mm it swelled to 3.43 mm at the bottom edge after 6 hours.) delta=0.33mm
So yes - it will eventually swell if you stick it in water and leave it there. Both the Proofgrade and non-proofgrade. (So donāt leave it sitting in water for extended periods of time, without finishing the edges, with whatever sealant takes your fancy. I might give some beeswax a try one of these days just to see if it blocks the absorption.)
Non-proofgrade appeared to swell over twice as badly as Proofgrade, and wicked water into a much larger area. It also stains the surface of the wood.
Surface staining was not apparent on the Proofgrade after the surface dried for this test.
There you goā¦interesting little side experiment.
Update: After about a year of sitting on the counter and having the wet brush drip down onto it, the base of the holder did start to swell. By that time the brush was toast anyway, so the current recommendation isā¦if you are going to use it around water, seal it with something, or plan to replace it.
Looks like the Proofgrade was put in with a different grain orientation than the baltic birch. I would guess that water would wick up the grain faster than across it (but Iām not sure how big of a difference that would make.)
Maple and Birch are very different woods. A better comparison would be either Proofgrade birch or non-proofgrade maple. Maple has a much tighter capillary structure than birch.
But regardless, thatās why they make exterior grade plywood for wet applications - those glues seal the pores of the wood from absorbing water not just the cut end but in the substrate of the wood plies as well.
Most all interior destined wood products can benefit from a finish that includes the cut edges. With plywood it helps if you fill the edges with putty or paste before finishing to get it really sealed.
Can I post multiple likes ?
Thanks for the laugh.
John
Edit
There was a send up of it, I can vaguely remember might have been Tom Lehrer(sp?) or Feynman, the bongo playing physicist.
Ok, I am a recent GF recipient and WAY late to this party. Is this design available somewhere??? I would make mine in acrylic to keep it waterproof. My 14 yer old constantly leaves the sponge and wand in the dirty sink and they get disgusting. This would be a true game changer for us!
I was considering offering this one in the Catalog one of these days, but the design is going to need to be reworked first. That one only works for that particular brush style, and they do not sell them anymore. (I have looked everywhere for themā¦canāt find them anymore.)
Once Glowforge opens up the catalog to customer submissions, Iāll probably try to rework it so that it fits a larger variety of brushes.
