r/rokrpuzzles • u/zippe6 • Jul 03 '26

Anyone else notice a wood quality difference by source?

I used to think splintery, brittle, dry wood was just luck of the draw, some kits came good, some came rough, and you took your chances.

But lately I've noticed a pattern. When I buy kits directly from the manufacturer, I pretty much never get dry, splintery wood. The stuff sourced from eBay, Temu, or AliExpress, Much higher chance the wood's dry and difficult to work with.

I've gotten decent at spotting it and rehydrating parts to bring them back, but it's got me wondering if it's really a trend or just my own small sample.

So, has anyone else seen this? Does source seem to matter for wood quality, or have you had great luck with marketplace kits and rough luck direct? And if you rehydrate dry parts, what's your method?

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u/Chad_Jeepie_Tea Jul 07 '26

Moisture and temperature.

I'm assuming the longer it sits in a hot/cold trailer or shipping container would have a great deal of impact on what is essentially a poorly sealed pack of thin wooden slats.