I would keep it out of the weather, the sun will just bleach it. Neatly and properly stacking, stickering, and weighing wood will go a long way towards ensuring that the drying process will result in flat, stable, and usable lumber. Purchase this back issue. If the moisture difference between drying green wood for turning glory core and the shell is too great, the shell can dry in a stretched condition. Pam D Davis. However, this does not impact our recommendations.

On top of the beams, which must be level with each other, lay your first course of stickers. Stickers are used to separate the boards from each other and allow for air circulation.

Avoid sappy woods or woods that may leach color when in contact with moisture, such as cedar and oak. Next, lay your first layer of boards. It is easiest to stack your lumber if the boards are all the same length and thickness. Otherwise, stacking will take careful planning, because the entire stack should be rectangular, with spacing between the boards as consistent as possible to promote even air circulation. On each layer, the boards must all be the same thickness, and they must line up at the ends without overhanging.

This reduces large open spaces and promotes slow, even drying. Each successive layer of stickers must line up vertically with the previous layer of stickers, otherwise you will end up with bowed or cupped boards. Continue this process until your pile is complete. Then add a final course of stickers and add a cover of old boards, plywood, etc.

Weigh the stack down with bricks or other heavy items to reduce the possibility of warping. To slow down the rate of moisture loss and minimize end checking, coat the exposed ends of each board with latex paint or paint specially designed for this. Once your stack is finished, simply wait for it to dry. While the general rule of thumb is one year of drying for every inch of thickness, the species you are drying, weather conditions and the time of year you begin drying can influence this significantly.

No published times can adequately compensate for the huge variations in drying rates, so unless you are in a rush, plan your lumber drying carefully to allow adequate time. Ideal moisture content for interior wood in dry, arid areas will be considerably lower than in humid areas. Consult with professional cabinet shops in your area for relevant ranges. When you stack on stickers and have a lot of variance in thickness. Leaves room for movement and warping. Green would does not like to feed in a planer.

Might have to live the bed with wd Thought I read somewhere that wood stickers should be of same species as wood being dried …. How much shrinkage should I expect? Length does not shrink near as much. But most species would take years to dry that size.

I would wait 1 year and hope for the best. I love in Oregon. They cut down my grandfathers old oak tree on Friday. They delivered five slabs cut from the trunk.

They are approximately five feet in diameter and approximately six inches deep. Too heavy to move them. We did stack them on wood to get them off the asphalt and between layers. How do I process these? I am interested in using the wood for projects nothing specific yet. Get it cut, seal the cut ends, slab it with a chainsaw or split it into whatever size is manageable, raise it off the ground, and get it stacked and stickered in a windy, shaded spot with some kind of cover over the top.

In Iran and the region Mulberry is exclusively saved and used to build string musical instruments: Taar, Setaar and Tanbur Tambur.

I found that while sanding then applying topcoat there is a faint line where the sticker was. I had to sand off finish and sand deeper than desired. Any ideas on an alternative choice of sticker material? The stack is dead flat. Im new to this all. Or should I just give it a shot and see what happens.

Also, should I dry these babies out before putting on legs? Here are some pictures. The arborist told me different … Read more ». These are sections and will dry with high stress. After time, say 6 months to a year, the wood will suddenly split from the edge to the center in one place, leaving what looks like a wedge defect. This is due to the circumrferential shrinkage tangential being greater than the radial shrinkage.

There are two fixes. You can saw the blank in half, then dry it down, then resaw the two pieces which will develop a convex angle of a degree or two along the cut surface. Alternatively, a chemical treatment to keep moisture in the wood can be used. Steve thank you. Maybe I need to wipe off the wax and let the sun do its job.

Any suggestions? I would keep it out of the weather, the sun will just bleach it. Put it in your garage or somewhere dry and put a fan on it to help discourage any more mold growth.

Pour denatured alcohol onto the surface of the pieces and let it flow trough to the bottom side. Wood is like a million tiny straws when cut into discs, this will force the moisture out. If you have a pan big enough you can catch the alcohol as it comes through an reuse. I made about oak disks out of green wood and used this method I only had 1 crack. Sounds like that worked fantastic with those!

I have someone offering for sale some raw never stained or varnished hardwood flooring that has been stored in his garage for years 10 plus. He says some is cherry and some is black walnut.

He got it from a flooring company that went out of business. My cabinet maker told me to stay away from it as it will likely be too high in moisture and will distort after installing it on my floor. I live in London,Ontario Canada. High humidity. What is your opinion. If it has truly been stored for 10 years, it should be dry. Also a good idea, if you do end up getting them, to let them acclimate to your humidity level indoors for a while in the same location where they will be installed. Best time to do all this is in a drier time of year such as fall.

How long does the powder post beetle larvae live in air dried wood that is about 3 inches thick, 2 feet wide and 4 feet long, the wood is sycamore. I will be air drying a disc of white ash recently cut. It is 3 feet in diameter and at least a foot thick. That is, cut right across the trunk of a huge tree killed by Emerald Ash Borer. Here, only White Ash could be that big. I bought a square metal outdoor fireplace box to use as a drying stand.

I can shade it with an old table-tennis table I use outdoors. Will this work? I just had a bunch of hickory sawn down into 2. They are in a uninsulated garage with a fan moving some air. The problem that I am having are the slabs are starting to spilt at ends.

I never painted or sealed ends. If I cut and seal ends will this help? Do I turn off fan to let them just dry slower? I would both cut and seal the ends and turn off the fan. Hello I want to cut oak trees northern California and use the tree trunk together with the bark to build a bed frame.

Any suggestions how to dry the wood to keep the bark on and prevent mould? Thanks for any recommendation. Great ambition to leave the bark on the wood, but that adds exponential difficulties to your finished product.

Bark on looks great for synthetic wood-looking displays at restaurants and outdoor living stores, but my advice is to keep away from leaving the bark on. I have roughly 1. Hoping to preserve the bark, and prevent cracking as much as possible.

Some have frozen sections Canadian winters are fun. Would you suggest soaking in pentacryl once thawed out , stacking and drying, or just painting it on almost like poly throughout the drying process? I have imported Peruvian walnut slabs from Honduras. They are 3 inch thick and kiln dried aggressively for 3 weeks. A very short time, I know. Unwisely, I had relied on local expertise.

Once shipped and delivered and after checking a small sample, the MC inside was much higher and checking was visible. What are my options? Is there any comeback? Should I just leave them out to continue drying or should I find a kiln that can properly finish the job or is it now firewood? In the future I think I … Read more ». Hey Larry, I live in Honduras. This is really beautiful stuff—I like it even more than american black walnut.

Regarding the pile that you have, you might want to cut a foot or two of the ends and dry it all as slowly as you can, though in all honesty, this is a very stable wood. All the best … Read more ».

I had a small tornado hit my place and knocked down alot of trees cedar, oak,hickory ,walnut ect i want to mill the cedar into 1 inch boards and Shiplap side my house I have a big shop area with a wood stove In it my question is how long will it take the cedar to dry and what is the optimal temp to keep the shop while drying??

That is one reason for high use of cedar shakes rather than timbers. If you can be flexible regarding exposure of each siding piece, then you can easily overlap each cedar piece according to its natural curves and your aesthetic will be a rustic, great look to it!

The poles will not support anything, just brace the outer wall from movement when the patio door is closed and add aesthetic value to the open area. The trees will remain intact with the bark. How do I dry these birch poles to ensure they do not rot and the bark stays put? I have a question… My husband has been drying out wood for a few years and I am trying to have a wall created similar to shiplack but not tight or finished just propped that way on the wall for storage purposes.

Will it damage the wood at all to put it on it side like this? It will still get air. It will just be stored on its thin side and not wide side. Does this make sense? Great article — I have a question. I cut some rounds and some 45 degree slabs from a black cherry to make cutting boards. Do you think i can apply salad bowl finish right away to reduce any cracking and splitting?

I was wondering if applying the finish would displace the moisture and then i could sand them down when a bit drier. Did you find a solution to this? Did u ever get an answer to ur question about ur blk. I am remodeling my house and bought red oak retreads for my steps and they are 1 inch thick.

I double coated the topside not the underside with polyurethane and left them in the garage about3 weeks. Unfortunately the all occurred during prolonged periods of rain and they cupped upward. The installer cannot use them. I am looking to salvage the retreads if at all possible. Can I use a kiln to dry out the retreads Drying Green Wood For Turning Workshop and will they straighten out?

Is there any advice that anyone can offer to help me out of this expensive error. I was … Read more ». Ouch, that sounds like a very unfortunate turn of events! I do not believe that simply drying them or otherwise adjusting the moisture content will be the standalone solution.

You might try a combination of weight and lowering moisture content. Maybe someone else can chime in with better ideas. While traveling the Great Lakes, I visited a colonial style boat building display. They were using a homemade steam box to heat the wood to allow it to be bent around the bow of the boat. Would it be possible to steam the boards, the lay them on a flat surface with good stripping and weight on the top to force them back straight?

Might salvage by planing thinner or squaring up 2-inch strips and edge-gluing. Not a bad look and done historically for more stable surface.

A good experiment is to take a thin, partially-seasoned, plain-sawn Pine board, throw it on a moist lawn on sunny day and see how fast it cups. Turn it over … Read more ». Cut the boards into 2 in strips alternate the cup and glue back together. Lots of work but the only way to eliminate cup. Honestly I would advise getting them as wet as possible then weighing them down heavy and letting them dry, steaming would be most effective followed by weight. At what mc can I do the heat treatment?

I just picked up 4 , 6 x 6 posts 10 foot long to replace front porch pillars. Green treated. What is the best way to dry these before use? If so, leave that bad boy in the sun for an hour or so, the slime will dry off quick, just be sure to install them not long after.

Drying bowls is a different process than flat slabs of wood. Keep rough turned bowl inside a paper bag or double bag for sensitive species and then weigh it intermittently until the piece stops loosing water weight. After that, it should be ready for final turning. Several good schools o f thought here — I turn wet Cherry to the finished dim and shape then use planer chips from a hardwood Walnut pack the piece tightly in these shavings in a paper bag and inspect a month later.

Uaually I win! But this year there have been some bigger limbs coming … Read more ». I believe that kiln drying walnut actually causes some colors to be lost, your best bet, with regards to color, is to air dry the material.

Walnut color is highly variable depending on growing conditions. Sapwood is a pale gray color and can take up at least a few inches of the outer edge of the stem. Has any one else dried wood in a microwave? I play with a lathe and have have had good luck cooking small raw pieces. Red cedar scents the shop kitchen too.

I will be sawing beams from sourthern pine for timber frame. Up to 30ft. A year for each inch in thickness is the standard drying time for all timber. Great job there. Easier to slice through than Ironbark!. I just bought rough cut lumber to build a wall in my basement is there anything I need to do to prepare it.

I just got 2 8 ft long planks of wood with crusty bark on the edges. Should I seal the ends with something while it dries? I plan slow on drying it in my house and then making shelves with the wood. Any other advice about drying or working with these planks is appreciated. I recently acquired two dozen or so logs of silver maple. I sealed the ends with end grain dealer within about 24 hours of them being cut down. Skip to content.

Drying Wood at Home. Drying times can vary significantly depending upon wood species, initial moisture level, lumber thickness, density, ambient conditions, and processing techniques. In situations where green wood is to be processed into usable boards, especially in the case of thicker lumber , a kiln is frequently used to control the drying process.

While there are various types of kilns used to dry lumber, the basic premise is usually the same: a large insulated chamber or room is used to balance and control humidity, temperature, and airflow to safely and efficiently bring wood down to an acceptable moisture content. The main advantage of a kiln is that with the increased temperature and airflow—all while carefully maintaining and controlling the ambient humidity—the wood can be dried much more evenly, minimizing any sort of moisture gradient between the outer shell which dries very quickly and the inner core which slowly equalizes moisture with the shell.

Drying defects But kiln drying may also introduce internal stresses into the wood—particularly if an improper kiln schedule is used, or if corrective measures are not employed—resulting in a condition known as case-hardening. This defect is caused when the outer shell begins to dry faster than the core: the shell tries to shrink, but is inhibited by the still-wet core.

If the moisture difference between the core and the shell is too great, the shell can dry in a stretched condition. Later, as the core eventually begins to dry and shrink, the condition is reversed, and the stretched shell prohibits the core from completely shrinking. In extreme instances of case-hardening, the core can split and check in an irreversible condition called honeycombing. Kiln drying wood at elevated temperatures also has many other secondary effects as well, such as killing powderpost beetles a destructive wood pest in all stages of their development.

For most woodworkers, running their own kiln to quickly dry lumber may be impractical or excessive. In most instances, simply storing project lumber at a targeted humidity level is the best option to ensure it will be at the correct EMC when building time comes.

However, in some cases, such as when processing logs or other green wood into lumber, a more meticulous procedure will need to be followed. Home air-drying tips Process logs in a timely fashion. Bark on whole logs can act as a natural moisture-barrier, and if left unsawn, can contribute to fungal decay and deterioration in some species.

A hallmark of poorly processed, do-it-yourself lumber is the presence of spalted or partially rotted wood. Cut the wood slightly oversized. Remember that wood shrinks as it dries. Seal the ends. In addition to processing logs in a timely manner to prevent stain and decay due to excessive moisture, the opposite is also to be avoided: allowing the wood to dry out too quickly will result in splits and endgrain checking.

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