Replies

1. 
   johnnyd | Mar 07, 2006 04:08pm | #1

   Pretty easy.  I'm assuming you will have a sawmill (or maybe you have one of your own) cut this down to ~ 1".  I think they generally cut boards at 5/4" , or 1 1/4" if they are destined to be standard 3/4" boards, to allow for shinkage and rough to final thickness planning.

   Once you've got all the boards, you will need LOTS of stickers all the same thickness, and if you don't already have some, or can't pick any up at the sawmill, just rip some of the freshly cut boards to 1" - 2" wide.  Then I would actually advise stickering them in a pile OUTSIDE, and cover the top of the pile with sheets of pole barn steel, screwed into the top course of boards.  Maybe use one of the "cants"...the 4X4 or 5X4 that's left after the boards are milled off the log...on top of the pile both to weigh down the pile and also to provide a ridge so the steel has some pitch to it.

   Lay your first course of boards on pieces of cants that are sitting pretty level and spaced at about 24" or less on center...you don't want to introduce any twisting at this stage.  Leave an inch or so of space between each board, and then place stickers above each support.  Make a nice straight pile, alternating layers of boards with stickers, and then when it gets maybe waist or shoulder high, top it off with the steel. 

   Leave it sit out in the sun and wind for a year.  Then move the whole pile with cants and stickers in to your barn loft and leave it for another year.  Then maybe run it through the thickness planer and sticker it (or dry stack by now) for another few months.  By then it should be ready for final thicknessing and actual use.

   I did this with a bunch of white and red oak over the past few years, and it turned out really well.  I'm going to start anothert batch this spring.

   I think that really tough woods like white oak especially, and certainly hickory, lend themselves to air drying like this better than kiln drying, as with a long, relatively gentle drying cycle, the internal stresses have time to work themselves out.  In other words, when you take a board off the dry pile that is pretty straight (or work a wild one into some semblance of straight) ...you have a better chance of that board STAYING that way.

   I should also say that when you dry wood like this, in the same area and climate where it will ultimately be used, you will experience less of the dreaded shrinkage and warping and twisting once it actually becomes funiture, flooring, or trim.

   Once you actually use the wood in a project, you will understand why store-bought, 6%, hardwood with all four sides surfaced is so expensive.  It's all the handling.

   
   

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   Edited 3/7/2006 8:12 am ET by johnnyd

1. 
   Robertog | Mar 07, 2006 11:37pm | #3

   Thanks so much for your very detailed answer.

   Yes the saw mill is here already and we are currently cutting and milling down some Cottonwood 2x6 , 2x8 , 2x10 , 2,12.

   The belt broke on the mill this morning as I was making some 1x10 and 1x12 boards for the flooing of my four pig pens.... The girls will have little ones in about three weeks...

   Again thanks for your response. 

1. 
   GregGibson | Mar 08, 2006 01:41am | #4

   Johnnyd gave you some great info, and it sounds like he's been around the block a time or two.  But . . . . I had a pretty bad staining problem because of my green stickers.  If I ever do it again, I'll use dried material for the stickers.  Tannins, I guess.  the stain runs deep, too.

   Greg

1. 
   johnnyd | Mar 08, 2006 03:53pm | #5

   One of the reasons you should start out with 5/4 if you want to end up with 3/4" finished boards.

2. 
   Robertog | Mar 08, 2006 05:44pm | #6

   Thanks Johhny on the possible tannins issue... That would be a problem especially if I go to the trouble of drying something for 2+ years

2. 
   WillGeorge | Mar 07, 2006 09:38pm | #2

   No advice but I LOVE working with Hickory (and Ash)

   Hickory does not get the respect it deserves!