Hello all. I recently purchased some southern yellow pine(2×8’s and 2×10’s) from a local russell-do-it center. The guys there didn’t seem to know what moisture content the boards had. I know that I need to buy a moisture meter, however, I am wondering if there is an inexpensive way of drying this lumber a little faster. I thought of trying to get it to a mill with a kiln however there are none close enough to make it worth it. Currently it is stacked in a room in my guest house which does not have any heat or air, and also has poor circulation. It is stickered and stacked with cinder blocks on top. Should I seal the end-grain? And what do I seal it with(paint?) And should it be moved, outside maybe? I am worried about putting it outside right now because it is the dead of summer here in Georgia, the last 14 days were in the 90’s. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am sorry if this question may seem basic however I’m working on a dial-up out here in the woods and searching these forums for the answer to this question would take 3 days. Thanks ahead for your patience.
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Replies
"I am sorry if this question may seem basic...." Not to worry -- drying lumber is far from a basic issue. The subject of what to seal end-grain with often stirs up controversy, so don't be surprised at that! If you want something easy to find and not very expensive, get some paraffin wax (canning wax) at your local Ace Hardware or similar place. Lots of people use it, some insist it isn't sufficiently effective at cutting down moisture loss from the ends........
First yes you should use stickers and make sure they are lined up. That is each sticker needs to be directly over the one below.. (and the same thickness)
Next don't, please don't, use cinder blocks! They shed sand and grit which will ruin any planner blades or cutting tools you use on them. Instead use tie down straps, those cheap light duty ones work just fine Tie the bundle together over the stickers so you aren't induceing any curve in the boards..
Tie them down tight and a week later they will be loose so give them another click or 2 on the ratchet mechanism.. You'll have to do that at least once a month from then on.. when several months have gone by and they no longer need tightening you are about dried but check with a moisture meter.
Third cover the top to protect it from direct sunlite but don't cover the sides, at all!
Fourth They make a sealant for board ends which is very good, however you can paint the ends with a thick coat of paint just remember to come back about a month later and reapply. Don't worry about slopping on the surfaces, that will come off as you run them through the planner or Jointer. With all my timbers I simply went to the paint store and bought some of the mismixed paint for a BUCK A GALLON..
Fifth if you keep them indoors in air conditoned spaces they will dry out faster, If it were winter they dry out even faster still.
If speed is real critical wrap the stack in air tight plastic (including the bottom) (tape all seams) and feed it into a dehumidifier. The first day will fill completely the water tray and probably overflow it.. But be very careful doing it this fast can and does induce case hardening.. (ask and I'll explain it, how to test for it and how to avoid it) or honeycombing. You can generally get a 1000bd.ft. dry in a month using a dehumidifier..
French & BoxMan,I would add that 3/4" or so thick stickers are a good size. Don't go too much thinner or you'll be cutting down on airflow.The straps are a good idea to keep pressure on the stack as cinder blocks placed on top would do. Straps have the added benefit of keeping the pile together, making it homogenous so it is more stable."don't cover the sides, at all" What if the sun shines directly on the sides? I think that you could use shade cloth, which is a medium-weave fabric so it lets air through unlike plastic sheet or plywood yet still shades the pile.Some people use paint and it seems to work fine for them (is oil-based better than latex?) but others, myself included, use a product sold as end-grain sealer. I think that the biggest benefit of end-grain sealer is that it requires fewer coats. So it's a time to apply vs $$$ issue."Fifth if you keep them indoors in air conditoned spaces they will dry out faster". Until yesterday, I would have thought you were crazy, that bringing wood inside too soon would cause excess cracking because it would dry too fast. But that's not the case (in some cases, at least). I visited a client yesterday who had fallen a maple tree last October, had it slabbed and put it in their basement, stickered, right away. The checking was very minimal and the slabs stayed very flat.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
BoxMan,
See my post above as well. You don't mention what you are building with the lumber. For fine furniture with intricate jointer, the wood really does need to be dry. However, if you are building furniture for the outdoors or a tabletop, you could start now. One way of seeing if the wood is dry is to weight it, let it dry some, then weigh it again. If it weighs the same it is dry. Of coruse, you must wait long enough for the wood to lose enough moisture to make a difference in weight. Also, it will only tell you when the lumber has reached equillibrium and not how wet or dry it is.
and www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Thank you all for being so detailed. I think you have made this quite easy. I have space in the front room of my house that is awaiting renovation where I can put the boards to dry. I do have one more question. When using a moisture meter, what is the easiest way to get an accurate measurement. Also, you asked what the lumber would be used for. It will be used to build a beefed up version of the new-fangled workbench incorporating a laminated(3"in. thick) work top and 3/4"in. pipe clamps in place of the 1/2"in. used in the article. It will be 96" x 26" and will have a few other small adjustments and add-ons to help with the different types of pieces I build. Again, thank you so much, you folks are great!!
I'm wondering why you think you need to dry it at all. Most, if not all structural lumber I have ever purchased from a retail outlet was either kiln dried or air dried, certainly not green, i.e. it's still wet sometimes you can feel it. I've used a lot of air dried framing material with no ill effects, seen kiln dried that was horrendous.
Are there any markings on these planks? Did you select good stock for your project, (quarter sawn would be ideal)? All the planks straight, none twisted or cupped? A bench is the heart of a woodshop and will or should be your most frequently used tool so it needs to be square and flat, accept no substitutes.
If you do find it needs further drying then you have gotten all good advice already methinks. Keep it flat and good air circulation. My experience with recalcitrant wood is it seems to sit there glimly within the stack till you release it from its bondage and then merrily goes on about its intended business anyway.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Bob read carefully the stamps on those.. KD does not mean it's dried down to furniture grade! KD only means kiln dried. Indeed I have been to several lumber producing mills and the Kiln is on the railroad tracks out of the plant.. so simply because they can roll it through a kiln they can legally call it kiln dried..
Some stamp KD 19 which means Kiln dried to 19% moisture content (=or- 2%) since a lot of trees will come in with that moisture content they can simply mill them and stack them without wasting the fuel required to dry them..
By the way with my moisture meter I've tested 2x4's as high as 24% moisture in the lumber yard and yes they had a KD stamp on them.
frenchy,
Bob read carefully the stamps on those
Yes I'm aware of that and was just trying to find out more info. from the OP. He may be just fine with what he has and may not need further drying. Not saying I'm right but may be contemplating unnecessary work.
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
OK ,good enough..
Over at Fine home building I get major arguements from them about that very subject..
Bob,Fair enough, but I would still recommend letting the wood acclimatise for a couple of weeks. That's a general rule I have regardless of how dry it is, how it was dried, or so forth.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)
- Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
Chris,
Absolutely acclimatize it for some amount of time. Not sure where the OP lives, could be a next door neighbor to AZMO in which case he won't need to be concerned about moisture.
Whether they're dry or green eventually they'll adapt to the environment they're in. I think proper stock selection may enter into the equation as to how they behave. Along those lines treating the lumber as one would for furniture should work.
Regards,
Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Edited 7/5/2009 10:58 am ET by KiddervilleAcres
Wow, you guys are on your game. All of the boards I selected were quartersawn clear boards and all were as perfectly straight as you can get at the lumberyard. I picked through the stack for three hours at Russell (they hated me for that) and found the best boards I could. However, some of the boards despite being the same dimensions are significantly heavier. I had also heard previously from a local builder here in west georgia that the lumber he gets locally usually has about 15-20% moisture content. These were the primary reasons for thinking that some drying would be necessary. I usually deal with thin cut exotics so drying is a bit foriegn to me. I only sticker and stack boards long enough for them to acclamate to the shop as I recieve them between 4-8% moisture content. I do have about 300 bf of walnut from a friends fallen tree, and a large trunk and branches of a mimosa tree that I will be asking you guys advice on later. I have never heard of using mimosa, but it looks pretty interesting. First I have to find someone to mill it. It is still in logs. Anyway, thanks again for all your help.
BoxMan,
Southern yellow pine generally does not end check to any significant extent, so you may be OK as is. I air-dry in Georgia and use a shed open on three sides. I can get down to 12% moisture in the best conditions.
I have a number of different hardwoods, so let me know if you are looking for any wood.
If you have a miosture meter start out by following the instructions that came with it, different meters work in different ways. What you will be watching for is the moisture content diminishing as the wood dries until it reaches a steady state, not some exact moisture content. You could also take a one or two foot long piece, sealing the ends the same as the rest of the stock and keep weighing it on a fairly accurate kitchen scale. It will lose weight fairly steadily for a few weeks in good drying conditions and then the weight loss will slow down or stop. At that point you should cut, joint, and plane it roughly to size, and then give it another week or two stickered, to lose additional moisture and for stress release, in the area you will be actually making the bench in.John White
Shop Manager for FWW Magazine, 1998-2007
Box Man
Drive it over to PHX. We have a that Kiln Dry thing beat, my moisture meter won't even read on stuff I keep outside for 6 months! I thought the dang thang was broken the first time I used it, and had to take it to Home Repo to test it on some wet stuff! Splitting is an issue here for sure, you have to seal the ends, paraffin works great
When I buy 1/2" birch ply, I always try to buy from a fresh stack. Spray a sealer on it right away or it turns in to a $60 potato chip.
later AZMO
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