Hey All,
I’ve searched through the archives and have not found an answer to my question. I bought 2000 bdft of green hardwood – cherry, maple, & walnut. I stickered it with green 1 x 1 stickers of mostly maple & some cherry. I was always told to use the same species as what is stacked, which I have always done in the past but only in small amounts. I have never experienced sticker stain. Now, after reading all kinds of forums, I find out wet stickers are not good. I’m trying to talk myself out of restacking all this lumber – but I also don’t want to chance sticker stain with this much lumber. It was milled 2 weeks ago (northern Mich) and is now stacked in the loft of my barn, unheated but dry. It is like a kiln in the summer with the metal roof, but will likly not dry a whole lot until spring rolls around.
My basic question is – am I guaranteed sticker stain with green stickers or is it just a small chance? Does anyone have any actual experiance with this??
Thanks, Dave H
Replies
Dave, it's doubtful you'll have a problem with the walnut and cherry...but you are taking a bit of a risk with the maple. So, if the maple isn't commingled throughout the pile (or on the bottom, in accorance with Murphy's Law), you might want to bite the bullet and resticker just the maple. And SOON. Use dry stickers, preferably of the same species...but the latter point is less critical. The same-species convention helps safeguard against chemical interaction or the transfer of water soluble pigments.
Personally, I always follow the dry-sticker precaution, but don't always insist on the same species. Most of my stickers are maple, anyway. Because of it's density, maple seems to hold up better and I'm still reusing some stickers I cut from scrap over 20 years ago...Also, maple is a very chemically friendly wood (virtually void of tannin and other pigment forming extractives.)
Did the same thing with some maple, have sticker stain and it goes deep enough on 4/4 stock to still show when planed/jointed to 3/4.
See, Jeff....if you'd just listened to us old farts, you wouldn'ta learned this one the hard way. :O)
agreed :-)
I've committed all kinds of sins with Cherry and Black Walnut and never been caught tens of thousands of bd.ft. but Maple! UGH!!!!!!!!!
carefull danger !!!!
stain and mold !!!!
the rules seem to really apply to Maple!
dry sticker. (it doesn't seem to matter as long as the wood is the same general color (ie no cherry stickers on maple no black walnut stickers on maple but pine is fine and other wood is good)
seal the ends yeaterday! sooner is better and just as the tree falls seems to be best!
make certain that there is good air flow.. no damp tarps! no sheets of plywood directly on the maple. For the sake of your planer blades don't weigh them down with blocks or stone etc.. use straps you know those cheap nylon ratcheting straps they sell .
tighten them up with the straps directly over the sticker untill every thing squeeks and come back regularly and retighten.. one the straps stay tightened for a month you're getting near the point where thwe wood is going to be dry enough to do the rest of the millwork like planning or jointing etc.. use your moisture meter to confirm.. but I've found that to be a fairly reliable method..
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