Replies

1. 
   WillGeorge | May 17, 2005 10:32pm | #1

   I got room to store it if ya need space!

   Free I hope!

   
   

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   Edited 5/17/2005 3:33 pm ET by Will George

1. 
   bones | May 17, 2005 11:00pm | #2

   You are too kind!

2. 
   Jellyrug | May 17, 2005 11:04pm | #3

   Bones,

   If I can, I only get lumber rough sawn, as finished lumber from a supplier is never finished to the same standard that I can plane my own. For 4/4 this means that I have to plane again and go from 13/16 down to 3/4, or even less.

   If I plane my own lumber, I typically end up with 7/8" and the finish is almost, if not, final.

   I leave planing as the last step, and will never store planed lumber, as you always end up with a few dings, or scratches, which again have to be removed. If you store in the rough, and plane as you manufacture, your final finishing is almost done.

   I store on a large wall rack, made from 2 x 4 with 3/4 plywood as shelves. I sort same together and sticker on the shelves.

3. 
   woodensplinter | May 17, 2005 11:39pm | #4

   I agree with Jellyrug.  Store it rough and plane it as needed.

4. 
   Shanefe | May 18, 2005 02:02am | #5

   If the wood is dry, remove the sticker and "Dead Stack" it.  The wood will still aclimate to your shop and take up ~half the space.  The wood will gain / loose moisture slower, but it dose not sound like you are using up all of you wood every two weeks.

    Use a few sticker every now and then to make the stack stable.

5. 
   VomSorb | May 18, 2005 03:46pm | #6

   Keep it in the rough until needed, perhaps only skim planing with a jack plane before putting it up - you'll need to be able to see grain and color when selecting boards for future projects.

   Under no circumstances would I plane the lumber clean and lose thickness just for ease of storage.  I would figure out a better way to store it or stop and build whatever racking system your shop can stand.

6. 
   Garry | May 18, 2005 05:03pm | #7

   I sticker and stack in the rough then a couple of weeks before a project begins I bring a sufficent amount in the shop to do the project and sticker a stack again to acclimate the lumber to the shop conditions. Normally will flatten with jointer before planing. I never plane until I am ready to use it.

   Garry

   http://www.superwoodworks.com

7. 
   KeithNewton | May 19, 2005 03:56am | #8

   Bones, Stickers are used for green lumber when it comes from the mill, whether going to the kiln or is going to be air dried. If your lumber is dry, there is no reason to sticker it in your shop. However if you bought green lumber and are using your shop as a kiln, then you should.
   Do you have a meter? If you bought from a supplier that stores it out-doors under a shed, and you bought it after a very damp period, the stickering might be in order for a few weeks, but if you have had this stack for a month or more, it is time to reduce that wasted space.
   I have some vertical storage racks that I like. I have 12.5' ceilings which helps. At about 10' up I have a 2 X 6 bolted to the wall with 1" pipes about 2' long coming out on 18" centers, and another at 5' which is offset by 6" to support the middles, and handle shorter boards. I can get at any board in the rack easily by slightly tilting these small stacks. And they don't get as much dust on them either

   Now, if you heat your shop 25 degrees over the outside air temp all Winter, and if you run the AC all Summer, you probably don't need to worry much about the MC in your lumber.

1. 
   Jellyrug | May 19, 2005 04:14am | #9

   Root,

   If you don't sticker dry lumber in the shop, won't the top board loose or gain more moisture on it's exposed surface, as it acclimatizes to changes in humidity and warp a bit?

   Sometimes, I can straighten a warped board, by putting the convex side flat on the concrete floor in my shop.

1. 
   KeithNewton | May 19, 2005 06:36am | #10

   Are you saying that if you leave a dead stack in you shop that the top will curl up on the ends all year long? If so what is the MC of the lumber that you are buying?
   I just found that you are in Ca. but don't know what part. Are you out in the desert? If so, maybe you do need to sticker and dry your lumber down more.
   If all of your lumber was dried and brought in from somewhere else, maybe you do need to get it on down dryer.
   I have seen a map of the USA that shows what the EMC should be for certain areas. If you start in the desert in S Cal, and go North up the center of Ca on up to Idaho, then over to the E side of the divide, and on down to NM, with everything inside of that area needs to be dried down to 6%. Most of the rest of the country is better around 8%, unless you are within about 120 miles of the Gulf, and then it is 10%.I read a great article some time ago which referred to moisture as having potential. It is always flowing from a high into a low. Air being one of the most absorbent , and de-sorbent substances, is always either taking it on or giving it up depending on the temperature swing. I will see if I can find it and provide a link.Around here, in central Arkansas, the problem is usually gaining too much moisture, so rather than stickering my wood and having it all gain moisture, I would rather cover it with something so that none of it gains unwanted moisture.OK when we saw boards, we all have some changing due to stress and compression within the wood that has been working against one another until the saw goes through, and gives it a way to move without the other restraining part, and it may slowly move some more after the initial relief of the cut. We should not confuse this with moisture gain / loss. So if you staart cutting parts and come back and find a bunch of crooked parts, I don't think moisture is always to blame.

1. 
   Jellyrug | May 19, 2005 06:39pm | #13

   Root,

   I'm in Central California, Clovis, next to Fresno, kind of in between LA and San Francisco.

   We get quite a humidity swing from winter, through spring and into summer. Winter can be very wet, specially this year and a long dry summer. My shop is a three car garage, facing West and in summer when it gets to 110 F here, with the sun baking on those roll-up doors, I have a natural kiln going. In summer I'm fully occupied with agriculture, so there is no woodwork going on and I usually dry lumber harvested in the garage fully within three months during this period.

   I don't think there is a right or wrong answer here, in theory it's better to sticker, so that humidity changes affect everything equally, but in practice many don't sticker dry lumber.

   I have been to Woodworkers Source in Arizona several times and they store in racks, with no stickering. I must admit though, their slow moving stock is never straight and one has to select carefully. My local supplier stores thousands of board feet upright, standing on edge against steel frames. His lumber is normally pretty straight.

8. 
   JeffHeath | May 19, 2005 06:52am | #11

   bones

   The best way to keep your stock acclimated is to keep it stickered.  Unless you control your shop humidity perfectly, as the humidity in your shop changes, so will the stock.  If it is dead stacked, the outer boards will pick up more mc than the ones buried in the pile. 

   I keep a couple month's supply in the shop, and I just built a 19 x 22 foot shed to store all my lumber.  I mill my own logs, so I have quite the collection.  I used to collect baseball cards, now it's tools, hand planes, and lotsa' wood!!

   Jeff

1. 
   bones | May 19, 2005 02:38pm | #12

   Thanks to everyone that replied. My lumber is KN dried, but I have a humidity and temp gauge in the shop and humidity swings can be significant. We had a storm front come through and the humidity went from 22 to 67 in one day.  Thanks Jelly, for the comment about the ding's and such. I had not thought about that. I see there are different opinions about the stickering, but I think I need a storage rack to get it up and out of the way.  To conserve space I had combined two stacks. The stack was a little high and wobbly. I have a 9 year old and my was concern was him walking past it and something bad happening.