Replies

1. 
   UncleDunc | Dec 29, 2004 03:16am | #1

   Bruce Hoadley's book Understanding Wood describes subjecting pitch bearing woods to temperatures above 175F in the kiln drying cycle, but he doesn't say how long it takes. The other alternative is time. If I recall correctly, it took something on the order of ten years to harden the pitch in some pine boards that I used to repair the tailgate on my truck. Or combine heat and time by stacking the boards in your attic.

1. 
   JIMMIE | Dec 29, 2004 04:02pm | #2

   Hey Uncle Dunc: Thanks for the input on the sappy problem. From what I gather the slabs are going to be more trouble or expense than they are worth as the final product. A guy that cuts and sells firewood has them for $100 ea. and if they are not usable they will go in the firewood bin. Shame, they are simply awesome pieces of wood. Jim

2. 
   LeeGrindinger | Dec 29, 2004 06:20pm | #3

   A hundred bucks each does'nt seem like much of a bargain. It works out to slightly less than two bucks a board foot for green wood.

   As to the pitch, 160 fahrenheit is the temperature most kilns use as the minimum for driving off the volatiles that make the resin ooze. 160f is also the point at which wood tissue really starts to lose strength so the best of kilns won't go hotter than necessary. The process is called "fixing pitch" and the length of time varies due to species and thickness. I use to do it at the end of drying cycles and I'd heat up 12/4 pine for a day. Done at the end of the cycle speeds the process since the volatiles have been dissipating since the wood first went into the kiln.

   Lee

1. 
   JIMMIE | Jan 03, 2005 07:00pm | #4

   Hey Lee: Happy New Year and thanks for the information on my "sappy problem". I have come to the conclusion that the planks are not worth the trouble. It is a shame, they have such beautiful grain and color. Thanks again, Jim

1. 
   LeeGrindinger | Jan 03, 2005 09:26pm | #5

   Ahhh Grasshopper, you have passed your test...you did not succumb to "big board lust". Most fall prey to it's promises.I think you made the right decision.Lee

1. 
   JIMMIE | Jan 04, 2005 01:06am | #6

   Oh Mighty Mentor: I have not fully cleansed my soul of the lust for such beautiful planks of mighty wooden splendor. I am deeply entrenched in a search for another calling for their beauty and splendor. I talk no more fore I am engrossed in the search. Ahh, I shall signal thee when my search is no more. Where might I enquire, is the state in which you reside?

1. 
   LeeGrindinger | Jan 04, 2005 01:38am | #7

   Confusion, panic, disorientation, drunkeness, sobriety, inspiration, depression and Montana.Not necessarily in that order.Lee

2. 
   JIMMIE | Jan 04, 2005 04:56am | #8

   Yeh, me too. I go through the beautiul "Big Sky" country on my way to S. Dak. to see my folks in Hot Springs. Jim

3. 
   LeeGrindinger | Jan 04, 2005 07:59am | #9

   I'm 18 miles off I90, give a call on your way through.Lee

4. 
   JIMMIE | Jan 04, 2005 06:15pm | #10

   Cool! Will do. "Big Sky Country" is almost as beautiul as the Hood Canal area. Ha!