Replies

1. 
   Kevin | Jul 08, 2003 10:52pm | #1

   Check your local Yellow Pages directory under "Lumber." If you don't find any there, go to your local public library and check the Yellow Pages directories for the surrounding communities until you find one.

   Regards,

   Kevin

1. 
   jvs | Jul 08, 2003 11:21pm | #2

   Try http://www.woodfinder.com; there is a checkbox for kiln services in the search.

   /jvs

2. 
   fdampier5 | Jul 09, 2003 09:04pm | #3

   take the wood, sticker it up, strap it flat (those cheap little nylon tie down straps work fine) , wrap it in plastic and to one end add a dehumidifier.. seal everything up tight and check the moisture a month later, should be around 8 to 10%   cost you the price of running the dehumidifier.. couple of bucks..

1. 
   johnhardy | Jul 09, 2003 10:51pm | #4

   Frenchy, is that true even if the wood is 16/4? Should I add a fan to move the air? Some light bulbs for heat?

   John

1. 
   bill_1010 | Jul 10, 2003 03:48am | #5

   american woodworker i think had plans for a dehumidfication kiln a few months back.  Pretty basic unit.  Sealed up box with baffles, a heat lamp, small fan and a dehumidifier.  

   There is more to kiln drying then setting up a dehumidfier and leaving it running.  Each species can only take so much moisture removal per day. Too much and youll ruin your crop.   Not enough and it takes longer.   One of the wood experts here can recommend a govt book or other book about the drying schedule and other drying skills.

   Some woods IMO shuldnt be kiln dried, walnut is my main thing. I like the coloring that air drying does to walnut as opposed to kiln drying.

1. 
   fdampier5 | Jul 10, 2003 06:35am | #7

   you and I are in complete agreement regarding air drying walnut..  Much prettier wood air dried then kiln especially when they inject some steam in it to turn the white juvenile wood brown.

     (unfortunately I need to get some walnut up in a couple of weeks and all the sawmill has is green wood . so into the plastic it'll go and be down to around 14 to 16% moisture in two weeks which is fine for outside trim wood) 

     while it's true that you should only remove a certain amount of water per day for some woods..  most are pretty tolerant and if you check every week or so you should be fine. Some woods like maple are pretty easy if dried quickly and left to aclimatize to reduce case hardening.. dry Maple too slowly and there will be a great chance of mold or stain. 

     since he's talking about 16/4 wood the time it will take to dry will be dramatically increased..  thus it's mass will tend to slow the drying process..  

2. 
   fdampier5 | Jul 10, 2003 06:08am | #6

   John,

      you won't need or want heat.. that will tend to add to the case hardening problem.   nor will you need to add fans the dehumidier will take care of that for you..

     since you are talking about 16/4 you'll have to add a bit of time for drying.(figure at least four times as long maybe more) .  Do you have a moisture meter?    What I would do is bring it down to around 12% moisture and then open the plastic and let it season a bit (to aid in removing any case hardening) and then pull it down the last 4%  to around 8% moisture..

     I should ask how much you have and what species before I go further.. my experiance has been with hardwoods white oak, black walnut, cherry, maple etc..

     I have done a little with eastern white pine and tamarack so I have a little soft wood experiance and will say that it dries a lot faster.. but you need to be carefull not to honeycomb it..

1. 
   johnhardy | Jul 10, 2003 08:19pm | #8

   Frenchy,

   What I've got is black walnut, and it's already air dried to about 14%. I resawed one of the 8 by 8 timbers and it was about 14% on the inside. So, should I assume that I can put it in the plastic and leave it for, say, 3 months? Checking every couple of weeks? Would it be a good idea to take one timber out after that period and resaw it to see what the scoop is?

   Thanks for the advice. This is definitely doable and lots cheaper than loading up about 4000 pounds of walnut and driving 400 miles, paying $1000, and then going back in several months to pick it up.

   Oh, and I do have a moisture meter. A Mini-Ligno.

   John

   Edited 7/10/2003 1:20:05 PM ET by johnhardy

1. 
   fdampier5 | Jul 12, 2003 03:10am | #9

   Thank goodness,  I've got a lot of experiance with black walnut  (about 10,000 bd.ft or so,.. maybe more,... )

     thick black walnut is an excellant wood to dry that way.. but I doubt you'll safely pull 4 percent from 8 inch thick black walnut in 3 months.. especially working from 14%  (the final dry down seems to take forever)

      I'm guessing (and darn it I lent out my book on drying so I can't check)  A lot depends on local humidity.  but I run a dehumidifier for thick stuff for 18 on and 8 off for several weeks at a time  doing surface checks every week or so..   when I approach 9%  I open it up a week or so to eliminate any built up   case hardening. check and then pull it down the last 1%    I'm fairly careful about sealing the plastic up (tyvec is the tape of choice)  but I'm certain that it's not fully airtight..  Once I turn off the dehumidifier the plastic falls away from the wood. 

     A question if I may,, why the focus on 8%?  at 14% you won't get any appreciable shrinkage pulling it down to 8% and it's got to be a pretty dry place to get below 14%   in the summer.. (winter I can understand) 

     By the way can I assume that the 8x8is a cant? or heart center?   I have had moderate success keeping the heart centers from checking noticably when the indoor humidity approaches4% or less.   

       By the way I use the same meter.. 

     

2. 
   johnhardy | Jul 12, 2003 03:38am | #10

   Thanks much. Yes, the 8 by 8s are cants. I figured I'd resaw them and get usable wood even so ... removing the pith will still give lots of usable wood (the actual centers are not really in the center of the cant, if you know what I mean).

   Are you saying that you can build furniture with wood at 14%? I'm somewhat dubious, and didn't want to do lots of work only to have problems down the road. If I check the ends, they're in the 6 to 8% range as it is. The reason I ask is that I cut one 16/4 board to check the moisture content, and forgot to seal the cut ends right away. By the next day there was already noticable checking in the cuts. I sealed them up and the checking has stopped. This tells me that at 14% the wood is still too wet for me to work.

   I'll let you know how the drying works out. This will save me lots of $$$.

   John

3. 
   fdampier5 | Jul 12, 2003 07:06am | #11

   where are you? I mean you can't in the southwest or anyplace real dry..  but you can in high humidity areas... again that depends so much on what you're doing..   Timber framing for example 14% is fine..  a chess board with contrasting woods,, no! 

     Oh  I remembered who I lent my book to and called.. the chart shows that you can remove about a gallon a day at 14% moisture per 100 bd.ft.   You will need to cut that in half by the time you get it to 9% moisture..

           

4. 
   johnhardy | Jul 12, 2003 06:13pm | #12

   I'm in Los Angeles. One of the things I make is high end chess boards, with contrasting woods. Interesting that you chose that example ... :)

   I'll definitely use this method and just play it by ear as to how long I do it ... trial and error.

   John

5. 
   fdampier5 | Jul 13, 2003 03:43am | #13

   I got my book back,  (thanks for causing me to go get it.. I lend out a surprising number of books and get very few of them back)..

        Any way the book has a good chapter on drying that makes a lot of sense to me..  what you need to do is taper off..  remove a gallon of water per 100 bd.ft. per day untill you get to 12%  then remove about a 3/4 of a gallon per 100 etc..down to 1/2 gallon at 8 % 

     What I do is have a piece of tape pulled back  on one end and the dehumidifier on the other end and that causes all the needed air movement.  It's summer so the normal condition of wood is to get hotter (dark wood esp.. )  a lite bulb may be called for in winter but in the winter I pull everything into the house and that is too dry so I don't need to run the dehumidifier..   In January here in Minnesota I can dry wood from green to 8% in a month but that case hardens it so I actually add a pan of water as it appraches 10%    

     I'm lazy so rather than checking to see that a gallon per hundred comes out I judge it by the puddle size..  Take a gallon of water and splash it down,,  that's how much you should remove at first..   Since my drain is reasonably close by I estimate.. I use my meter every other day (just poke it thru the plastic, the tiny holes really don't matter)   and check in a few places.   I run the dehumidifier shorter hours as it appraoches 10% moisture.   The meter tells you more than anything and yes you should cut a timber in two as it approaches the desired goal to check inside moisture.

      If we did this as a profession we could be far more precise and have a kiln of our own etc.. but the principle is the same, pull water out  in a schedule that tapers off as you finish it..

      I'd be tempted to slice the timbers into boards before drying.. If you did,  you could probably make your first chess set in August..

     

6. 
   johnhardy | Jul 13, 2003 04:00am | #14

   Frenchy, you're a virtual mountain of knowledge. Thanks very much. And it's chess boards I make, not chess sets, but I'm on my way.

   I think I'll cut the 8 by 8 cants up before drying, and may resaw some of the 16/4 boards into 8/4 boards as well. I'd like to have a few 16/4 boards dried as is so that if I decide to make something that requires very thick stock I've got it in hand. For instance, posts for a bed or something.

   Anyway, once I get this dry and ready to go I'll make a chess board for you. It'll be dwarfed by the mansion you're building, but when you need to take a break you can play a game or two. Maybe even crack open a beer or two as well.

   Thanks very, very much.

   John

7. 
   fdampier5 | Jul 13, 2003 04:35am | #15

    Then I'll buy you a nice bottle  of wine and get you drunk and whoop you in chess.. (about the only way I could, most likely)