Have been in low-humidity area of central WA for 20 years, and have bought perhaps 3 sticks that didn’t go haywire because of drying issues. Homegrown rule of thumb is to sticker, tie tightly, and let ‘er sit for 2-3 years, and then hope that multiple-pass resawing rough 6/4 will yield stable nominal 1″ stock. Spendy and time-consuming. Any good pointers?
Thanks…
—John
Replies
Are you buying kiln-dried hardwood, or junk from a big-box store? KD wood from a hardwood dealer shouldn't give you that much trouble. Buy rough lumber, not surfaced, joint & plane it yourself. You should be able to get at least 13/16 from rough 4/4, no matter what your humidity is.
(I have the opposite problem - humidity here is typically 70% or more, so KD lumber absorbs moisture. Then I make furniture and deliver it to someone in SoCal where the humidity is maybe 20%...)
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
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Hi...Thanks for your kind reply - sorry to be so tardy in responding.Yup, you're right - oughtta get at least 13/16 from rough 4/4. There is no stocking hardwood dealer in this area, but I can order roughsawn KD from local lumber yards. Rel humidity is so low here that natural wood moisture will settle in 4-5% range. The KD stuff shipped in from the coast will run 7-10%, and if I don't get it stickered and restrained quickly, it'll get squirrely. Whether cup, bow, wind, crook, or whatever, the distortions result in 'way too much stock loss. Combine that with lousy control over grain orientation, and losses are ridiculous. The only way I can get decent stuff is to rent a truck and head for the big city stocking dealer, then talk him into letting me cherry-pick. (And run home as fast as my fat little legs will carry me and get the stuff tied down!)Had lived in midwest for over 40 years, and never had such probs with wood stock. Y'know, I love it here in the middle of nowhere most of the time, but I do miss the bigtown advantages - like, finding just about anything you need. I don't envy you the "opposite problem" with humidity. In truth, I'm better off having to cope with it *before* the wood is worked, than you are in having to try to plan for it to shrink every which way once it leaves your hands - that's a tricky problem to design around (which, to your credit, you're obviously doing.)Keep smilin'...---John
Edited 6/2/2005 1:12 am ET by John
Sounds like your basic problem is the quality of the lumber: the poor quality exacerbates the effects of drying. Otherwise I can't figure out why the wood is behaving so badly. It has already been dried from green (MC probably >30%) down to less than 10%, so further drying to 5% should not cause such severe movement, seems to me. Only other thing I can think of is that the rate of drying also has an effect - maybe it is drying too fast, causing internal stress. I assume you are storing it indoors, or at least under cover. If the sun is hitting it directly, or even indirectly (i.e. radiant heat through a metal roof), that could cause severe warping.What kind of wood (species) are you getting?I know what you mean about missing the conveniences. We are two hours' drive, on a twisty mountain road full of log trucks and tourists, from the nearest city with a hardwood dealer. Seems like every time I go there to pick up a load of nice KD lumber for a project, a thunderstorm comes up out of nowhere on the drive back... I finally traded my pickup for a van.You're absolutely right about it being tricky to design around that inevitable shrinkage. Sometimes it works better than other times..."Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
http://www.albionworks.net
Yup - I think I'm going to have to find other than in-town sources. Probably running into stuff improperly sstored. Problem with ordering rough is zero control pover what's sent.Most of hw purchases have been red & white oak and maple."Sometimes works better..." - - how well I know!---John
John;
Where are you at? I live in Moses Lake and don't have those kind of wood problems.
Course, living in the middle of nowhere does have its supply disadvantages, but I buy wood in Seattle, Portland, Spokane and don't seem to have those problems.
Hi, Dick..I'm in ML also! Maybe we could get together for a cuppa...?? Would surely like to know location info for sources you use.Regards,---John
Wood deformation in central WA
Could be the rain?
Hi, Will...Wrong side of the state. West side is wet, but central (my location) is semi-desert. Prob lies in the fact that even responsibly kiln-dried stock is at higher than local values for moisture content, hence the need to sticker and restrain it for a while until it's settled down. Construction lumber here is a *real* disaster - anything that's brought in (no local trees, no local mills) is almost guaranteed to pretzel - lots of problems with drywall nail pops as the wood dries out.---John
"Construction lumber here is a *real* disaster" - I'll bet! It's bad enough even here, right next to the trees and the mills - can't imagine trying to build with something that is losing moisture that rapidly.Wish I could give you better advice. I wasn't doing this kind of work when I lived in Reno NV, which also has extremely low humidity, so I don't have any coping mechanisms to share. Well, there's always beer, the ultimate coping mechanism!
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler." A. Einstein
http://www.albionworks.net
Thank you, my friend. Give us a touch now and then.---John
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