lumber storage

[larry in cinci]

Here we go again more questions. I have about 100 bf of oak lumber 5/4 thick between 6" to 10" wide amd all about 10' long. It's all air dried outside for 2 years possibly as long as 2 1/2 years. I am moving it into the ga(ahem)shop for storage and wonder if I have to include the stickers or can I just stack it together. I did a group search on storage and some one had the same question but about some really older barn lumber ( makes me jealous ) that the replies said straight stacking SHOULD (my emphasis) be ok but I don't know about oak only a couple of years dried. Again thanks in advance for all advice and replies. Larry

[js]

my question is, why not sticker it? sure it takes up a bit more room... but that isnt major.

I always sticker all my wood at all times in all locations.

[Kruppt]

"larry in cinci" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I would sticker the lumber. I would still let the air at the lumber.

I have some 4/4 red oak I milled 6 years ago, that was dried in a fan-shed for 4 weeks after milling, air dried for two more years. (in a opened sided shed with roof) and then restacked and stickered in an inclosed building for the remaining time. I thought that the lumber would be dry enough at this point to build fine oak furniture like tables, etc. with. WRONG! I built a large glue panel table top with some of this oak. All went well, until I brought my finely finished oak harvest table into my home (centeral air conditioning and heating). My beautiful table, after several weeks in the house turned into a nightmare. I'm in the south where it is more humid than other places I have been, so you may have better luck in your location, as far as using air dried oak lumber. I had to build a kiln, and since doing so, have built several large, and several smaller oak tables from the same batch of lumber and had no problems. Be careful of this "idea" that if you air dry your lumber for X amount of time, you can build fine furniture with it. And all you wanted to know was wither to sticker it or not. LOL! I just wanted to share my experience in this regard, as it was not a good one, and if I save another wood-worker the pain of seeing their fine work turn into a pretzel, well.......maybe you will have better luck in your location who knows.

Kruppt

[George]

You sticker to promote even loss of moisture and to prevent rot. Since the moisture content is below the point where it would foster rot, and yet not yet equal to the area where it will reside as an end product, there's nothing to gain but mouse nests and snakes by stickering it. A close-stacked pile of lumber is also less prone to catch fire than one with abundant air assured, which is another consideration, especially if that garage is yours.

When you are ready to work it, sticker it for a couple of weeks so it may adjust.

[Ward Cleaver]

Just curious, I am a newbie and wondered what you mean by stickering it?

js wrote in rec.woodworking

[Doug Miller]

That means to stack it in layers, with 1x1 strips laid across the boards about every two feet, to separate the layers. A side view of a stickered stack looks something like this: (view using a monospaced font such as Courier)

--------------------------------------------------- | board viewed on edge |

--------------------------------------------------- |x| |x| |x|

--------------------------------------------------- | board viewed on edge |

--------------------------------------------------- |x| |x| |x|

--------------------------------------------------- | board viewed on edge |

--------------------------------------------------- |x| |x| |x|

The |x|-s are the ends of the stickers.

This arrangement allows air to circulate around all surfaces of all boards in the stack, permitting them to achieve equilibrium moisture content with their surroundings.

-- Regards, Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

[Morgans]

Right after wood has been run through the sawmill, it is stacked in layers with narrow strips of wood in between the layers. That is the sticks, in stickering. It is done to promote air circulating between the layers and drying the wood evenly.

[Igor]

Great way to set up your own punchline. I may steal that. Well, "may" is not quite the right word.

[Kruppt]

Igor wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I built the kiln from an article in a American Woodwork mag. Issue #94 June 2002. It is basically a insulated plywood box with framing, that has a baffle/partition made of pref board. On one end is a shrouded fan, a heat source (four 150 watt lights) and a dehumidifier. The hot air circulates through the stack, and the moisture in the kiln air is drawn off by the dehumidifier, and deposited outside the kiln. The temp in the kiln is anywhere from 130 degrees to 140 degrees depending on wither the dehumidifier is on or off. It is pretty simple to build, and all the info needed to build the kiln is in the article. I built mine to accomendate 8' lengths of lumber, their plan is for 4' lengths. The size of the one in the article is 40" by 40" by 8'. You may be able to fit it in your basement, yes? A solar kiln would be my first choice, but beings I live on the north side of a mountain, that is covered with trees, I do not have enough sunlight. :( That would be my first choice also. I found two dehumidifiers at the dump. All that was wrong with them was the fan bearings/bushings had gummed up. I cleaned the bushings, and re-lubed and they worked! So in my case the whole project set me back less than $300. The article claims the kiln can be built for just around $600. The kiln in article will dry 200 board foot of lumber at a time. Buying green lumber and drying it yourself, would make the expense look minimal, if you do a lot of woodwork.

Photo copies are available via the link below for $3. Look for Kiln Issue #94.

lost me on the firing pot bit.

Kruppt

[Kruppt]

Inline below

Igor wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Got it.

When building the kiln via the plans in the mag article. It will dry 100 board ft. of green lumber (freshly cut lumber from living tree = very wet) in 2 to 6 weeks, depending on species and lumber thickness. That said, I did not build my kiln with a humidistat and thermostat. I do not put green lumber in my kiln, as I dry my green lumber in a fan-shed first, then stack/sticker it in a open air shed for a year, then I stack/sticker it in a inclosed building for another year or so. So I am drying "air dried" lumber in my kiln to bring down the final MC in the lumber to 6-8%. It takes a few days to a week at the longest in my case. I have external switches that control the fan/lights/dehumidifier manually.

Yes, but you would have little control over how fast the wood actually dries in that case. If you just stack sapping wet green lumber in a 120 plus hot box the lumber would be a mess. Checks, cracks, stresses, staining etc. You could probably dry air-dried lumber in that fashion as the violin makers did in the past, using their attics and such, but that is lumber that has already been air-dried. The dehumidifier kiln in the article will allow for controlled drying of green lumber to cabinet grade lumber (if the lumber is of good grade in the first place)If you draw off the water content of lumber quickly, you have firewood when your done drying it. It would be a mess.

Kruppt

[Igor]

[snip]

Thanks again. Verey interesting, especially the part about the violin makers drying wood in the attic.