Suppose you have a green - REALLY green - board 10" wide and 2-3' long; you cut a 1" wide groove long ways through the center, stopping 2-3" from each end. What's going to happen to that groove once the board is bone dry? Narrower? Wider? Nothing?
It will likely be wider.
Assuming the lumber will shrink on drying, the groove will also shrink. It may also not be straight, as shrinkage is not always uniform. The board also may crack from the end(s).
Well, drier certainly. Wood shrinks as it dries. OK you can plan for that, kind of. What you can't account for is shape changes: cupping, bowing, and worst of all twisting. Take a look at
Good luck and good night. mahalo, jo4hn
It's going to shrink right along w/ the rest of the board as it dries...it'll also probably want to cup; didn't give any info on thickness of board nor the dado with respect to thickness nor grain--was it plain sawn w/ noticeable radii, quartersawn or something in between?
My guess... The board will shrink more in width than it does in length. W hether the board "arcs" to open or close the groove will depend on the way the grain curves at the end of the board... the grain usually tries to stra ighten out. Beyond that, there will be lengthwise cracks.
It depends on how it is cut from the log. Each grain pattern ends up different. some cup and the cut would be wider on one side and narrower on the other. Some warp and the cut might be different widths along the length. Some get shorter. Some get narrower. The type of wood and the drying conditions also play a role. Properly stacked and dried the cupping and warping can be minimized. Properly sealed so that the drying is slow and even and the shrinking can be minimized.
It all depends as to what the result will be.
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