Re: $1.80 a BF Black Walnut ad
Michael, here are some quick answers:
1 - rule of thumb for air drying is 1 year per inch of wood. Walnut dries a little more slowly than other woods, so the 1 year is a pretty realistic target.
2 - re best way to dry at home, this all depends upon how much degrade you want to risk. You'll get more degrade if the boards are stacked outside - period. If it were me, I would stack and sticker the boards in a dry location, such as the corner of a garage or workshop. It's ok to stand them upright (but turn them evey month or two so that they are loaded equally and don't bend).
After about 6 months of air drying in the garage or DRY basement, stack and sticker them up in your attic for 6 months. Use dry stickers spaced no more than 16" apart. Your boards should come out fine - probably in the 6 - 8% range. You may be able to have usable lumber before a year is out too.
Re sterilizing, the rule of thumb is to heat the center of the board to 135 degrees or higher for at least 24 consecutive hours. Quite frankly, if you keep boards in a hot attic over the summer I seriously doubt that there would be any critters left in them...
The best investment that you can make if you want to dry your own lumber at home is a high quality moisture meter. People that dry wood professionally use special meters that are accurate over the entire range of detection (0 - 80% range). Most meters sold for woodworkers are only good for 20% or below - you really need to read to 40% minimum and 60% is even better if you plan on drying your own wood.
Keep a log of your readings. Check each board, and determine which boards have the highest, lowest, and average MC%'s. Measure in the same place each time over the span of time that you're drying the wood.
For an individual, I would suggest making note of the date and MC% in chalk or crayon on the actual board, and also keep a separate sheet to track the percentages.
Regards,
Scott