Air Drying Lumber Shorts Need Help

[red]

Hey All

I re-sawed a bunch of lumber from some tree's I cut clearing my building lot. I want to dry this wood to make some small projects when dry. My question is; can I air dry these shorts standing on edge as in the photo up in my attic (I will have a sticker under to keep them off the floor) or do I have to lay them flat and sticker between the rows as I go up? Because of HOA, I can't do this outside. I was thinking the attic will act as a type of kiln. Let me know what your thinking. Thanks.

The wood is some white oak and poplar I think.

Red

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[CarvedTones]

It's gonna twist if it isn't weighted. Are the ends sealed?

 

[red]

It's gonna twist if it isn't weighted. Are the ends sealed?

Yes, the ends are sealed. The wood is cut about 18" long and 5/4 thick. Most is 5"-6" wide.

Red

 

[CarvedTones]

How much "fudge factor" do you have on thickness? I don't think they will twist to the point of being unusable, but they will likely require several passes through a planer to get flat again. I have dried a few things in the attic and had reasonable success with small stuff. With larger stuff I had checking and I was told it is because the outer layers were getting subjected to greater swings in temperature than the inner core was. Kilns get hot and stay hot, letting the wood get to a consistent temp all the way through. Your pieces that are dead on the quarter will do the best (assuming there is no pith in them) and your pieces from the outer ring are most likely to cup and twist. At least that is my thinking from my experiences.

 

[scsmith42]

I would suggest a two phase approach.

Phase 1 is air drying the wood either in your garage or outdoors, stacked and stickered (and weighted if possible).

Phase 2 can be performed in the attic.

This is a good time of the year for air drying oak. I would give it about 2 - 3 months of air drying outside of the attic, and check to be sure that all of the boards are below 35% (and preferably 25%) MC. Once they are below 25%, it's ok to move them to the attic.

The initial stages of drying oak are the most critical, and most of the damage that can occur is due to drying it too quickly.

 

[CarvedTones]

I would defer to Scott; he has far more experience with drying than I do.

Another suggestion - as far as the HOA goes, I have one of those also. I put wooden lattice work around my deck and then used a slightly dark deck stain/sealer on the deck and lattice work. Tarps and shed roofing comes in colors that match that really well and people are always giving away pallets to keep stuff off the ground. There is some cherry, hackberry and hickory drying under my deck right now, some maple and mulberry in the garage and a little pecan in the attic...

EDIT - Just as an FYI, the cherry, maple, hackberry and mulberry is for turning and carving, the hickory for bows and the pecan is limbs for hiking staffs. So twisting, checking and bowing is less of a concern for me.

 

[Mike Davis]

That wood is short and narrow so it may not take weight evenly. I would use some ratchet straps to tighten the stickered stacks to keep the wood as flat as possible. Once it is pretty well air dry you could unstrap the bundles to make it easier to move to the attic.

 

[red]

Thanks all for the input. I guess I will air dry the lumber in the garage and then move it to the attic like Scott described.

The wood is nothing special, it's just that I cut it from a building lot I bought in the mountains and want to make some small gifts for family so everyone has a piece of my NC mountain. Some of the grain does look pretty cool!

Red

 

[Matt Furjanic]

This is a labor intensive process, but if you want to have the best chance on getting the very best pieces dry without splitting, try this: Wrap them in newspapers, then in plastic, or shove the newspaper wrapped boards in a garbage bag. Change the newspapers weekly or so. Now, you don't want to do the whole lot this way, as it will drive you crazy with all that work, but if there are a few choice, figured pieces - this is the safest way. Use lots of newspaper - as much as twenty or thirty layers around an individual piece or two. You don't have be tidy and neat with the wrapping, just get the paper in there with the wet wood. Try to keep them in a warm place. The paper will absorb the moisture slowly and evenly. I do this with expensive exotics, but I wouldn't want to try drying a cord of oak this way! Matt...

 

[CarvedTones]

One more little tidbit...

On one episode of the Woodwright's Shop, he used fresh white oak that was dead on the quarter. I think he was making a chest. Anyway, he explained that it was one of the few woods that you could do this with. Just the quartered pieces (I hesitate to call them quartersawn because he rived them with a froe) - he was very adamant that the grain had to be right.

 

[Dragon]

Thanks for posting that. I'm filing away all that advice for future reference. The only thing I'd add to it is..........remove yourself from the constraints of the HOA if possible. Been there, done that, and something was always crimping my efforts to do what I wanted to do. Anyway, lots of good advice there :icon_thumand thanks again for asking this question.:eusa_clap