Wood stickers for air drying

[JimmyC]

Hey all,

For anybody out there drying their own wood, what do you use for stickers ? What type of wood, what dimensions, and do you cut it yourself or is there an easier way to procure it ? I'm thinking about air drying some wood and generally storing some outside. I have a 10' x 20' overhang and it should be good getting me started with 8' long boards. But before I get any lumber I want to level the area (concrete ?) and make sure that I have enough stickers. Also do the stickers tend to twist when not used for stacking wood.

One other thing that I'm wondering about is having the stickers stain some of the wood. I woud eventually like to be able air dry, or store a few hundred board feet of wood. And I am also looking forward to eventually having a solar kiln (for about 330 bd.ft.) to finish some of the wood off before it goes inside. I store my wood inside my shop vertically and it holds about 600-800 bd.ft., but as I say "One can't have enough wood", especially different species.

Thank you in advance,
Jimmy:mrgreen:

 

[DaveO]

I have used just about any kiln dried scrap stock. I generally use ¾" x ¾" as that is the thickness of my scrap stock and making them square make them easier to use. When I have had to purchase stock to make stickers I have got either the cheapest pine from Lowes or have used low grade plywood (the plywood is the best bang for the buck but I am not sure if it's the best material)

MTCW,
Dave

 

[walnutjerry]

If you are having someone saw the lumber for you, ask them to saw some 1x1 stock from the slabs. Using the same specie stickers when green will not stain the boards. After the stickers are dry you should be able to use them with any specie. Poplar is a good choice of stickers for any specie.

put down a good flat 4x4x 4' wide base long enough to accommodate the length of you lumber with runners 16" to 24 apart. Sticker directly over those runners.

Just my opinion------------------Jerry

 

[DaveO]

A few links of info -

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Stickers_for_green_lumber.html

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Sticker_Thickness_and_Sources.html

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Making_stickers.html

HTH,
Dave

 

[Sully]

IMHO, I would not, under any circumstances, use green wood for stickers. I have seen situations where that arrangement caused a rot line across every sticker, essentially ruining the entire stack of wood. :no: May be it is OK in some situations, but I would never do it.

I think the absolute best stickers are tobacco barn sticks. :thumbs_up They are bone dry and plentiful if you look around and find someone with an old tobacco barn. :icon_thum

J

 

[jeff...]

Jimmy just about any old wood will work as long as it's dry - shoot for 3/4 to 1" thick less than that don't seem to work so well over an 1" is a waste of space. Just make sure they are uniform in thickness. I've stickered with wet wood before - some species do ok others tend to cause stain and or mold / mildew where the wet sticks come into contact with the wet wood. So I would suggest using dry sticks. Also make sure you stick about ever 12 ~ 16" and stay less than 3" from the end if at all possible.

Need any help just PM me and I'll shoot you my cell phone number - sometimes it's easier to explain things over the phone than in a forum like this.

Later dude...

 

[Bas]

I'm drying my first load of lumber, so I have no clue what I'm doing, but plywood stickers seem to work OK. MDF - not so great.

I wonder if there is some sort of cheap PVC type material (in a square form) available. It would last forever, and not stain.

 

[Jerome B]

Tell us more about the difference in staining by different species of wood. you have peaked my interst.

Jerome

Jimmy just about any old wood will work as long as it's dry - shoot for 3/4 to 1" thick less than that don't seem to work so well over an 1" is a waste of space. Just make sure they are uniform in thickness. I've stickered with wet wood before - some species do ok others tend to cause stain and or mold / mildew where the wet sticks come into contact with the wet wood. So I would suggest using dry sticks. Also make sure you stick about ever 12 ~ 16" and stay less than 3" from the end if at all possible.

Need any help just PM me and I'll shoot you my cell phone number - sometimes it's easier to explain things over the phone than in a forum like this.

Later dude...

 

[jeff...]

Tell us more about the difference in staining by different species of wood. you have peaked my interst.

Jerome

Not that I know much about it - but I can tell you dark wood like wally nut does pretty good on wet sticks - but then again black walnut is an awesome air dry'er to begin with (I think you have to try real hard to mess up walnut). Light colored woods like maple don't fair so well on wet sticks. Southern Yellow Pine is especially bad for blue stain and mold on wet sticks.

 

[DaveO]

I wonder if there is some sort of cheap PVC type material (in a square form) available. It would last forever, and not stain.

The are several sythetic stickers on the market....Durastick and Simpson Timbers EKS are two that are mentioned often. I can't seem to find a link to them or their costs anywhere on the web. Another thought would be to rip a composite decking material like Trex into stickers. I don't know if that would be cost effective, but they would last forever and not cause any staining.

Dave

 

[DaveO]

Tell us more about the difference in staining by different species of wood. you have peaked my interst.

Jerome

Jerome here is a little link with info on sticker stain - http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Causes_and_cures_for_sticker_stain.html

Dr. Wengert is a wealth on info on wood and wood drying.

HTH,
Dave

 

[JimmyC]

Thanks all,

I have a clear idea on stickers, now I just have to cut some. Jeff, you were very clear, between your explanation and an article on air drying wood it all comes together.

Thank you again,

Jimmy:mrgreen: