red bay

[geohayes7]

Anyone got any tips on drying red bay? Its a pretty wood ,but pain in the but to dry.

[Tom]

I never had much trouble with it.  What seems to be so hard?

If you sticker properly and put the stack under a well ventilated pole bard, It should do just fine.  You might have better success if you saw the boards a little thicker.  Sometimes we get hung up on 7/8 boards just because we can produce them.  Many of these woods become a lot easier to dry if sawed 1 1/8" or 5/4 thick.  That takes in Sweet Gum, Magnolia, Live Oak, Cherry and maybe Red Bay too.

I have even had the boards from small, twisted trees do OK.  The best, of course, come from the large, straight trees that contain plenty of heart. Those are difficult to find anymore, although easier since that beetle began killing them with the fungus.  You can look out through the swamp for the dead leaves now. 

Red Bay used to be in most every back yard and many front yards in my community and I never noticed them. I always went to the edge of the swamps for the leaves.  Then when the trees began dying, I was in amazement at how many there were.

Seriously, I've had no problems drying even 12" boards and wish I had a barn full.  Most all I've cut, I've given to friends and now I have none.    It used to be called Florida Mahogany and was used for flooring and furniture.  That was when the woods were full of them.  Now, most are 10' dbh or less.  They would come up so prolifically that they were being cut back as a nuisance, never reaching maturity enough to saw.  That might end up being a blessing since the beetle that carries the fungus seems to attack on trees with some maturity.  I'm hoping that the younger trees will outlive the blight.

[geohayes7]

We're finding plenty of huge logs at the bottom of Crescent lake. Seems to cup,check,twist, and is very unstable.
                 Thanks   Tom

[solidwoods]

When in doubt.
Straight to a kiln for no pout.

If it wants to cup.
Straight to a kiln with that pup.

If it wants to check.
Straight to a kiln what the heck.

If its unstable.
Straight to a kiln when you are able.
 
Merry Christmas
jim

[Fla._Deadheader]

 That's very strange, George.   We had extremely low amount of twist and check with what we gathered up   Cupping would probably be from wider boards.

  Only logs we had trouble with, were dragged off the bank, or smaller logs, under 14" dia.   Being wet, we just flat stacked for a few days. BE SURE to knock off ALL loose sawdust. Re-stack after a few days, with 1" stickers, and finish the stack with  lower grade boards and several slabs, for weight. You are dealing with $$$ value material, so, Pay attention to the way you saw, and dry.

  We sawed most of our stuff through and through. Made many more table slabs than lumber, by leaving the natural edge. It can always be taken off, if need be.

  Getting much Pecky   How cold is the water getting 

[geohayes7]

Getting a few pecky here n there water is getting colder havn't been out in a couple weeks