Papermaker...I have learned to think of drying lumber in much the same way one levels and calibrates his mill. If one adjustment is out and the lumber suffers. There are a couple posts somewhere on the forum where members provided step-by-step illustrations on how they built their drying stacks...very instructive. (Maybe someone, like
Furby, knows where they are? I couldn't find them). In the meantime, I can provide a few tips learned from bitter experience.
Build your foundation dead level in both dimensions. Make sure it will not settle with seasonal changes.
Make sure all your lumber is
exactly the same thickness. same with your stickers (I plane all my stickers to ensure uniformity). doing these two things will provide the stack with uniform pressure on every board, which is crucial to increasing your yield of straight lumber.
Build your stacks 48" wide by no more than 72" high. this seems to provide enough weight without causing distortions in the upper layers.
I sticker every 16", but some sticker every 24" and still get good results. keep them one directly over the other...don't deviate from this as uniform pressure depends successive layers providing direct pressure on the layers below. uneven stickers can cause distortions in the lower layers which, believe me, do not easily plane out. also, make sure the very ends of the boards are stickered as well.
I always include a few slightly thinner boards that go in various locations in the stack. I use these as test boards to check the MC.
But even if you have perfect logs, perfect boards, perfect stack and perfect climate you still will have some boards that will disappoint you.
Sawing logs is relatively easy. successfully drying lumber is hard.
Link to the Stradivarius of stackers "how to" post 
