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Drying

Started by FrankLad, November 14, 2005, 11:39:36 AM

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FrankLad


This past weekend I ordered some cypress timbers from a local sawyer.  I really enjoyed talking with him - he was full of information which I soaked up like a sponge.

Anyhow, he mentioned something I had never heard of so I wanted to share it with anyone else that may not know.

He said that when stacking/stickering wood to dry, to lay it running north & south lengthwise.  He said that due to the earth's rotation and centrifugal force this would give a more even drying than if it was placed east & west longitudinally.

Do any of you guys do this or have you heard of this?


etat

I don't know the first thing about drying wood other than what I've read here.  That said, I couldn't help busting out laughing when I read this.  I would think gravity itself would over come any rotational forces of the earth. 
Old Age and Treachery will outperform Youth and Inexperence. The thing is, getting older is starting to be painful.

srjones

 :D  :D  :D  :D  :D  :D  :D

I've never heard of this, but the idea is intriging enough that I keep trying to rationalize how it might work, and I keep coming to the same conclusion: It wouldn't make a bit of difference.  .

Gravity is that force thet counteracts centrifical force.  Without it, we'd all suddenly fly off into space.

I suppose an experiement could be developed putting a small sample of wood into a high speed centerfuge and measuring the differences between those samples spun parallel to the axis and those rotated at a 90 degree angle.  Of course the radius (and thus force) would be different at the center of the peice than it would at the ends. 

But the earth rotating at 10,000 RPM?   :o  Yikes....

Perhaps the sawyer meant that if the timbers dry North-South, that the earth's magentic feild would align the ferrous molecules within the celular structure, creating a stronger timber.  (okay, actually, I just made that one up   :D  )

But in all fairness, all of my grandfathers buildings were built and aligned North-South and all the trees that I've seen fall down on their own seem to fall North-South, so maybe there is something to it... Hmmm.... ::)




Everyone has hobbies...I hope to live in mine someday.

ARKANSAWYER


   Yes and NO!   Yes I have heard of this but the reason given was wrong.

   If you stack your timbers North & South the sun will rise in the east and set in the west.  Thus the rays of the sun will go through your piles and help in drying.  Also it will not cook the end of the timbers and cause as much end checking.  Now here as most places the wind blows mostly west to east or in some variance.   This is more key to knowing then any thing.  The wind will blow mostly from one direction.  Here the wind blows from the south-west most of the time.   Air across your timbers will aid in drying more then any thing.   When I live in SC the wind came from the east most of the time but then I was just 5 miles from the coast.   Figure out which way the wind blows in your area most of the time and stack your timbers so that it will blow across  them.

  Spin drying,,,  I like that.  It does work on clothes in the washer.
ARKANSAWYER

Ianab

 :D

He may be right that Nth / Sth stacks dry more evenly, but I dont thing centrifical force has anything to do with it  :P

I'm with Arky , the sun will be more even and wind will be more consistant on his stacks. So he's getting the right result, even if he's not sure of the reason.

You could even say that the winds are created by the coriolis effect ( http://ww2010.atmos.uiuc.edu/(Gh)/guides/mtr/fw/crls.rxml ) which is related to the earths spin / centrifical force, so in that respect he may be right  ;)

Ian
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

FrankLad

Well, what you fellers all say makes sense.  I'm not 100% one way or the other.

Arkansawyer:  The deal with the sun going east-to-west and the ends of the timber not getting too hot/dry - that makes pretty good sense.


Riles

Well, the winds are caused by uneven heating of the earth's surface. The coriolis effect helps determine which way they go. As for end checking, that south end is going to get a lot more sun than the north end. To be safe, he needs to put his stack on a turntable and rotate it slowly during the day. NOW you'll have centrifugal force, but at least it's headed towards the ends, which dry faster.

Hey, we may be onto something here.
Knowledge is good -- Faber College

srjones

Quotethat south end is going to get a lot more sun than the north end.

Unless you're in the southern hemisphere (NZ, AU, ZA, etc.), then the northern side would be prone to exposure  :P  (just thinking about Ian and Ernie and all those living near the set of MiddleEarth) ;D

Funny thing I noticed on the way to work this morning: a nicely weathered stack of lumber, and wouldn't ya know it...it was aligned North-South.  Come to think of it, both of the Big Orange Retail Giants I frequent have all of their lumber aligned North-South.

Holy smokes...maybe there's something to it.  Could this be the Fung Shui of finished wood managment?

Everyone has hobbies...I hope to live in mine someday.

ARKANSAWYER


  I got some Fung shuiy on my boots one time and never liked to got it off. :)
ARKANSAWYER

Don P

Just wait till somebody tracks some of that mess inside the house, it'll drive you nuts trying to get shed of it  :D

Cypress is mighty slow to dry, I believe I'd stand it on end, top down so the water can run out.

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