iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Help on shed drying Walnut please

Started by sundropkid, April 22, 2006, 08:46:47 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

sundropkid

 Hi guys and gals,
                             Wonderful forum , and thanks for letting me in..

           I fell  a large Walnut last spring at my inlaws in hopes of processing it myself to cut down on cost..I sealed the ends and rasied them up off the ground at the time of cut..This week I carried them to a neighbor who has a portable mill to saw for me..{he is NOT a professional sawyer}, And i failed to tell him how to saw it..That is not a good combo..Anyway,I went by to pick up the wood today and half was cut in 4/4 and half in 8/4 using a through and through method leaving the edge bark on.some of these boards are 24" wide .{.the 8/4 ones are beasts}Im  air drying under a free standing shed which is long ways against the prevailing winds..Ive got my base on ties perfectly level both ways.Ive got my stickers, top ply and plenty of weight ready..now to my questions..im in south central va..

8/4 on top or bottom?or seperate stack?
Is 24" too wide?should i cut these down or something ?
should i peal the bark off?
anything else i need to do?

      Any and all comments would be a huge help..

                                                                                              Thanks alot, scott

Daren

Quote from: sundropkid on April 22, 2006, 08:46:47 PM

  Is 24" too wide?should i cut these down or something ?
 

8/4  and 24 inches wide, live edge. NO DO NOT CUT THEM DOWN !!! Sticker/stack them and hope they stay together.
Others will give you advice on the other questions.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

Tom

I agree with Daren.  You can always make a board smaller.  It's really difficult to make them bigger.


Remove the bark with a spud or drawknife if you can.  It will make the wood to be not so appetizing to insects as the summer draws nearer.

How you stack is going to depend a lot on how you want to access the wood later.  It never fails that you want the board on the bottom.

I'd put a couple of rows of 8/4 for strength, then stack all the 4/4 and finish the stack with the remaining 8/4 for weight.

Keep the stickers lined up exactly to form a column that carries the weight of the topmost board to the ground.  Any wavering of this and the board beneath the misaligned sticker will carry the weigh of all the boards above it.

Sticker within 3 inches of the ends of the boards and about 18" intervals in between.  Staying close to the end will slow the dryhing of the ends of the boards and minimize end splitting.

Again, with summer coming on, keep an eye on the lumber and treat around the stack with an insecticide to help keep insects down.  You don't need to lose this stuff to beetles.




Daren

Quote from: Tom on April 22, 2006, 10:03:04 PM
How you stack is going to depend a lot on how you want to access the wood later. It never fails that you want the board on the bottom.

My first answer was short, I was on the way out for a few minutes. I just wanted to throw what I did in before I left. Tom pretty much spelled it out, the right way to sticker and the quote I attached from his answer is so true it makes my back hurt ;). Big slabs like that are a handfull, but they can be a wallet full too.
Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it.

sundropkid


Thank You Sponsors!