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drying lumber

Started by rwachtell, June 06, 2013, 09:05:35 PM

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rwachtell

I have been milling a lot of lumber the past several months.  Cherry, Walnut, Oak and Spruce. I have been air drying it with stickers as needed, but I have been wondering at what point it might be OK to remove the stickers on the Spruce and flat stack it so that I may save space.  I do not plan to remove stickers on the Hardwoods until they have been kiln dried.

Any advice would be appreciated.

RW

POSTON WIDEHEAD

How thick and wide are your Spruce boards? I have always heard to let it air dry a year for a 1 inch board.

Where are you from RW? What type mill you running?

Welcome to the FF.

David
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

rwachtell

I cut my spruce boards about 1 5/8"  thick.  I cut them so that they would dry to match the 1 1/2" width of standard structural lumber and fit in a joist hanger well if need be.  To date they have not shrunk even 1/32" of an inch on thickness.  That includes boards cut green in December from logs felled by Hurricane Sandy in late October.  They seem quite dry and light already and I don't get the feeling they will ever shrink down to 1.5" thick but that's OK, I can work around that problem if it becomes one ( i.e. not fitting into a joist hanger)

What I am asking here is, do I need to thoroughly air dry Spruce down to 12% before I remove stickers and flat stack it so that I may save space?

WDH

Spruce dries fast.  Softwoods will air dry down here in Georgia in 45 days if the stack is covered and there is good air flow.  With good air flow, you will be surprised how fast it will dry.  A good moisture meter is your friend.  I bet your spruce is already air dry if it was cut in December. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

beenthere

RW
Welcome to the Forestry Forum.

How soon depends on the risk you want to take.

Where are you located? (help to add that to your bio)

Climate will have an effect on solid packing, as well as humidity changes will have an effect on the outer boards. Depending on the end use, be it for using rough or further surfacing.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Seaman

Trying to learn all this myself, welcome to the gang!
Lucas dedicated slabber
Woodmizer LT40HD
John Deere 5310 W/ FEL
Semper Fi

rwachtell

Thanks that's interesting ... It has surprised me how fast the Spruce has dried and how little it has shrunk, at least on the thickness dimension.  From what I had read about Spruce, I expected it to be a little different.  But we have had some excellent drying weather the first six months of this year.  Very little to no checking on these board as well.   What a great lumber, perhaps that's why the largest airplane that ever flew was made out of it.


rwachtell

I'm located in Fairfield County CT,  I have an LT10 I bought last December.  I like it and find it works well so long as I avoid dirty logs.   It would take an awfully good looking woman for me to get rid of this mill.  Yesterday I pushed the mill to its limit and cut an 11' 24" diameter Black Walnut log.   Made about 175 board feet of 5/4" lumber out of it.  All boards cut perfect but one of them.   I managed to role this log on the mill myself with a can't hook.  It was a bit of a B but I managed.  I won't need a bigger mill until I have the equipment to easily move this size log and bigger.

Cheers all!

thecfarm

Did you buy the mill from Ross?
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

rimshot

Spruce is fine but I have found it stay\s straightest when it is used as sheeting (1" or less) or 2x6'S and larger SEEM TO hold straight also BUT I could never come to trust a spruce 2 X4.  They can twist right off the cant.  I know there are some who willl disagree.  I would gladly swap a spruce stud for a stick of White Pine or balsam anyday.  Perhps your luck will be different with spruce.  I did manage to build a house with spruce sheeting installed a 45*and used 2 x 8 for floor joissts and it worked very well.  That floor was very strong and silent. 

rimshot                                                                           
LT 10 with a 10 h.p. and a converted boat trailer to provide mobility for a once permanent mill.

Magicman

Welcome to the Forestry Forum,    rwachtell.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

rwachtell

I bought the mill new from Woodmizer.   Its the latest version of the LT10.  I got it with a 10 HP for $3400 and paid  $400 for shipping and $300 for what ended up as 14 new blades.

zombie woods

Depends on where you are storeing it shed , tarped , barn ?
other than inside a water tite structure flat stacking usually comes back to bite me one way or the other stain, bugs, mosture some times I stack air dry lumber for the long term with thin narrow stickers to save some space .
then again mosture and humidity are extreme here in south florida .

jdonovan

Quote from: rwachtell on June 06, 2013, 09:05:35 PM
I have been wondering at what point it might be OK to remove the stickers on the Spruce and flat stack it so that I may save space.

Once you are down to about 25% or so you could move the wood to dead stacked. However once you do most of your drying will stop. Yes it will continue to move closer to EMC, but will do so VERY slowly without airflow. Also the wood will have to be final dried before use if the MC remains high.

As others have said Spruce is fairly fast drying, and if its been stacked for 6 months, I would not be surprised if it is under 25% MC already, perhaps even under 20% if its had good temps and lots of air flow.

JohnM

Quote from: rwachtell on June 06, 2013, 10:32:03 PM
It would take an awfully good looking woman for me to get rid of this mill....  I won't need a bigger mill until I have the equipment to easily move this size log and bigger.

Imagine what she would have to look like if you had gotten a LT40 super! :o ;)  Welcome to the forum, rwachtell.

JM
Lucas 830 w/ slabber; Kubota L3710; Wallenstein logging winch; Split-fire splitter; Stihl 036; Jonsered 2150

WDH

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

thecfarm

rwachtell,I meant Ross in Chesterville,Maine or did you buy it in NY? The WM  dealer is only about 10 minutes from me.
What's all the lumber going to be used for?
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

bandmiller2

RW,WDH hit upon it earlier you need good air movement to dry lumber.I have found that's best done outside with unrestricted air movement.once the wood looks,feels and is considerably lighter it can be stacked under cover.In our part of the world 6 goods months stuck outside usally does it.Summers and pine usally lead to blue stain,your best pine should be cut and stuck in cooler weather. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Sixacresand

Welcome Rwachtell.  I also enjoy milling with a LT10/10HP.   Good info, pictures and knowledgeable people on the Forum.  Good luck.
"Sometimes you can make more hay with less equipment if you just use your head."  Tom, Forestry Forum.  Tenth year with a LT40 Woodmizer,

rwachtell

Hi THECFARM   

The mill was shipped from Indiana.  I bought the mill off EBAY as I had some EBAY credit to use. I will be buying an extension from the Maine dealer in about a month or so as I will be driving through.

I will be using the Cherry, Oak and Walnut for things like flooring, furniture and cabinets.  The spruce will be for structure for a kiln and barn and perhaps some of a house.

Thanks to all for the feedback on this matter.

RW

WDH

A simple box fan blowing through the stack of pine or spruce will hasten the drying.  Pine is very easy to dry fast.  Not so with oak. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Quote from: WDH on June 07, 2013, 08:30:55 PM
A simple box fan blowing through the stack of pine or spruce will hasten the drying.  Pine is very easy to dry fast.  Not so with oak.

And if it doesn't get enough air, it will MOLD in the beat of a drum. the drop of a hat, the blink of an eye, etc.
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

customsawyer

Welcome to the forum.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

thecfarm

As I said,I'm only 10 minutes away from the WM dealer. He's on one end of Chesterville,I'm on the other end. And I do mean other end. I own land in Fayette too. I'm on the Fayette and Chesterville line and also a County line too. Look me up if you want and have the time. I'm just off the Chesterville Ridge Road.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

rwachtell

THECFARM

Thanks for your offer.  Are you happy with that mill?  I had considered buying one of those.

RW

barbender

Spruce dries fast. White Spruce is what I have mainly sawn, I have found it to make very nice lumber no matter the dimension. If it has been stickered for 6 months I'd guess it's safe to tight stack it ;)
Too many irons in the fire

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