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MOLD....only on the surface.

Started by cutterboy, July 06, 2013, 07:11:13 PM

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cutterboy

Once in a while I have trouble with mold on the lumber that is air drying. It only happens when the weather is hot and humid when the lumber is sawed and stacked and stickered. Last August I sawed some Aspen (Poplar) and some of it had mold on it when I took the stack apart a few weeks ago. I have been told that the mold will come off when it's planed but I wanted to see for myself. I don't own a planer so I asked a neighbor to plane two of the moldy boards for me. He did and these are the results.....



 
The board on the left used to look like the board on the right. A light planing took the mold off.

In the next two pictures you can see that the board had a low spot in the middle and was missed by the planer but the outside was lightly planed and the mold was taken off.

  

 

I thought some of you might find this interesting especially if you sometimes have trouble with mold. Now I can tell my customers that the mold will come off with planing and I won't have to cross my fingers behind my back. ;D

   Happy sawing, Cutter
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

POSTON WIDEHEAD

If your milling Pine and not stacking it properly in our humidity.....you may want to cross all fingers and both legs.
Mold can go deep too. Not just surface.
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

WDH

Cutter,

That is not too bad, and it planed out nice. Unfortunately, down here it can get real ugly :).  With some species, I have to use fans to keep the air circulating.  Otherwise, the lumber can turn black. 
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

YellowHammer

I've also had "mold" so deep that I could not plane it out to make a clean board.  Those are bay days. :'(
YH

YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

GeneWengert-WoodDoc

Mold is indeed only on the surface, but other fungi that go into the wood, such as lue stain fungi, need the same conditions as mold fungi, so you easily have both.  Blue stain is not a surface event.  The reason mold stays on the surface as it cannot or does not use anything in the wood for its food.

Do I understand that you are not stacking the wood promptly?  If you do not stack, tight pile lumber can stain within 24 hours in warm weather.
Gene - Author of articles in Sawmill & Woodlot and books: Drying Hardwood Lumber; VA Tech Solar Kiln; Sawing Edging & Trimming Hardwood Lumber. And more

Ron Wenrich

That's pretty much the way I see it.  I've seen mold on red oak heartwood.  Blue stain won't grow in the heartwood.  Its possible to have both mold and blue stain in the same board. 

We've also seen that when blue stain gets started in the log, its hard to control in the sawn lumber.  Most of the wholesalers want to have the lumber treated to avoid blue stain, and sawn from fresh logs.  It will keep for several weeks in a dead pile.  We've found that spraying is cost effective.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

cutterboy

Quote from: GeneWengert-WoodDoc on July 06, 2013, 10:38:48 PM


Do I understand that you are not stacking the wood promptly?  If you do not stack, tight pile lumber can stain within 24 hours in warm weather.

Doc, I do stack and sticker promptly. My day's sawing is always stickered by the end of the day.
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

cutterboy

Could somebody post a picture of blue stain. I'm not sure I know what that is.   Thanks
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

Kingcha

I just cut some live edge blue stain pine.  Small trees but I have about 20 that the beetle has killed. 



 

I wanted to see what it would look like, The back of one of my sheds just had tar paper.  Looks better now


 


 
a Wood-mizer LT15 10hp Electric, 45hp Kioti tractor, electric smoker, wood-fired brick oven & yes a custom built Solar Kiln

cutterboy

Thanks Kingcha. Now I know. Hey, it looks great on your shed. Good job.
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

bandmiller2

I've cut white pine logs that have sat in the yard for a wile and the blues have invaded most of the log at least the sapwood part.If I want good clear pine I cut it in cooler weather.I've had some luck with fans on a well stickered piles. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Magicman

The bacteria caused blue stain in beetle killed pine is very different from mildew stain.  The bacteria introduced by Pine Beetles is what actually kills the tree by preventing the flow of nutrients between the roots and needles.  Mildew is just growing on the outside of the lumber and can penetrate but it starts on the surface.
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

nk14zp

Quote from: cutterboy on July 07, 2013, 07:23:15 PM
Thanks Kingcha. Now I know. Hey, it looks great on your shed. Good job.
Ditto.  Did you taper saw the boards or just overlap them?
Belsaw 36/18 duplex mill.
Belsaw 802 edger.
http://belsawsawmills.freeforums.org/

Kingcha

I did not taper the boards, I just overlapped them.

matt
a Wood-mizer LT15 10hp Electric, 45hp Kioti tractor, electric smoker, wood-fired brick oven & yes a custom built Solar Kiln

Peter Drouin

Nice job Kingcha. When you put up the siding did put the outside of the tree on the outside so there no lip. The edges go down the wall and not go up the inside. I am trying to say this right  :D So the sharp part of the edge is flat to the board under it and not an inch away. do you what mean. :D
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Peter Drouin

It has been raining here for 4 weeks and I have some red oak that's has some mold on it . And it's inside too, all kinds of air, not rained on. I think you can cut the air with a knife :D  :D the oak was cut 3 weeks before the rain came.
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

WDH

This is the worst air drying conditions since I started air drying lumber.  Very high humidity with lots and lots of rain.  A challenge. 
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

Peter Drouin

A challenge  :D :D :D :D I think Im making fire wood not lumber  ;D
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

ellmoe

  With this high humidity and daily rain it takes a lot of hot air to dry lumber fast enough to keep it from molding. ...So, Danny, why are -you- having a problem?   ;)

Mark
Thirty plus years in the sawmill/millwork business. A sore back and arthritic fingers to prove it!

WDH

Hey!  I resemble that remark  :D.
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

cutterboy

Quote from: WDH on July 08, 2013, 08:25:53 PM
This is the worst air drying conditions since I started air drying lumber.  Very high humidity with lots and lots of rain.  A challenge.

Same here Danny, the worst conditions I can remember. A challenge indeed! Mosquitoes, deerflies and ticks seem to like this weather. >:(
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

samandothers

I have stack of pine that has mildew on some, it was clear with stacked but once warm wet weather hit some did mildew.  I plan to use for board and batten on barn.  Should this be sprayed with clorox before staining or just put it up and let it dry and stain?

WDH

Most times you can brush it off with a very stiff broom. 
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

samandothers

WDH! thank ya...
recon when i move to the location where the barn is to be located and restack I'll brush when I restack.

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