Did I mess up?

[plaindave]

Last November I had a tree come down during a storm and rather than make more firewood I had someone come out and cut it up into lumber for me.  I ended up with almost 400 bd/ft of spalted white oak.

I didn't have any way to dry it so I stacked it in my garage with 1/2" high stickers and used cinder blocks for weight on the top of the stacks.

6 months later it looks good, doesn't seem to have warped or twisted too much, but it has developed some end checking.  My question is did I do the right thing in how I stored the lumber?   If not, is there anything I can do to salvage it?

[SawDust_Studios]

How bad did it check?

End checks are inevitable, especially in oak.  You can minimize it by painting the ends either while in the log or after the boards are sawn.  

This slows down the quicker drying from the ends and allows the lumber to dry more evenly.  

They have probably checked about as much as they are going to.  I might also pay to use slightly thick stickers.  Say 1"  We also cut our logs slightly longer than we want our final lumber dimensions, for this reason alone.

[Tom]

You're ok.  
Without sealing with a good product, you will have end splits.
Once they start to split you can't stop them too good anyway.

You may consider restacking the boards if there is no room under the bottom board.  There should be, at least, 4 inches to allow the movement of air under the stack.

It's not been too many years ago that I was told to expect 60 percent degrade when drying hardwoods.  That includes endsplits, checks, cup, twist, bow, stain, etc.   I've had that much degrade if I included the entire board but have always been able to salvage most of the wood by making shorter and narrower boards.

Spalted oak means that it has started to rot and that tends to take some of the stresses out of the wood.  I'll bet you end up with a bunch of pretty White Oak.

[redpowerd]

just a thought, am i wrong in stating that flatsawn checks worse than q-sawn?
it seems as though the hard maple i cut last fall checked much more than the quarter-sawed maple i cut for my floor.
may have been when the tree was felled.

[Tom]

No, you're not wrong.
 
There is a publication with links in several places in the knowledge base that I automatically go to for answers.  It is not only full of good information but I find it good reading too.  
 
Here is the link to the Handbook but one should remember that it is recorded in the knowledge base. It's found under the title "Wood and Lumber".
 
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/FPLGTR/fplgtr113/fplgtr113.htm
 
Check out Chapter Three for the answer to your question.  

[redpowerd]

sorry, tom. messed up and tried to re-type it fast enough no admin could see ;D :D
i thought i was quick ;D
time fo' bed ;)

[Tom]

I taught Super Man. :D

I'm faster'n Greased Okra. ;D

[DanG]

Greased okra, huh? :D :D  That's pretty quick, allright, but it ain't nuthin to BOILED okra!  That stuff's so slick, you can't keep your mind on it. It sure makes some butterbeans go down  good! ;D  Put that together with some fried ham and a hoecake of cornbread, and DanG if you ain't eatin' good!

[Bigdogpc]

Seems to me...I read someplace that boiled okra was scientifically proven to be a distant relative of the common ground slug...

FRIED OKRA on the other hand is fit to eat! :D

[Norm]

Boy you guys are terrible, this poor new guy comes on and asks a question and you talk about food, now I have to answer it. Boiled okra is not fit to feed the chickens. Fried in butter with new onions and spring potatoes is the only way to eat it. ;D

Oh yeah just end trim the boards and put anchorseal on the fresh cut ends. ;)

[etat]

NORM, I can't believe ya don't like boiled okra.  What ya do is mix it up a bit on yer plate with them beans and cornbread and tomatoes and things.  Makes EVERYTHING go down better!!!  "Why, it slides down yer throat even better than raw oysters!!!!! 8) 8)


A course I like it yer way too!!!!!!! 8) 8) 8)

[shopteacher]

I don't care to much for Opra, (don't care if ya boil her or fry her) to many women issues and not enough tool stuff. ;D

Oh, welcome aboard Plaindave.

[Den Socling]

You know what? I've never seen a single "Opra". I wouldn't know her if I slipped on her in the middle of a sidewalk.  :D

Yes. Welcome Plaindave. I got real busy and haven't been here much and new names are popping up all over. Welcome all.

[Jeff]

Only one thing worse then ophra fried or boiled, no make that two, counting grits. BLACK EYED STINKIN PEAS.

Welcome to da Forestry Food Netwrk Plain Dave.

[Den Socling]

Bad Jeff!  ;) You're going to hear it now!  :D

[Tom]

Alright!   Where is it.  What did I do with my Mason Dixon LIne.  It's around here somewhere. :-/

I knew I should of never rolled that thing up. ;D

[Fla._Deadheader]

Too tired to comment. WOOD eat some fried Okra and Blackeyes, though, IF someone wood fix 'em. : ;D ;D ;D

[Kevin_H.]

You know...I dont eat any green veggies, but I love my black eyed pea's

Cooked with a little bacon to season...Almost as good as fried corn.  ;D

[plaindave]

Thanks guys.  I'm in the stage of life when I'm moving out of my rough carpentry stage into woodworking/furniture/cabinet making.  House is finished, one last deck by the pool and I'm hanging up the 24oz framing hammer and picking up a 16oz finish hammer.

This is my first shot at drying wood.  Always bought what I needed from a mill down the road.  There will be more as I remove old and/or dieing trees from my property.

I did stack the lumber on pallets, so it's about 4-6" off the floor. And you are right, the grain pattern is just short of spetacular in the spalted oak. Have no idea where I'm going to use it yet, but the grain has got to be visible. Next time I will seal the ends.  Fortunately it's not a big deal to lose a few inches on each end, I don't need long boards for what I will be doing.

One last thing, how do you serve Orca?  Do you serve it raw like sushi?  Or batter it up and deep fry it like a good batch of catfish?

[plaindave]

Okra, orca.  Us guys north of the mason dixon line don't know much.

But I do thank you for sending Krispy Kremes north.

[Fla._Deadheader]

Welcome PlainDave. I b'leeve you'll fit in here jest fine. ;D ;D

[Kedwards]

Just curious.. who has 60% degrade? I think I have about 20-25% at worst case and thats in 8/4 and thicker white oak .I have almosty no degrade in white or SYP and ERC.  Not trying to stir things up, just find that a highly unprofitable and or unrealistic number.

[Tom]

It may be a highly unprofitable number and unrealistic to some who are really good.   The figure came from books I studied from 13 or 14 years ago when I was just starting.  I even got those numbers from some of the sawyers that I talked to.  Believe it or not, I have even experienced them myself.   Perhaps your wood is a lot better than mine or maybe I'm still learning.  Sometimes I get a good board.

I'm not talking about SYP or ERC but other Hardwoods that I cut like Water Oak, Laurel Oak, pecan, hickory, Bay, Black Gum and Sweet Gum, Live Oak, Magnolia and Sycamore.  Those woods have always tried me.

[Jeff]

could this be a number related to southern hardwoods, maybe florida hardwoods?

[Tom]

Might be..........?

MIght also have something to do with drying most of my wood in an open field.  In sizes as the board that came off of the sawmill, they will not be nearly as good as the cherry picking one does getting the good wood from the dried board. The wood I dry in my pole barn fairs much better but the wood itself is not attractive to someone who judges by grade rules.

Someone worried about their first stack shouln't be ashamed of the effort if it isn't perfect though.