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Dri-Stixx

Started by YellowHammer, May 27, 2016, 10:39:28 PM

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YellowHammer

I am vey sensitive to sticker stain, and am always looking for an edge.  I received a couple free samples of these "Dri-Stixx" extruded plastic triple ridged stickers from the manufacturer.  They are about what I was quoted for spiral air dry fluted stickers.  Supposedly they are pretty rugged, with a lifetime manufacturers warranty. 
Here's the webpage, with a couple interesting videos.  Has anybody used these? 
http://www.dri-stixx.com

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

The problems with the previous made plastic/composite sticks is that they were very heavy and the kiln heat caused them to deform when bridging a gap.  One previous composite stick was called the EKS from Simpson Timber...engineered kiln sticker.  I have seen others as well.  Hopefully, these new sticks will be better than the older composite sticks.  In the past, the softwood people were most interested in an improved sticker; because of their faster drying, meaning more cycles of a sticker per year, and automatic stacking and unstacking machines, wood sticks were indeed expensive and short lived.  With hardwoods, a wood sticker might last three to five years, so a sticker that lasts longer but costs a bit more initially might not have a positive payoff benefit for six years or longer.  Do we know the cost of this new stick?

These new composite stickers seem to be much lighter in weight and so that is good.  So, my question is "how will they perform with heat when under load?"  There is no specific mentioning of softening or bending in the heat especially when bridging a gap in the stack, but they do mention that they are good to 300 F.  If they are stable at 160 F and below, this will indeed be very attractive.

Obviously, the initial cost is higher than wood, but their claimed longevity will indeed make them cheaper in the long run.  So, it is certainly worth evaluating these new ones.

Wood stickers often have a life of only seven cycles on the average, before they break (especially the ends due to fork lift damage) or warp.  I look forward to seeing some in-use reports on these new ones.  Once we know the price, we can figure out how many cycles that they need to last to be less expensive than wood.  Dried, well made wood sticks can be 10 cents per foot of length.

The warranty is for a manufacturing defect (but that is not defined) and requires you to pay postage to send back the old defective stick and also for sending you the new one.  Will round trip postage be more than the price of a new stick?  This warranty seems funny, because it will cost you money to replace sticks that they ship to you that are defective before you even use them.  It makes sense to me that they would replace defective sticks at their cost...I would, at the least, get them to cover defects for the first 90 days at their shipping cost and not my cost, and make sure that this includes any and all breakage, warping and deformation in the first 90 days.  Also, if they warp with heat, is that a manufacturing defect or not?  I also note that they say scratches and nicks will weaken the stick and imply that breakage from this is not a covered defect.  I do wonder how much of an issue this will be, (how prone to scratching and subsequent breakage, and other non-covered damaged) as they do mention this condition in the warranty- -can we keep them scratch free in a lumber operation?  Also, wood sticks often have a broken end, so they become a few inches short...is this breakage with the new stick, often caused by fork lift mishandling, considered a manufacturing defect?  If not, any breakage due to current common handling problems is certainly going to be more expensive with their expensive sticks.

Their design seems to reduce the contact area between the sticker and the lumber.  I have seen that with greatly reduced contact area, there is some compression in the wood at the contact points and this affects smoothness when using water-based finishing systems, as the water causes the compressed areas to swell more than other areas and so a hump appears when finishing.  So, my question is "Do they have too much reduction in contact area?"

They mention a 7/8" sticker.  This is interesting, as I have not seen a 7/8" wood sticker for many years.  Everyone uses 3/4", except SYP often uses 1".  Thicker sticks help air drying speed for wide piles, but do reduce kiln capacity...7/8" means  about a 6% reduction compared to 3/4".

I look forward to seeing some actual results from using these and then we will know the answers to my questions.  If they stay straight and unbroken, and at their original thickness, they should improve lumber drying warp quality which can quickly make them worth more than wood stickers, even without much extended life.

I am going to be at the Missouri Forest Products Assn Meeting in July and hope they are there so I can see the sticks and maybe get some actual data on performance.
Gene - Author of articles in Sawmill & Woodlot and books: Drying Hardwood Lumber; VA Tech Solar Kiln; Sawing Edging & Trimming Hardwood Lumber. And more

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