Here we go again more questions. I have about 100 bf of oak lumber 5/4 thick
between 6" to 10" wide amd all about 10' long. It's all air dried outside
for 2 years possibly as long as 2 1/2 years. I am moving it into the
ga(ahem)shop for storage and wonder if I have to include the stickers or can
I just stack it together. I did a group search on storage and some one had
the same question but about some really older barn lumber ( makes me
jealous ) that the replies said straight stacking SHOULD (my emphasis) be ok
but I don't know about oak only a couple of years dried. Again thanks in
advance for all advice and replies. Larry
--
I am a nobody, and no body is perfect therefore I am perfect
my question is, why not sticker it? sure it takes up a bit more room... but
that isnt major.
I always sticker all my wood at all times in all locations.
"larry in cinci" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Here we go again more questions. I have about 100 bf of oak lumber 5/4
thick
> between 6" to 10" wide amd all about 10' long. It's all air dried outside
> for 2 years possibly as long as 2 1/2 years. I am moving it into the
> ga(ahem)shop for storage and wonder if I have to include the stickers or
can
> I just stack it together. I did a group search on storage and some one had
> the same question but about some really older barn lumber ( makes me
> jealous ) that the replies said straight stacking SHOULD (my emphasis) be
ok
> but I don't know about oak only a couple of years dried. Again thanks in
> advance for all advice and replies. Larry
>
> --
> I am a nobody, and no body is perfect therefore I am perfect
>
>
In article <[email protected]>, Ward Cleaver <[email protected]> wrote:
>Just curious, I am a newbie and wondered what you mean by stickering it?
>
That means to stack it in layers, with 1x1 strips laid across the boards about
every two feet, to separate the layers. A side view of a stickered stack
looks something like this: (view using a monospaced font such as Courier)
---------------------------------------------------
| board viewed on edge |
---------------------------------------------------
|x| |x| |x|
---------------------------------------------------
| board viewed on edge |
---------------------------------------------------
|x| |x| |x|
---------------------------------------------------
| board viewed on edge |
---------------------------------------------------
|x| |x| |x|
The |x|-s are the ends of the stickers.
This arrangement allows air to circulate around all surfaces of all boards in
the stack, permitting them to achieve equilibrium moisture content with their
surroundings.
>
>js wrote in rec.woodworking
>
>> my question is, why not sticker it? sure it takes up a bit more
>> room... but that isnt major.
>>
>> I always sticker all my wood at all times in all locations.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)
You sticker to promote even loss of moisture and to prevent rot. Since the
moisture content is below the point where it would foster rot, and yet not
yet equal to the area where it will reside as an end product, there's
nothing to gain but mouse nests and snakes by stickering it. A
close-stacked pile of lumber is also less prone to catch fire than one with
abundant air assured, which is another consideration, especially if that
garage is yours.
When you are ready to work it, sticker it for a couple of weeks so it may
adjust.
"larry in cinci" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Here we go again more questions. I have about 100 bf of oak lumber 5/4
thick
> between 6" to 10" wide amd all about 10' long. It's all air dried outside
> for 2 years possibly as long as 2 1/2 years. I am moving it into the
> ga(ahem)shop for storage and wonder if I have to include the stickers or
can
> I just stack it together. I did a group search on storage and some one had
> the same question but about some really older barn lumber ( makes me
> jealous ) that the replies said straight stacking SHOULD (my emphasis) be
ok
> but I don't know about oak only a couple of years dried. Again thanks in
> advance for all advice and replies. Larry
>
> --
> I am a nobody, and no body is perfect therefore I am perfect
>
>
"larry in cinci" <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Here we go again more questions. I have about 100 bf of oak lumber 5/4
> thick between 6" to 10" wide amd all about 10' long. It's all air
> dried outside for 2 years possibly as long as 2 1/2 years. I am moving
> it into the ga(ahem)shop for storage and wonder if I have to include
> the stickers or can I just stack it together. I did a group search on
> storage and some one had the same question but about some really older
> barn lumber ( makes me jealous ) that the replies said straight
> stacking SHOULD (my emphasis) be ok but I don't know about oak only a
> couple of years dried. Again thanks in advance for all advice and
> replies. Larry
>
> --
> I am a nobody, and no body is perfect therefore I am perfect
>
>
>
>
I would sticker the lumber. I would still let the air at the lumber.
I have some 4/4 red oak I milled 6 years ago, that was dried in a
fan-shed for 4 weeks after milling, air dried for two more years. (in a
opened sided shed with roof) and then restacked and stickered in an
inclosed building for the remaining time. I thought that the lumber
would be dry enough at this point to build fine oak furniture like
tables, etc. with. WRONG! I built a large glue panel table top with some
of this oak. All went well, until I brought my finely finished oak harvest
table into my home (centeral air conditioning and heating). My
beautiful table, after several weeks in the house turned into a
nightmare. I'm in the south where it is more humid than other places I
have been, so you may have better luck in your location, as far as using
air dried oak lumber. I had to build a kiln, and since doing so, have
built several large, and several smaller oak tables from the same batch
of lumber and had no problems. Be careful of this "idea" that if you air
dry your lumber for X amount of time, you can build fine furniture with
it. And all you wanted to know was wither to sticker it or not. LOL!
I just wanted to share my experience in this regard, as it was not a
good one, and if I save another wood-worker the pain of seeing their
fine work turn into a pretzel, well.......maybe you will have better luck
in your location who knows.
Kruppt
Igor <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Wow. Built your own kiln? Some details, if you have the time. Not
> that I could build one in my inner-city rowhouse basement, but I
> admire your resourcefulness. One thought that came to mind is whether
> it is possible to build an effective solar kiln, since time is not a
> huge issue (as far as I know) compared to firing a pot.
>
I built the kiln from an article in a American Woodwork mag.
Issue #94 June 2002. It is basically a insulated plywood box with
framing, that has a baffle/partition made of pref board. On one end is a
shrouded fan, a heat source (four 150 watt lights) and a dehumidifier.
The hot air circulates through the stack, and the moisture in the kiln
air is drawn off by the dehumidifier, and deposited outside the kiln.
The temp in the kiln is anywhere from 130 degrees to 140 degrees
depending on wither the dehumidifier is on or off. It is pretty simple
to build, and all the info needed to build the kiln is in the article. I
built mine to accomendate 8' lengths of lumber, their plan is for 4'
lengths. The size of the one in the article is 40" by 40" by 8'.
You may be able to fit it in your basement, yes?
A solar kiln would be my first choice, but beings I live on the north
side of a mountain, that is covered with trees, I do not have enough
sunlight. :( That would be my first choice also. I found two
dehumidifiers at the dump. All that was wrong with them was the fan
bearings/bushings had gummed up. I cleaned the bushings, and re-lubed
and they worked! So in my case the whole project set me back less than
$300. The article claims the kiln can be built for just around $600.
The kiln in article will dry 200 board foot of lumber at a time. Buying
green lumber and drying it yourself, would make the expense look
minimal, if you do a lot of woodwork.
Photo copies are available via the link below for $3.
Look for Kiln Issue #94.
http://www.rd.com/americanwoodworker/articles/adindex/index_k.htm
You lost me on the firing pot bit.
Kruppt
Inline below
Igor <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:
> Thanks for the details. I mentioned firing a pot because that is what
> I associate a kiln with -- so many thousands of degrees for a few
> hours, and the kiln has to be up to temp when the pot goes in. With
> the wood you can get up to temp and any speed (and the target temp is
> much lower).
Got it.
> Anyway, typically how long does it take for you to dry the wood? Of
> course, it depends on what it is like going in, how much wood, etc.,
> but are we talking a few days, a few weeks?
When building the kiln via the plans in the mag article.
It will dry 100 board ft. of green lumber
(freshly cut lumber from living tree = very wet)
in 2 to 6 weeks, depending on species and lumber thickness.
That said, I did not build my kiln with a humidistat and thermostat.
I do not put green lumber in my kiln, as I dry my green lumber
in a fan-shed first, then stack/sticker it in a open air shed
for a year, then I stack/sticker it in a inclosed building
for another year or so. So I am drying "air dried" lumber in my
kiln to bring down the final MC in the lumber to 6-8%.
It takes a few days to a week at the longest in my case. I have external
switches that control the fan/lights/dehumidifier manually.
> Also, I am a bit surprised about using the dehumidifier. Of course I
> can see it speeding things up, but I would think that there would be a
> way to design a "passive" means where the heat generated by the lamps
> would essentially drive the humidity out of the kiln. Like heating in
> the winter dries out a house.
Yes, but you would have little control over how fast the wood
actually dries in that case. If you just stack sapping wet
green lumber in a 120 plus hot box the lumber would be a mess.
Checks, cracks, stresses, staining etc. You could probably dry air-dried
lumber in that fashion as the violin makers
did in the past, using their attics and such,
but that is lumber that has already been air-dried.
The dehumidifier kiln in the article will allow for controlled
drying of green lumber to cabinet grade lumber (if the lumber is of good
grade in the first place)If you draw off the water content of lumber
quickly, you have firewood when your done drying it. It would be a mess.
> Again, thanks. -- Igor
Kruppt
On Mon, 01 Sep 2003 00:33:59 GMT, Kruppt <[email protected]> wrote:
>When building the kiln via the plans in the mag article.
>It will dry 100 board ft. of green lumber
>(freshly cut lumber from living tree = very wet)
>in 2 to 6 weeks, depending on species and lumber thickness.
[snip]
Thanks again. Verey interesting, especially the part about the violin
makers drying wood in the attic.
On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 15:29:16 GMT, "Bob S." <[email protected]> wrote:
>Sticker it since its air-dried and be sure the stickers are compatible with
>oak so you don't get sticker stain. Stack it so there is even air flow.
>Also consider where you're stacking it. In a garage, the door is often left
>open and the sun can bake part of the stack making it dry unevenly and
>causing it to warp. So stack it where the sun doesn't shine....;-)
>
Great way to set up your own punchline. I may steal that. Well, "may" is
not quite the right word.
"Ward Cleaver" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Just curious, I am a newbie and wondered what you mean by stickering it?
>
Right after wood has been run through the sawmill, it is stacked in layers
with narrow strips of wood in between the layers. That is the sticks, in
stickering. It is done to promote air circulating between the layers and
drying the wood evenly.
--
Jim in NC