New wood stash and drying wood

Dave Black

Member
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638
Location
Central PA
I am borrowing my inlaws Lucas Mill portable sawmill for a few months so I cutting up a storm right now. I cut down 5 trees last saturday and I am cutting them into boards as I have time. Here are some pics. I cut up 3 beech logs(1 tree) and 1 sugar maple log. I don't have pics of the maple but its nice, there is some spalting in it, or maybe its just staining where bugs went in the log in either case it will make some nice stuff. Here is where my drying question comes in. I want to make a snare drum out of some of the maple but right now its really wet. I was planing on air drying the wood but I would like to use some long before its dry. I have heard something about being able to dry wood in the oven. Does anyone have any experience with doing that. I don't need big pieces so the would fit in the oven.
 

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Dave, depending on the size/amount of wood wanted dried soon, a solar drier? Some sort of box, metal, painted dull black on inside, glass pointed towards sun at longest period of the day, measure inside high temps and see what you get, keep a record on moisture of the wood. Gets to the point you can use, remove and acclimate to the area you are going to use it in.
 
The best way to dry it yourself, or perhaps I should say the "Easiest" way is just air dry it. Stack it where it gets good air movement, but not direct sunlight, the tops and sides of the stacks can be covered, but not the ends, to allow air to move. make your stickers 3/4" square, and place them every foot, make sure the stickers all line up with the one above and below it. Put some weight on top of it, does not need to be that much.

The whole solar kiln is actually quite complex to do it right, you have to have heat from the sun to raise the temp in the kiln, this will make more water from the wood evaporate, but then, when it gets to a certain high humidity, you have to exchange the air in the kiln. Take the hot humid air out, replace it with cool dry air, close it up and start again, that is how a solar kiln will more quickly dry out the wood. The problem is if you do this too fast, the wood will check and crack, if you do it too slow, you will get mold. If you really, really need the wood in a hurry, find a local wood supplier who will rent you space in their kiln on the next run, otherwise, I'd advise to just air dry it and wait.

Nice looking wood for sure! :thumb:
 
Agree/disagree about the solar kiln. Do searches, the design can be very simple. What is essential are a couple small fans to keep air moving.
Not said, do seal the ends, preferably with Anchorseal.
Congrats on the big haul.
 
Hi Dave,

Since USPS says:


How about:
1 @ 18" L x 3.25" W x 3.25" H
2 @ 12" L X 3.25" W x 3.25" H
x @ x" L X 3.25" W x 3.25" H

or what would fit in the box.

I don't have anything 3x3. When I was cutting up the log if I couldn't get a full board out of a section I cut stickers out of it. Sorry:(
 
The best way to dry it yourself, or perhaps I should say the "Easiest" way is just air dry it. Stack it where it gets good air movement, but not direct sunlight, the tops and sides of the stacks can be covered, but not the ends, to allow air to move. make your stickers 3/4" square, and place them every foot, make sure the stickers all line up with the one above and below it. Put some weight on top of it, does not need to be that much.

The whole solar kiln is actually quite complex to do it right, you have to have heat from the sun to raise the temp in the kiln, this will make more water from the wood evaporate, but then, when it gets to a certain high humidity, you have to exchange the air in the kiln. Take the hot humid air out, replace it with cool dry air, close it up and start again, that is how a solar kiln will more quickly dry out the wood. The problem is if you do this too fast, the wood will check and crack, if you do it too slow, you will get mold. If you really, really need the wood in a hurry, find a local wood supplier who will rent you space in their kiln on the next run, otherwise, I'd advise to just air dry it and wait.

Nice looking wood for sure! :thumb:

I am going to air dry most of the wood but I am anxious to make a snare drum out of some of the maple. If I cut the board into 1' sections could I put them in the oven to dry them, I am sure I read somewhere about drying small pieces in an oven, but maybe it was just to do the old school moisture test:dunno:
 
Dave, what are the dimensions of the wood you plan to use for the snare drum? Are you gluing up staves or turning it out of a solid piece?
 
Dave, what are the dimensions of the wood you plan to use for the snare drum? Are you gluing up staves or turning it out of a solid piece?

It will be a stave drum, the pieces will probably be 2x7ish by about 7/8th. I did think about taking a section of log and hollowing it then turning it on the lathe but that seems like a lot of work, but maybe sometime I'll do that.
 
if someone wants to move this thread to a more appropriate area go ahead. I didn't realize that I was on the shop tour page when I started a new thread.
 
Dave,
I would skip the oven idea. That method is often used to check the moisture content of wood in a kiln dryer. (wood in kiln weight - oven dried sample = moisture content of wood in kiln).

I took a quick look at a drying schedule for Beech and its around 4.5%. That means it is not recommended to remove more than 4.5% per day. Any more and you will damage the wood (unless you steam or do some other secondary process).

That being said, I too would recommend what Stuart said and try to find some kiln space and someone who knows how to dry wood but be prepared as it can be costly. Most kilns are built to do 1,000's of board feet at a time and sticking two different species in there can be kind of a pain as they will more than likely have different drying schedules.

These are some of the reasons why air drying is so popular for us woodworkers. You can speed the process some by brining the wood indoors or placing it in another area that has a lower MC than your garage\shop. It will still take a while.

Once I get a few of my projects out of the way I would like to put together a small dehumidification kiln in the barn. They are pretty simple to build, but you have to monitor closely. The solar kilns are the easiest to operate, but still take a while depending on your region.

Nice swingmill. Is that a lucas?
 
Dave,
I would skip the oven idea. That method is often used to check the moisture content of wood in a kiln dryer. (wood in kiln weight - oven dried sample = moisture content of wood in kiln).

I took a quick look at a drying schedule for Beech and its around 4.5%. That means it is not recommended to remove more than 4.5% per day. Any more and you will damage the wood (unless you steam or do some other secondary process).

That being said, I too would recommend what Stuart said and try to find some kiln space and someone who knows how to dry wood but be prepared as it can be costly. Most kilns are built to do 1,000's of board feet at a time and sticking two different species in there can be kind of a pain as they will more than likely have different drying schedules.

These are some of the reasons why air drying is so popular for us woodworkers. You can speed the process some by brining the wood indoors or placing it in another area that has a lower MC than your garage\shop. It will still take a while.

Once I get a few of my projects out of the way I would like to put together a small dehumidification kiln in the barn. They are pretty simple to build, but you have to monitor closely. The solar kilns are the easiest to operate, but still take a while depending on your region.

Nice swingmill. Is that a lucas?

It is a 618 lucas mill, its my wifes grandfather's not mine. I am borrowing it till the spring.
 
Dave you're in trouble. Once sawdust gets into your blood it's hard to quit. You're going to have a hard time giving that mill back :D It is almost addicting. Nothing better than being able to walk out and make your own lumber.

I would love to have a swing mill, but a bandmill seem to fit my needs a little better.
 
Nothing better than being able to walk out and make your own lumber.

I would love to have a swing mill, but a bandmill seem to fit my needs a little better.

Agreed, I will add that having to stack and sticker all the boards, clean up the GIANT pile of sawdust and put away the mill is... ummm... less fun. I've been sawing most evenings these last 2 weeks and its going slow, I usually only get 1 log cut per evening before its time to clean up for the night. I am hoping to get a pile of logs cut tomorrow. I think I still have 3 or 4 branch logs from the sugar maple left. I won't get much out of these but I hate to let them rot. I have 3 white oak logs, not very big, but the tree was dead standing so we cut it down. 3 or 4 walnut logs, medium sized I suppose, but theres not much walnut around here so I had to get some. On wednesday I was outside and heard a tree fall, so I went looking for it today and found a 16"-19" red oak, it broke most of the way up the trunk. I'm not sure why, it was very calm outside when it fell, I suppose its a sign. I also found a dead standing red oak( I think) and a nice white oak. Those will have to wait till I get these cut into boards first.
 
Heres 2.5 red oaks that I cut. These trees had dead tops or tops that broke off so we cut them, I say 2.5 because half of one of the trees broke off so I only got 2 logs from that tree. The tree falling in the first pic is the largest tree I cut, its about 36" at the base. I think I got 17 red oak logs, I also got 2 or 3 small white oak logs from a collateral tree
 

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