# Stacking, drying, warping...?



## t_andersen (Jul 22, 2006)

Guys,

I am milling wood for my small woodshop. I attach a photo of some oak that I milled last winter. I consistently have a problem and most of my neighbors also have it. Because of too little weight on the top of the pile, the upper third of the wood tends to warp during the summer to the extent that it makes the wood unusable. I realize that putting weights on top of the pile is one solution but it's a lot of work and not always easy to find suitable weights. Further, with all the weights, it's difficult to attach a roof on top of the pile. 

I wonder whether one can invent a system that clamps the top and bottom together (maybe as shown in Adrpk's photos in another thread), possibly using a steel wire that can be tightened? The roof should somehow be integrated into the design. In addition, it should be cheap and easy to remove for access to the pile.

Do you guys have good solutions and would you be willing to share some photos? It seems a pity to loose so much good wood due to warping.


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## Freakingstang (Jul 22, 2006)

Try ratchet straps. It will provide equal pressure on all the areas. A stack that long might require 4-5 straps.

-Steve


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## CaseyForrest (Jul 22, 2006)

Like this....I have added more straps per stack, I think I have 6 or 7 per 8' stack.


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## woodshop (Jul 22, 2006)

For valuable wood, occasionally, I have in the past simply used a pair of 2x4's on each end of the stickered stack (4 altogether) pulled together with threaded rod (thus 4 rods altogether). I'ts easy to make, just drill holes in 2x4's and pull them together with couple nuts and washers. The expense is the threaded rod, but I found that 1/4 inch rod is plenty, and that is pretty cheap. It is a bit time consuming to set up though, and if you want to take only one or two boards out, you have to rethread everything, so its not very practical unless you are doing as I was, clamping down a stickered stack nice and tight and then don't touch it till its dry. I did have to go around and tighten the nuts once in a while as the wood dried to keep the stickered stack tight together. Although it does work in keeping the wood from twisting up as much as it does just setting there with a little weight on it, I don't use it often because of the time setting up the stack. I used it for a stack of walnut crotch pieces a while back for example.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Jul 23, 2006)

Dat's a purdy stack.

I attached a photo of a system I use similar to what woodshop described. I used heaver threaded rod only because I acquired it cheap (free). You can see a trick I use to compensate for shrinkage (of the lumber, don't go there ). Valve springs off a small engine work great.

I've thought about using containers of water to add weigh before. It would be easy if you have a water source close by to fill them on the stack.


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## woodshop (Jul 23, 2006)

The cheapest quickest way to get weight I found was to mix a bag of concrete mix in a 5 gallon bucket. 40 and 60lb bags of mix are real cheap at the big box stores. Open bag, pour in the bucket, add water, mix with a 2x4 and next day turn it over and pop out a nice neat stackable "plug" to weigh down your stack. You're not making a sidewalk, so you don't have to be perfect mixing etc. In fact, no real need to even mix. At work for some applications we simply fill a burlap bag with mix, close it, hose it down good and the next day you have an instant "rock" to fortify a stream bank.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Jul 23, 2006)

I see I had a brain fart last night.

Here's the pic. The slabs on top of the ones in the press are only there to save space in the barn. They aren't necessary for weight.


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## Finnbear (Aug 2, 2006)

I stack & sticker my wood very carefully and then cover it with sheets of roof tin. I just put cement blocks on top of the tin for weight and my boards always come out nice and flat. Keeping the stacks out of direct hot sun will do wonders for keeping it flat. Air drying is a very gradual process and anything like too much sun or too much wind will make boards dry unevenly and then they will twist and warp.
Finnbear


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## Adkpk (Aug 2, 2006)

Have no fear Ardpk is here. And feeling a little punky after this day of sweltering heat. Thanks for plug T_ I can use all the attention I can get. Unfortunatly my friend those bar clamps were just hiding out there. I use them to hold things (like beams while I nail them). Not suggesting spending $40.00 a piece to hold your lumber together. But I am sure this needless after these fine gentleman have set you straight on some excellent methods for you to chose form. Got to get me some those valve springs.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Aug 3, 2006)

Hmmmmm.....

I'm thinking you could cut the end of the upper press bars to allow the allthread rod to SLIDE in, rather than having to completely unthread it each time. Something like this:









Then use a big gnarly fender washer under your spring & nut.


Whatcha tink?


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Aug 3, 2006)

Not a bad I idea. I'll give it a shot.


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## t_andersen (Aug 3, 2006)

BlueRidgeMark, It's a good proposal. I am a little in doubt whether the springs are useful. You want the thing to be very stiff, so maybe the springs just make it floppy?

How about using your slotted bars in combination with a steel wire loop all around the stack and in the slots? The steel wire could be tighted with normal wire tighteners. There are also other tightening possibilities: http://www.kencove.com/tight.htm


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## olyman (Aug 3, 2006)

tanderson--i like the high tension wire one--fast--and strong--almost like banding the stack together--and should be very cost effective--as in cheap !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!just some pieces on edge of board so wire doesnt cut edge--


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Aug 4, 2006)

t_andersen said:


> BlueRidgeMark, It's a good proposal. I am a little in doubt whether the springs are useful. You want the thing to be very stiff, so maybe the springs just make it floppy?
> 
> How about using your slotted bars in combination with a steel wire loop all around the stack and in the slots? The steel wire could be tighted with normal wire tighteners. There are also other tightening possibilities: http://www.kencove.com/tight.htm




The springs are only there to keep at least some pressure on the slabs as they shrink. I tighten the nuts until the springs are completely compressed and retighten them every few weeks.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Aug 4, 2006)

olyman said:


> tanderson--i like the high tension wire one--fast--and strong--almost like banding the stack together--and should be very cost effective--as in cheap !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!just some pieces on edge of board so wire doesnt cut edge--



If you want cheap just run 2 loops of wire at each location and twist them together with a stick. Those ratchet devices are a few bucks a piece but work good. This is turning in to a really good thread. Lots of ideas. Keep 'em comin'.


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## olyman (Aug 4, 2006)

aggie--ya--you can twist wires together--but where you twist em--theyll break eventually--no so with the fence tighteners--and can reuse


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Aug 4, 2006)

olyman said:


> aggie--ya--you can twist wires together--but where you twist they'll break eventually--no so with the fence tighteners--and can reuse




They may break eventually, but I've seen thousands of fence lines and braces pulled tight by twisting wire. Don't get me wrong, I do like the ratchet idea. As they say there is more than one way to skin a cat. I like options.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Aug 4, 2006)

I know twisting with a stick will get you some very tight wire. I just built a rabbitry for my daughter and used that trick for the diagonal bracing. That thing is SOLID now.

But I tend to think the allthread rods are going to be more convenient over the long haul.


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## t_andersen (Aug 7, 2006)

Here's a sketch showing what the cross beams under and over the boards could look like. It's not to scale, they would be much longer than shown in the drawing. The steel wires would lie in the slots. The slots could be made with a router, a dato, a circle saw, or even a chain saw. I haven't figured out how to avoid that the steel wires cut into the cross beams. Maybe one can saw small pieces of an angle iron as protection angles for the ends of the slots.

Any comments or improvements?


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## coveredinsap (Aug 14, 2006)

The problem isn't so much the weight/straps/whatever needed to hold the wood flat as it is the wood drying too fast. If you stack the wood in the shade and cover it with a tarp ...even in the summertime (and visqueen/visquine plastic is perfect) so that you slow down the drying, the wood will tend not to cup/bow/twist/split anywhere near as much....if at all. (Just leave the board ends somewhat uncovered around the bottom of the stack so that air can flow up and under the tarp.)

If, on the other hand, you don't keep the wood covered with a tarp and out of the sun, then nothing that you do and no amount of weight/pressure on it will keep the wood from moving. It's the nature of the beast.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Aug 14, 2006)

coveredinsap said:


> The problem isn't so much the weight/straps/whatever needed to hold the wood flat as it is the wood drying too fast. If you stack the wood in the shade and cover it with a tarp ...even in the summertime (and visqueen/visquine plastic is perfect) so that you slow down the drying, the wood will tend not to cup/bow/twist/split anywhere near as much....if at all. (Just leave the board ends somewhat uncovered around the bottom of the stack so that air can flow up and under the tarp.)
> 
> If, on the other hand, you don't keep the wood covered with a tarp and out of the sun, then nothing that you do and no amount of weight/pressure on it will keep the wood from moving. It's the nature of the beast.



Shade - good
Cover - good
Plastic - fine
Slow drying - good

You are getting closer, Sap, but not still quite right.

If you are stacking outdoors you want the prevailing wind / air flow to pass through the _side_ of the stack, not the ends. Air flowing predominately through end of a stack will cause ends of the boards to dry faster than the center, resulting in increased checking. I get the best results by covering my air-dry stacks such that they are fully protected from the rain and direct sun, but get full airflow from the sides. I'll even drape a tarp on the ends of the stack to facilitate this if the situation warrants.

What happened to the guy that said if you did anything more than throw it in a unstickered pile you are being "anal about wood"?

This is a very good point to bring up nonetheless.


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## coveredinsap (Aug 14, 2006)

Yes, I had a couple of feet between the ground and the visquine (tarp) edge all the way around.


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## aggiewoodbutchr (Aug 14, 2006)

coveredinsap said:


> Yes, I had a couple of feet between the ground and the visquine (tarp) edge all the way around.



I stand corrected.


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