Air drying help

[ML12]

It takes quite a while to air dry, depends on the wood,thickness, and where you are drying it.

Looks like you have things in a basement. How are you removing moisture from the air and circulating it?

We dry our wood outside, strapped down to big 6x6 dunnage to keep it flat, covered by tarps over the top (not down the sides). In the PNW its pretty wet all winter, so we typically figure about a year of drying per inch thickness for softwoods (cedar, fir, maple etc) to get the moisture down to 10-12% ish, which is as good as it gets without bring the slabs inside the heated shop. The wood still moves as it adjusts to finish and humidity of its final location (I've shipped some finished furniture to the prairies, where its very dry, and the wood (sealed, with a good finish on it) has checked and splits have opened up, even though it was stable when I was started working on it.

Sealing the ends of the as-cut slabs with anchor seal seems to work good, but we almost always get checking or large splits in the heart wood on the larger slabs. Not much you can do when the tree has internal tension.

I can confirm that you need good circulation and dehumidifiers, we had a couple slabs stored in a buddies garage for a couple weeks and it developed mold almost immediately.

 

[BJD85]

We dry our wood outside, strapped down to big 6x6 dunnage to keep it flat, covered by tarps over the top (not down the sides). In the PNW its pretty wet all winter, so we typically figure about a year of drying per inch thickness for softwoods (cedar, fir, maple etc) to get the moisture down to 10-12% ish, which is as good as it gets without bring the slabs inside the heated shop. The wood still moves as it adjusts to finish and humidity of its final location (I've shipped some finished furniture to the prairies, where its very dry, and the wood (sealed, with a good finish on it) has checked and splits have opened up, even though it was stable when I was started working on it.

Sealing the ends of the as-cut slabs with anchor seal seems to work good, but we almost always get checking or large splits in the heart wood on the larger slabs. Not much you can do when the tree has internal tension.

I can confirm that you need good circulation and dehumidifiers, we had a couple slabs stored in a buddies garage for a couple weeks and it developed mold almost immediately.

Thank you for the detailed response. I really appreciate it. Mold is,something I really didnt consider in my garage. I have two oscillating fans running so,hopefully that helps and I'll look into treating it with a mold preventitave.

 

[BJD85]

Any suggestions on the best product to treat wood for pests and fungi? All the wood will be live edge tabke slabs so can't have any residue or unsightly stains. All suggestions are appreciated. Im about to,but some bora care but cant find and info on how it affects stains and epoxy finish

 

[Sawyer Rob]

We dry our wood outside, strapped down to big 6x6 dunnage to keep it flat, covered by tarps over the top (not down the sides). In the PNW its pretty wet all winter, so we typically figure about a year of drying per inch thickness for softwoods (cedar, fir, maple etc) to get the moisture down to 10-12% ish, which is as good as it gets without bring the slabs inside the heated shop. The wood still moves as it adjusts to finish and humidity of its final location (I've shipped some finished furniture to the prairies, where its very dry, and the wood (sealed, with a good finish on it) has checked and splits have opened up, even though it was stable when I was started working on it.

Sealing the ends of the as-cut slabs with anchor seal seems to work good, but we almost always get checking or large splits in the heart wood on the larger slabs. Not much you can do when the tree has internal tension.

I can confirm that you need good circulation and dehumidifiers, we had a couple slabs stored in a buddies garage for a couple weeks and it developed mold almost immediately.

I agree with everything you said, BUT in the OP's case, I think he's drying it too fast. And, now that he said he has fans on it, I really think he's drying it too fast.

SR

 

[BJD85]

I agree with everything you said, BUT in the OP's case, I think he's drying it too fast. And, now that he said he has fans on it, I really think he's drying it too fast.

SR

Ok so im getting the hint here that I need to move it outside. Buy some straps some tarps and some bora care and I'll be good to go? Lol

 

[csmillingnoob]

I don't use tarps (plural). Use one piece of OSB ripped slightly wider than your boards - say a 3 inch overhang on both sides. you can cut a tarp to fit the OSP if you want ( I use old vct/linoleum).

Place your stack so the prevailing winds blow through your stack.

Mold? Vinegar and sunlight.
Bugs? . Get bark removed at earliest opportunity. All manner of bugs will congregate under
the bark. Spray with a boric acid solution or borate or timbor

 

[ML12]

I agree with everything you said, BUT in the OP's case, I think he's drying it too fast. And, now that he said he has fans on it, I really think he's drying it too fast.

SR

Yeah, if the garage is heated and there are fans on it then its drying too fast. Had a big slab (8ft x 3ftx 3" thick) beside the house in the sun (30*C) all summer (cut it green in the spring) and its a warped up, split all to hell pretzel now. But we will turn it into cutting boards or other small pieces so it doesn't much matter. Its quite shocking how badly the slabs can split if you dry them too fast.