Seasoning milled timber?

[sroutley]

Hey guys, I'm a general builder and carpenter/ joiner I want to mill some gum trees/ eucalyptus trees to create furniture. Will this wood just crack on me? Is there any way of storing/ seasoning freshly milled wood? To avoid this

 

[Dave Boyt]

As I understand it, eucylaptus is bad about cracking and splitting. I suggest you paint the ends of the logs with anchorseal soon after you cut them. Store them off the ground and put stickers (2.5 cm square spacers) between the rows for air circulation. Woodweb's sawing and drying forum has a lot of info you might find useful.

 

[BobL]

Hey guys, I'm a general builder and carpenter/ joiner I want to mill some gum trees/ eucalyptus trees to create furniture. Will this wood just crack on me? Is there any way of storing/ seasoning freshly milled wood? To avoid this

There are ~800 species of eucalyptus trees (~700 species in my home state of Western Australia) so the first step is to find out which ones you have. For more detailed information about aussie trees I suggest you post in an Aussie millers forum like this one.

 

[Cody Colston]

Is there any way of storing/ seasoning freshly milled wood? To avoid this

Discounting natural stress from the way certain trees grow, splits and warping are caused by a moisture imbalance within the wood. If the wood is evenly dried (seasoned) there is a much better chance of avoiding those defects.

As was said, you will need to determine the exact species of wood and then find the safe drying rate for it. Then, dry the wood in a manner that does not exceed that rate for even one day...either by guess or by measuring the amount of moisture that is removed from the wood.

"Conditioning" the wood with moisture as it dries or after it has dried will help to remove the stresses induced by drying as some stress is unavoidable. Greenhouse-type kilns (read solar) are very good at this as the wood gets conditioned every night when the temps fall and the humidity rises.

To be on the safe side, you want to dry the wood as slowly as possible while preventing mold, mildew or fungal staining. Avoid placing the wood in direct sunlight or enclosed buildings until it has dried to around 20% moisture content. For air drying, a shaded, covered area where the air flow can be somewhat controlled will work. Otherwise, kiln drying is the safest approach.

 

[sroutley]

thanks for the replies. the gums i am working with are stringy bark, ghost gum, red gum and some spotted. i will just have a go at milling and storing somewhere shaded but ventilated and see how it turns out.

 

[sroutley]

As I understand it, eucylaptus is bad about cracking and splitting. I suggest you paint the ends of the logs with anchorseal soon after you cut them. Store them off the ground and put stickers (2.5 cm square spacers) between the rows for air circulation. Woodweb's sawing and drying forum has a lot of info you might find useful.

can i mill them wet or do i need to wait for them to season while the anchorseal is on them? thanks

 

[yurlinek7]

hierarchical

 

[Cody Colston]

can i mill them wet or do i need to wait for them to season while the anchorseal is on them? thanks

Whole logs will not "season." They will spalt and then rot before they are suitably dry. Mill them into lumber while green.

I occassionally mill Sweetgum which is notorious for warping while drying. In order to salvage a 3/4" board, I saw the planks at 5/4" thickness.

 

[BobL]

thanks for the replies. the gums i am working with are stringy bark, ghost gum, red gum and some spotted. i will just have a go at milling and storing somewhere shaded but ventilated and see how it turns out.

Stingy and red can be milled green. Spotted is best milled when the bark turns red and falls off, 3 - 6 months after felling. During this time the ends will harden significantly and if you are going to use a chainsaw mill it pays to dock the starting end.