Wood Drying Questions

Bigdog72 · 03-21-2008, 04:59 PM

I picked up about 150bf of cypress from Ivey this morning. Ivey is a real nice guy and he gave me a great deal!

I am getting ready to sticker it and realize I have some questions:

1. For lack of a better place, I am going to stack and sticker in my garage. I plan on using a fan to move air and the fan will be on at least 12 hours a day. I realize that this is not ideal but will I be OK?

2. Should I worry about bugs?

3. I plan on using the cypress for outdoor furniture. I am shooting for 15% moisture. Will I be OK at this level?

4. If all of this is a waste of time does anyone have a kiln close to Lillington?

I tool, therefore I am!

jerrye · 03-21-2008, 06:03 PM

[quote=Bigdog72;138408]4. If all of this is a waste of time does anyone have a kiln close to Lillington?quote]

Scott (scsmith42) is not that far from you. Probably 45 minutes or so.

DaveO · 03-21-2008, 06:19 PM

Originally Posted by Bigdog72

I picked up about 150bf of cypress from Ivey this morning. Ivey is a real nice guy and he gave me a great deal!

I am getting ready to sticker it and realize I have some questions:

1. For lack of a better place, I am going to stack and sticker in my garage. I plan on using a fan to move air and the fan will be on at least 12 hours a day. I realize that this is not ideal but will I be OK?
That should work well. Is you garage climate controlled?

2. Should I worry about bugs?
I wouldn't worry too much in your garage, unless you already have a bug issue. Bugs don't like Cypress much either

3. I plan on using the cypress for outdoor furniture. I am shooting for 15% moisture. Will I be OK at this level? You should have no problem air drying to a MC of 15% and that is ideal for outdoor furniture.

4. If all of this is a waste of time does anyone have a kiln close to Lillington? Not a waste of time at all. Kiln drying wood destined to be outdoor furniture would be. The only benefit you might get from it would be a good bug kill.

I tool, therefore I am!

Make sure to show us some pictures of what you've made. A WIP pictorial from stack of lumber to finished piece(s) would be great...I love those

Dave

scsmith42 · 03-21-2008, 08:02 PM

Ditto Dave's comments. Be sure that the fan does place a concentrated amount of air in a small area, as you can over-dry and damage the lumber. You might want to leave a gap between the lumber and a wall - say 16" or so, and block the end and top of the stack. Place your fan in the other opening so that the airflow is forced through the stack evenly.

Place your stickers on 16" centers, and be sure that they are closely lined up from top to bottom. This one step will make a noticible quality difference in your dried lumber.

Targeted air movement in terms of feet per minute through the pile should be around 300 fpm, which is not very much.

Scott

JackLeg · 03-21-2008, 09:51 PM

Geoff: I'm a little disappointed with Mr. Pridgen if he let you get out of there with only 150 BF! He usually sticks,er, soaks, er, sells me at least 600 feet of that stuff! You're right, Ivey is a good guy and has a great product. Gives good measure for the buck. I've bought over 2500 BF from him in the last year or so. All good.

Follow Scott's advice, sticker that stuff, keep it in the shade and dry, and you'll achieve 15% moisture in 6 weeks or so probably. It dries out nice and light and is really a pleasure to work with.

We just finished up another glider today for saw4u and it really looks great.

Good luck on the furniture.

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