Air drying cherry

[Keye]

How long do you folks usually air dry cherry if you are going to use it for furniture?

 

[DaveO]

The general rule of thumb is 1 year for 4/4 material to air dry to around [STRIKE]12%[/STRIKE] 20% MC, then you would want to bring it inside to acclimate it to a climate controlled environment if you intend to make furniture out of it that would reside in that environment.
MTCW,
Dave

 

[wayne]

Local cherry is bad to split on the ends so be sure to paint the ends with something so as to help prevent the ends splitting as it dries

 

[Kyle]

This is good explanation for drying from green..

http://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Processing_trees_to_lumber.html


From the article..
12. For air drying only: Air drying (to 20% moisture content) takes 45 to 60 days of warm, not too humid, weather for 1-inch material; 60 to 90 days for 2-inch material. Additional drying is unnecessary and may result in more splitting. However, further drying is necessary before the lumber can be used indoors. Failure to dry lumber fully will result in splitting and/or warping in use.

13. Drying green-from-the-saw or final drying for air dried lumber is typically done in a commercial dry kiln heated from 110 to 180 degrees F with controlled humidity. Kiln drying is easily accomplished by the do-it-yourselfer by building a solar heated dry kiln – a plastic or fiberglass-walled greenhouse with fans to circulate the hot air. (See next section for construction details.) Temperature in the dryer will average about 15 degrees F above average outdoor temperature and are sufficient to rapidly dry lumber. Lumber, once dry, can be stored indefinitely in the dryer provided green lumber is not reintroduced into the kiln.


This site actually list the best months to air dry and how many air drying days are available to dry your lumber..

http://www.forestry.iastate.edu/publications/pubs-pdf/F-303.pdf

April through November are the best months in NC and you need about 60 days to bring 1 inch material to 15-20%

 

[DaveO]

Kyle, that is excellent info. It doesn't really take as long as the "rule of thumb" to air dry. That is great to know. The hard part for the hobbiest without a kiln is drying it more past the level that air drying can obtain. Can you get lower than 15-20% with time????
Dave

 

[Oakwood]

Cherry for use in furniture should be 6-8% moisture content. A 40% relative humidity is average for the Carolinas and 6-8% MC in your cherry lumber will maintain dimensional stability.

John B.

 

[jeff...]

Kyle in my experience, that's about right, around 90 days or so, depending on the weather, if your going to stack outside. Then I bring inside the shop, re stack. put my dehumidifier in front of the stack, cover with a tarp tent and let it roll. Till I'm down to 6~8% MC, with a pin style MM. Takes anywhere from 2 ~ 6 weeks, depending on the species. Check and empty the dehumidifier frequently, keep the tent good and sealed, so you suck the moisture out of the air that's under the tent and not the the air that's in your shop. This is my version of a poor mans kiln :-D

 

[Keye]

Kyle,

To tag on with DaveO, does bringing the wood inside after it has air dryed have much affect on the moisture content?

Would also like to add my cudo's for the info you provided.

 

[Kyle]

Inside a house MC varies between 6-10% MC and will cause the wood to shrink somewhat once brought indoors. I would recommend for air dried wood to be rough planed fat to final dimension and put in an environment similiar to where the finished product will be used for 2-3 weeks longer if you have time. Planing will open the pours and allow the rest of the moisture to release into the drier environment. You need a meter to check this (hopefully one better than the 9.95 one from HF )

Final working moisture should be 6-9% to minimize movement.

If you are building stuff for the great outdoors air dried is ready to work..

 

[rjann]

I have had a real learning experience on red oak, but drying wood is all the same for furniture making. I air dried the 1" rough mountain oak for three years, planed it down to 3/4" and made an entertainment center and two desks. They looked great for about a month after I brought them inside. Now the doors don't close and the drawers don't shut. The shelves are crooked. The moulding is twisted. LOL. Hard lesson. A fellow down the road with a kiln is going to finish drying the remainder of my oak. Meanwhile, I will just work with my kiln dried cherry!

Bob -- learning the hard way.