to cut or not to cut, part deux

[jonnyfontaine]

ok... this time i am writing to see if it is better to cut dried wood, or leave it in it's current state untill ready to use? i have some 8/4 and 6/4 slabs that are about 8" wide and 24" long, and they will eventually be resawn into bookmatched pieces and i sometimes get too antsy and wanna see what it'll look like right away, even if i will not be using it for a while... is this harder on the wood, or is it better to resaw and surface the wood and then stack it, on stickers (even though it's dry i'm still paranoid it'll move) any and all advice will very much be appreciated... thanks

 

[DaveO]

There is nothing wrong with re-sawing a thicker piece thinner before dry. It will help accelerate the drying process. Remember that trees are really thick pieces of wood before they are sawn into boards. But just like sawing lumber out of a tree you will have to keep it thicker than the final desired thickness to allow for any movement while it dries. So with your 8/4 stock, if the final thickness is less than 4/4, re-saw it and then leave it rough or skip planed to dry.

MTCW,
Dave

 

[LeftyTom]

Yeah, what Dave said. :wink_smil

 

[Tarhead]

I have had problems with warping after resawing. I would suggest racking the resawn blanks for a few weeks and placing a heavy weight on top or use 3-4 ratchet straps. You can also make a sandwich out of 3/4" ply and clear packing tape. This will allow all of the evil warping gremlins out of the wood. Delay jointing and final planing until you're ready to use them.

 

[ScottM]

Jonny, if the wood is already dry (mositure content in the useable range) I would wait until ready to use before resawing. Thin stock is more prone to the effects of changing conditions until your shop is controlled 24 x 7. DAMHIK. However if the stock is not dry by all means resawing will speed up the drying time. If you resaw ahead of time I would make it at least 1/8 thicker then final size and not plane it until ready to use.