Question about cutting planks

[northmn]

If you live close to me you also know athat old wood furniture will not stay togethger due to drastic humidity changes.  I have had different chairs and have this problem.  Also natural hardwood flooring has a reputation of shifting very badly and really is not recommended for this area.   If humidity is kept stable then wood remains stable.  You have to have both a dehumidifier in the summer and a humidifier in the winter.   "Seasoning" wood is nothing more than drying wood.  Some get all excited upon finding old planks that have been in a shed since before we got our independence.  There will always be those that think that "naturally" dried wood will be superior.  If thats how granddad did it then its got to be the best.  A 3 inch plank that is allowed to dry in a shed  for 3 years has no advantage whatsoever over one properly dried in an accelerated manner.  As a matter of fact those that have studied very old wood have found no advantages in it.  Wood will absorb moisture to its ambient humidity.  If you let kiln dried wood "season" all you are doing is letting it get wetter if the humidity is high.  As I stated some kiln drying techniques have harmed wood. Reputable operators that dry custom woods know that and avoid it.  Another thing is the application and type of wood.  Iron wood, which I cannot imagine I would ever use on a gunstock as it has no figure, is best dried for bows if the bark is left on or it does crack, most stock woods do not.  A gunstock really just needs to be brought down to a given dryness.  They advertise 7%, which would break a bow.  The stability I am referring to is that of getting the wood dry enough so that you do not get too much shrinkage from parts like the buttplates in low humidity conditions.  Actually they recommend slotting stock barrel retaining pins for that reason. To allow for creep.  A good hard maple will carve quite fine if the drying is accelerated. Actually I have been the one suggesting alternatives as almost everyone else thinks you have to wait 3 years or more to get a gunstock.  What I would suggest for the someone who has cut up a tree is a combination.  Accelerate a stock so that you can use it and leave the wood properly ricked up and protected until anticipated need.  Forget the folklore.

DP 

[Tony Clark]

 > "Seasoning" wood is nothing more than drying wood.<

Not true, changes occur to wood over time on a cellular level. Its simple enough to see this by looking at something that is old and constructed out of wood. It has shrunk further and becomes harder. This is not because it has lost moisture further. It is because the cells continue to shrink.


>As a matter of fact those that have studied very old wood have found no advantages in it. <

Really? That seems like an odd statement seeing as I personally know a number of people that have studied very old wood and do in fact see a value in using it over wood dried in a short time or in an expedient manner. In fact almost without exception, every accomplished craftsman that I know would choose older wood all else being equal. The use of wood dried in a short time is an expedient that is at some times required, but desirable? No.

>If you let kiln dried wood "season" all you are doing is letting it get wetter if the humidity is high.<

Did you know that wood will "season" even if it is completely submerged under water? It's true. It was a tradition in Italy for violin makers to store there finest wood under water, and coincidentally, they were also acutely aware of the value of seasoned wood and its superior qualities. I suspect that there (and my) idea of what a truly stable piece of wood is, and your idea of the same, may be quite a bit different. You may have heard of the wood that has been salvaged in recent years from the bottom of Lake Superior. This has been greedily snapped up at ridiculously high prices by craftsman such as luthiers and fine woodworkers. This is not only in an attempt to have a small amount of what they consider to be "old growth" wood, but to get there hands on something that is a once in a lifetime chance, wood that has been seasoning for 125 years on the bottom of lake superior with little or no deterioration.


>Forget the folklore.<

Folklore? No, one learns from listening to other more experienced people, and then experimenting further themselves if they feel the need to verify. I've already been through the process of working with simple kiln dried wood, properly air dried wood, and finally wood that has been allowed to season for a number of years as many of the people I have learned from over the years have. If you choose not to give any value to my observations so be it. My feelings are not at all hurt. But hopefully others, who as of yet may not have an opinion in the matter, will not be misguided into believing that a simple piece of kiln dried wood which may have been standing in tree form perhaps only months previous, is in some way equal to a piece that has been properly air dried and has been allowed to age for 20 years. And that is all I have to say in regards to this matter. Have a great day & Regards, TC

[northmn]

I have decided to take another track here and have looked at various resources on drying wood.  University of Missouri Extension.  Air dried wood only reaches a minimum moisture level of 15%, for indoor use like furniture etc. it has to be kiln dried to maintain stability.
Wikipedia Quoting Desch and Dinwoodie.  "Kiln drying provides a means of overcoming the limitations imposed by erratic weather conditions"  "Timber can be dried to to any lower desired moisture content, but air drying, moisture contents of less than 18% are difficult to attain"  "In air drying there is little control over drying elements, do drying degrade cannot be controlled"  "The temperatures employed in kiln drying typically kill all the fungus and insects in the wood. To parapprase "if the temp is kept above 60 degrees C."  James R. Reeb also made the comments.  I saw no references to advantages of air dried wood except as for construction lumber and outdoor use.  Other comments were that air dried lumber is more likely over time to develop splits and show flaws, which may be an advantage as only the tougher pieces survive?  I guess if you like working with older wood thats fine, the references cited are quick and dirty research.  Others I remember based on science state the same thing. Do your thing Tony and I'll do mine.
The issue on this thread was that of what to do with fresh cut lumber. There is a lot to be said for expedience as I really do want to wait 20 years for a stock to "season" . In answer to leaving the bark on.  It probably does not hurt, but under the bark there is the lighter sapwood which you may not want anyway. One of the recommendations I just read for air drying was to use a sealer on the end grain as you were told, and to also coat the wood with mineral oil which seems to help prevent splitting.  Remember that getting a blank cut out will reduce the size of the piece and expedite drying using any method.  In bug infested areas some even treat with kerosene or gasoline.  I have a piece of maple in my shot that I end treated and played by the book on.  I like to let them air dry for a while to quit sweating before using the hotbox.  This piece slit  up the middle of the butt section, regardless.  Some will do that. Not all pieces of wood make a chair, gun or even a post.  Good luck on your efforts. 

DP

[David Veith]

One more trick Bring the peice in to the house a the winter befor you plan on working on it. And let the furnce and your dry house draw it down the last few % points
David Veith

[northmn]

Awesome info, Tony. Makes perfect sense about a smaller piece handling the stress better.

Acer,of
I'm surprised that so few among this learned group are aware of this fact.  Perhaps it is because so much of the information learned on message boards is a result of passing on one's opinion, instead of reading the literature.  This method of drying has been written in numerous publications since the turn of the last century.  I believe it was John Bivins who further said that the blanks should have a screw eye installed in the end of the blank which is then suspended from a wire in the top of the barn or the attic of the workshop until dry.
While I have used the hotbox, I suspect that this is also GGG' grandads method as you have pointed as well as DV.  I just scanned a history of Remington firearms (in my "special library") where they referred to the fact that E. Remington (1816) may have had access to wood stored in the rafters.  I have also had old timers tell me that attics were a good place to dry wood.  All imply a common practice of an additional drying technique.  I am sure that the early fine woodworkers of whatever craft may have used attic/rafter drying very early on.   

DP





During this time, the blank will warp right or left if slab sawn, or up and down if quarter sawn.  This is one reason why the quarter sawn blank is preferable.  More wood must be removed from a slab sawn blank to true it before commencing work.