Phil Green
01-19-2009, 10:31 AM
First post, nice site you have here and I look forward to learning a great deal.
A friend just called me with a wood question (like I'm supposed to know all there is to know about wood!).
He cut some cherry and maple out of his yard, had them rough cut for mantles. The cherry will be for him and the maple for his daughter. The dimensions of both are roughly 8x6" and 8' long. The both have been in his basement for about 1 year, just air drying. He wanted to know when he could safely start dimensioning them for their final use.
I told him this, and I want to know if I forgot anything;
1) Both will be green inside, if you cut more that about an inch off the outside face to dimension it, you will have cut off the "dried" wood and will now be working with "green" wood.
2) Both will probably check or warp being over a hot dry heat source such as a fireplace. I would say even if you kiln dried it, you would have this problem.
3) The best thing to do, if you have to get going on the mantles is to bring the rough wood up and set it near the fireplace. Let it get dryer and move a bit before dimensioning. I thought, if he can convince the wife, he should leave them by the fire and not start working on either until the spring.
What do you think? If I could get him to wait, how long should he wait. I don't own a moisture meter, so I can't tell you what he has now in the lumber. If he can get one, should he wait for a specific % moisture on the surface before firing up the planer?? Did I forget anything?
Thanks,
Phil
A friend just called me with a wood question (like I'm supposed to know all there is to know about wood!).
He cut some cherry and maple out of his yard, had them rough cut for mantles. The cherry will be for him and the maple for his daughter. The dimensions of both are roughly 8x6" and 8' long. The both have been in his basement for about 1 year, just air drying. He wanted to know when he could safely start dimensioning them for their final use.
I told him this, and I want to know if I forgot anything;
1) Both will be green inside, if you cut more that about an inch off the outside face to dimension it, you will have cut off the "dried" wood and will now be working with "green" wood.
2) Both will probably check or warp being over a hot dry heat source such as a fireplace. I would say even if you kiln dried it, you would have this problem.
3) The best thing to do, if you have to get going on the mantles is to bring the rough wood up and set it near the fireplace. Let it get dryer and move a bit before dimensioning. I thought, if he can convince the wife, he should leave them by the fire and not start working on either until the spring.
What do you think? If I could get him to wait, how long should he wait. I don't own a moisture meter, so I can't tell you what he has now in the lumber. If he can get one, should he wait for a specific % moisture on the surface before firing up the planer?? Did I forget anything?
Thanks,
Phil