split ends: no not hair; expensive hardwoods!!

[Nick Sorenson]

I'm having a problem with the ends on recent lumber purchases splitting. Is this because they failed to seal the ends or some other reason? Is it common with hardwood lumber?

I've been ordering from a pretty well respected yard and getting every board with both ends having 6-12" or so of cracking at the ends. Every board is this way. This means I'm loosing up to 2 feet of lumber in each 10 foot board that I'm paying for. Number wise that means that when I pay $40 for a board I'm loosing $8 worth of wood with each board. In a 300 bd ft lot that turns out to be around 50-60 board feet that goes into the fire pit just because of the splits at the ends of each board. Dollar wise that turns out to be around $200-$300 worth of waste.

Is this something I should be complaining to the yard about? or is this normal?

thanks!
Nick

[Mitchell Andrus]

I prefer to have my splits show up before I start a project rather than after I've shipped it. Split if you must, I tell my boards, just do it now and get it over with.
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[James White]

Nick,

It is best to have a moisture meter and know the humidity in the area were you are storing you lumber. This way if there is a difference between the equilibrium moisture of your shop space and the moisture content of your lumber you can take steps to acclimate it slowly. Such as sealing the ends and keeping it in the coolest area of your shop. With little to no air movement as well. Without a moisture meter you can not blame the vendor because you do not know what the moisture content was at the time of purchase.

Note that if you have a cold shop and then heat it the humidity will drop very low. Then when you turn the heat off and the shop is cold again the humidity can rise. These swings in humidity can also cause your problem.

James


I'm having a problem with the ends on recent lumber purchases splitting. Is this because they failed to seal the ends or some other reason? Is it common with hardwood lumber?

I've been ordering from a pretty well respected yard and getting every board with both ends having 6-12" or so of cracking at the ends. Every board is this way. This means I'm loosing up to 2 feet of lumber that I'm paying for.

Is this something I should be complaining to the yard about?

thanks!
Nick

[Nick Sorenson]

Thanks James,
I appreciate the response and also Mitchell, yes I agree with you on the cracking before the customer receives them!!

A little background on how the lumber is stored on my site:
The lumber is in a temp controlled environment (indoors). Theres very little fluctuation in temp (stays at around 65 F).

However it comes in from a decent ride on a truck from the yard. So of course there are some changes from this. But nothing daily as far as temp fluctuation.

Also important to note, the boards are cracked when I receive them.




Nick,

It is best to have a moisture meter and know the humidity in the area were you are storing you lumber. This way if there is a difference between the equilibrium moisture of your shop space and the moisture content of your lumber you can take steps to acclimate it slowly. Such as sealing the ends and keeping it in the coolest area of your shop. With little to no air movement as well. Without a moisture meter you can not blame the vendor because you do not know what the moisture content was at the time of purchase.

Note that if you have a cold shop and then heat it the humidity will drop very low. Then when you turn the heat off and the shop is cold again the humidity can rise. These swings in humidity can also cause your problem.

James

[Myk Rian]

Also important to note, the boards are cracked when I receive them.
Well, there ya go. Your supplier has a problem.

[David Epperson]

Also important to note, the boards are cracked when I receive them.
What is the vendors position when you point out that they are charging you for the scrap? Did you point out that you cannot use that portion? Or that you only want to buy usable lumber?

[Gerry Grzadzinski]

I certainly wouldn't be paying for $8 of split wood per board. Bring it to their attention, and if they won't do anything about it, find a different supplier.

[Frank Drew]

Exactly. Talk to them, though; it could be that they're already discounting the split portions.

[Howard Acheson]

Sounds like a supplier problem. I would not accept boards that are split.

What species of wood are you referring to?

Temperature has little or nothing to do with it. Splitting occurs from changes in moisture content which is dependent on relative humidity.

[Glen Butler]

It doesn't bother me having a couple inches on a few of my boards that are split, but having everyboard split like that is a real problem and I agree it goes back to your supplier. If I get garbage wood I set it aside and have them take it back.

[Jeff Willard]

Just out of curiosity-what species?

[Scott T Smith]

Nick, you did not mention if you're purchasing green or KD stock. If KD, the splits occurred during the milling/drying process.

My assessment is that this is a defect in the wood and that you should discuss it with your supplier. There is a possibility that the supplier feels that their prices reflect the checked ends, and if so they can convey this to you.

Almost all defects such as checking, splitting, etc occur when lumber transitions from green down to 35% MC. However, the defects are usually not visible until the boards are below 25% MC. They are present - you just usually can't see them with the naked eye.

Several people have mentioned the MC% level in your shop; however unless you are purchasing green wood this is not the cause of your problem.

And in the "this may be more than you want to know" department...

Logs typically start checking as soon as they are felled. During transportation from the plot being logged to the sawmill they will usually check even more (due to the blast of air super-drying the ends of the logs during transport).

If the mill applies end sealer when the logs arrive, it will help prevent additional checks from forming, but it will not stop the growth of the check that had already started. Think of glass cracking - once it starts it will keep growing.

The only way to absolutely minimize the amount of checking is to either apply end sealer as soon as the logs are felled, or to remove several inches off of the end of the logs when they arrive at the mill and then applying end sealer or store them in a pond/sprinkle the logs. This, coupled with milling and drying in short order, are the best ways to prevent end checks.

Since the miller had to remove a portion of the log that he paid for, he will probably have to charge a bit more for his lumber to cover the waste. This is one reason why lumber from concerned and reputable hardwood millers usually costs more than lumber from others.

Howard, your comment about temperature having little or nothing to do with the drying process is not correct, at least for dehumidification kiln drying. The relationship of temperature to relative humidity is a critical part of the drying process, followed to a lesser degree by the air speed. This is especially true in lower RH environments and when the lumber is greater than 25% MC (it's more critical the higher the MC% of the lumber).

As an example, if we compare an environment where the temperature is 55F and the RH is 44%, to an environment where the temperature is 90F and the RH is the same 44%, the drying rate index in the 90F environment is four times greater than in the 55F environment, all other things being equal.

The Drying Rate Index is one formula that kiln operators (dehumidification type kilns) use to manage the drying process.

Temperature control is especially critical during the early stages of kiln drying for slow drying species such as oak.

[jim gossage]

There are very specific rules for the sale of hardwood that depend on the advertised grade (such as FAS, No 1 common, etc), the species, and the type of defect (knots, splits, etc). These rules explicitly state what percentage of your board must be usable and not affected by the various defects. The rules are somewhat complex, but can be found at www.nhla.com (http://www.nhla.com) (National hardwood lumber association).