Storing good wood

[John Harris]

Good Evening, friends! I am trying to think of where I am going to store good wood while it is drying. This would not be wood that is in use or sheet goods. I am thinking it would be bulk storage and fresh cut wood that is drying.

I already have plans in place to build a shelter for my firewood. My new thinking involves using one of the four sided shelter for the wood storage. This shelter would have a roof with generous eaves, but open sides. I could add one side if really needed.

Here is where I need help. How will the outdoor humidity of Pennsylvania effect the wood? Will winter and summer temperature changes effect the wood? Any other issues?

Where do others store their good wood?

[Tom Sontag]

An open sided shelter is ideal. You want air flow, but not sun and rain. Consistently high winds might be a problem for wood that wants slower drying like oak. Wood dries faster in hotter weather, but otherwise the seasons are no big deal. Use dry stickers spaced precisely above one another, keep the pile's sides and ends even (gaps between boards, not on the outside of the pile), keep off the ground, etc. etc. EVERYTHING matters when stacking to dry.

Check the Wood Doctor's articles on air drying for more than you ever thought you wanted to know www.woodweb.com

[Jeff Sudmeier]

The only real difference between indoor and outdoor drying is that if you have dried your wood in somewhere other than where you are going to work it. You should let it acclimate to your shop when you start working it.

[lou sansone]

dito with what tom has said.... woodweb sawing and drying forum is a wealth of info

keep the drying piles away from the dried material ... I will post some pics of how I have this set up.

lou

[jim mckee]

When stickering wood.

Out of the sun.
Not against a wall
White woods watch out they stain easy, I use 1.5" tall stickers.
Tall stack is better than wide stack (weight helps against warp)
Best wood on bottom.
I would reccommend 4' wide stack no wider
Dry Oaks slower than other woods (Oak has some of the worst degrade when air dried)
If your worried about sticker stain, re-stack the wood in 1-2mo alternate the stick location (white woods sooner).
Before using the wood it must be 6-10%mc (some projects can be made with 15%mc but is it worth it)
To test mc. use the oven dry method below is link for Kiln operators manual
http://www.rmmn.org/documnts/usda/ah188/ah188.htm
Personally I would mill it and take it straight to a kiln (run the math on loss from degrade vs value of wood)

If your having it milled:
If the mill charges by the hr consider Through cutting, it's way quicker
Through cutting (Top to bottom) produces the most qtr sawn lumber (next to actually qtr sawing)
Be the mill tail person maybe less mill$$
Tell friends to bring logs also for better prices total
For ref.
My milling charge is .20bf
My kiln charge is .02bf
jim

[Scott Banbury]

2 cents per bdft to kiln?

What kind of kiln are you using?

[Tom Sontag]

2 cents per bdft to kiln?

What kind of kiln are you using?

Scott,

I believe that is the rarely encountered "Typo" brand kiln. Typo made many products with unbelievable specs.

:)

[Ian Abraham]

All good advice above.

Here is where I need help. How will the outdoor humidity of Pennsylvania effect the wood? Will winter and summer temperature changes effect the wood? Any other issues?
Once the wood is dried below 20% mc it's pretty safe from mould and most bugs. Stored in an open shelter like that the wood will dry to somewhere between 18 and 10% mc (depends on time of year and location). The mc will fluctuate around this point with the seasons, but it wont hurt the wood to be stored like this. It will be best to bring the wood for the next project inside to dry more (a month or so ) before use. All sorts of traps with some wood needing to dry fast to prevent stain, some needing to dry slow to prevent checking. But your idea about a carport type shelter is a good one.

Ian