Sap Setting

[Tom Giacomo]

I have some large pine I am hoping to use and I have hear of sap setting and I am clueless on this idea. What is it used for, how do you do it and can it be done on large pieces of pine I mean 8" x 10".

[Rick Lizek]

Setting the pitch requires the be in dry kiln at 160 degrees plus for 24 to 48 hours. That's what we do with our Nyle kiln.

[Scott T Smith]

I have some large pine I am hoping to use and I have hear of sap setting and I am clueless on this idea. What is it used for, how do you do it and can it be done on large pieces of pine I mean 8" x 10".

Tom, if your pine was kiln dried you should be good to go.

The sap in pine (pitch) has a memory, and it will crystallize at around 15 degrees below the highest temperature that it has been exposed to. In commercial kilns pine is usually dried at 160 - 180F, so the pitch will set around 140 - 160. In DH kilns, a reputable kiln operator will take the kiln up to 160F at the end of the kiln run in order to set the pitch.

Once the pitch is set, the liklihood of it bleeding out of the lumber is greatly reduced. You might still get a bit of pitch buildup on your equipment if the friction of the tooling heats the wood higher than the temp that the pitch was set at.