How long to let a sapling dry out?

[Cliff Cunningham]

Good morning, all.

I've recently started making walking sticks. Once I find a good candidate... Are there any rules-of-thumb about how long to let various woods dry before starting to work on them... engraving, staining, and finishing them?

Thx for any guidance.

Cliff

[Bill Davis]

Well drying depends on several factors including 1) beginning moisture content, 2) desired 'dry' moisture content, 3) thickness of the wood being dried, 4) average relative humidity where the finished piece will reside & 5) method used to dry the wood. Maybe I skipped something.

So to really provide you even a rule of thumb I would need to know more specifics. Certainly you do have a moisture meter to measure content, right?

[Kent Adams]

Good morning, all.

I've recently started making walking sticks. Once I find a good candidate... Are there any rules-of-thumb about how long to let various woods dry before starting to work on them... engraving, staining, and finishing them?

Thx for any guidance.

Cliff

Cliff, I used to make walking sticks. For a walking stick, I'd think you'd be ok after about 6-8 months at the most with the bark on, less with the bark off.

[russell lusthaus]

Depending on how patient you are, or how much of a supply of drying wood you have to pull from when making a stick, I usually keep my stock for about a year prior to working them. The rule of thumb is about one year per inch of thickness or diameter, if the wood was green when cut. If you took standing dead, another matter. I keep my wood in my garage, but there is a dehumidifier running 24/7. I also put wood being worked, or wood about to be worked, in a "hot box" made from plywood and some 100 watt bulbs. Gets between 90 and 120 depending on how many bulbs are lit.

That said, if you will not mind the wood moving or splitting (sometimes fatally for the stick), you can begin work a week or two after cutting. Smallish sticks dry quick, but they will move. If making rustic looking sticks is what you are after, just let them sit a week or two and get to business. If something more is sought (ala fine furniture), with bent handles, custom tips, or inlays, etc., then wait upwards of a year or more before you begin work. If you need to straighten your stick, you will have to wait for the stick to dry or risk it moving back . . . or forth. Just my thoughts.

Russ