Andy Cleland
09-04-2015, 8:59 PM
Hello,
I just picked up some rough sawn 4/4 Red Alder that I'm going to use for face frames for some kitchen cabinets. Purchased locally, it was transported from a warehouse about 40 miles away here in the Pacific Northwest. I don't have an expensive moisture meter, just an inexpensive one from Harbor Freight that was an impulse buy. Taking readings from wood that has been in the workspace for a couple weeks (Actually its the kitchen that the cabinets will go in), I'm getting 13-14% from every piece I can find. The new lumber either isn't registering or is coming up 6% (both at the ends and at the center of a board I cut in half), which I believe is the minimum the meter will register. Whether or not these numbers are accurate probably isn't worth the time, but I do think that I can safely assume that the new lumber is drier than it will be at equilibrium. Now, you always hear about letting lumber dry out/acclimate in your shop after being brought in from an outside storage facility. Do the same ideas go the other way, for wood that is drier than where it will be milled? I would like to start the face frames this weekend, but don't want to have to re-purchase the lumber. If it matters, I'll be using tongue and groove+glue for attaching the frames to the bases, so I imagine that might take care of a little warp.
Do cabinet shops worry about this? I imagine it would take a heck of a lot of lumber storage to keep things on hand in a high production shop for a couple of weeks or longer before working on it.
Thanks in Advance.
I just picked up some rough sawn 4/4 Red Alder that I'm going to use for face frames for some kitchen cabinets. Purchased locally, it was transported from a warehouse about 40 miles away here in the Pacific Northwest. I don't have an expensive moisture meter, just an inexpensive one from Harbor Freight that was an impulse buy. Taking readings from wood that has been in the workspace for a couple weeks (Actually its the kitchen that the cabinets will go in), I'm getting 13-14% from every piece I can find. The new lumber either isn't registering or is coming up 6% (both at the ends and at the center of a board I cut in half), which I believe is the minimum the meter will register. Whether or not these numbers are accurate probably isn't worth the time, but I do think that I can safely assume that the new lumber is drier than it will be at equilibrium. Now, you always hear about letting lumber dry out/acclimate in your shop after being brought in from an outside storage facility. Do the same ideas go the other way, for wood that is drier than where it will be milled? I would like to start the face frames this weekend, but don't want to have to re-purchase the lumber. If it matters, I'll be using tongue and groove+glue for attaching the frames to the bases, so I imagine that might take care of a little warp.
Do cabinet shops worry about this? I imagine it would take a heck of a lot of lumber storage to keep things on hand in a high production shop for a couple of weeks or longer before working on it.
Thanks in Advance.