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View Full Version : Kiln vs air drying 12/4 poplar?



Jared Sankovich
11-15-2015, 4:07 PM
Just had 2100 bd feet of poplar milled. It's mostly 4/4 but there Is A few hundred bd ft each of 6/4, 8/4 and 12/4. Currently it's stacked and stickered in a shed. I'm currently debating if it's worth having the 12/4 and 8/4 Kiln dried. Could anyone shed some insight?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v695/jar944/rps20151115_075447_887_zps83qg2e89.jpg

Art Mann
11-15-2015, 4:56 PM
How soon are you going to use it? That would be my first consideration. There is nothing wrong with air drying. That is the only way our ancestors had of drying wood. Some people say that kiln drying is the only way to get stable wood but the existence of centuries old furniture that is still beautiful and has never been restored tells me otherwise.

Scott T Smith
11-15-2015, 11:05 PM
Jared, your lumber will not air dry very well stacked inside an enclosed building and especially with the stack that close to a wall.

The rule of thumb is that the stack should be no closer to an obstruction than the sum total thickness of all of the stickers. For instance, if your stickers are 1" thick and your stack is 30 layers, then it needs to be spaced at least 30" away from a wall on the sides where air enters and exits the stack.

Cody Colston
11-16-2015, 8:25 PM
Just had 2100 bd feet of poplar milled. It's mostly 4/4 but there Is A few hundred bd ft each of 6/4, 8/4 and 12/4. Currently it's stacked and stickered in a shed. I'm currently debating if it's worth having the 12/4 and 8/4 Kiln dried. Could anyone shed some insight?

I think it depends on how soon you want to use the lumber and it's intended purpose. This time of year, air drying is really slow and if the lumber is to be used for indoor projects, it will still need to be dried to 7% or 8% MC. That can be achieved by bringing the air-dried lumber into a heated space for a period of time or via kiln.

I air-dry most all of my lumber to EMC but before working it, I run it through my solar kiln to get the MC to the level noted above. I have no desire to put dozens of hours into a furniture project only to see it fail because the wood wasn't sufficiently dry.

If the stock will be used indoors, plan on a couple of years or more for it to reach EMC and then even more acclimating it to an acceptable MC. If you aren't willing to wait that long, have it kiln dried. You will have to store the kiln-dried lumber in a humidity controlled envionment (~35% RH) or you can wrap it in visqueen with the ends taped closed to preserve the KD moisture content.

Jared Sankovich
11-18-2015, 9:56 PM
Thanks everyone for the replys. Ideally the slabs would be ready in less than a few years.