How long do you let wood acclimate in you shop?

[George Bokros]

Wondering how long you let newly accquired material acclimate to your shop before you begin machining?

Thanks

[Steve Jenkins]

Depending on the time I get back I either start then or the next day.

[Ralph Okonieski]

Under normal circumstances it is there a few days before I start milling it. Developing final cut list, deciding which boards will be used for which pieces, cutting to rough length are steps taken during this time. Sometimes distractions occur and this may take a week or more but typically is a few days.

[Tom Bussey]

I buy my wood from a local sawmill. It runs about 15/16ths in thickness skip planned. I like to get started as soon as it gets in the shop. I like to brake down the boards to the general size i need it to be. I like to cut them about 3/16ths to a 1/4 inch bigger than the final size and usually a couple of inches long. Then I put a hook in the end and hang then on a clothesline I have in the shop. I put the detail number on them with a marker. Since trees don't grow in perfect. conditions there is always some internal stress in the wood and by rough cutting it allows the wood to trist bow or whatever. I guess I rough, simi finish and then finish milling. If I need 10 boards the same size then I make sure I have all ten boards so I can finish cutting all 1o the exactly the same size.

If I flatten a board on a jointer and then go the planner I leave about 1 1/16 th toso that I can do the final sizing at a latter date. This helps to get the big mess cleaned up before going for the final sizing.

[Paul F Franklin]

I check it with a moisture meter. If it's within a percent or so of lumber that's been in my shop a long time, It's good to go. I will do rough sizing and milling before then if I have to, but wait to do final milling until it hits that point.

[John TenEyck]

I check it with a moisture meter. If it's within a percent or so of lumber that's been in my shop a long time, It's good to go. I will do rough sizing and milling before then if I have to, but wait to do final milling until it hits that point.


^^^^^^ This.

John

[Ron Citerone]

I keep a pile of lumber on hand that I like to work from. If I want a different species than I have on hand, I like to think one project ahead, purchase the lumber and let it acclimate while I finish the first project.

I also have learned to mill and cut it a little thick (1/8") and a little wide (1/4") and let it sit for several days and then do the final milling. If I see movement in those several days I let it sit a week longer.

It's a dance that I struggle with and always have better results with lumber that sits around stickered for a month or so.

[Curt Putnam]

I plan for weeks but the actuality has been years.

[Brian Tymchak]

I have a basement shop so regardless of the season lumber will have to acclimate. I only buy kiln dried rough lumber and let it sit minimally a week. I may cut to rough dimension but I don't plane, joint, resaw for at least a week.

[Ron Citerone]

I plan for weeks but the actuality has been years.

That can happen!:eek: LOL

[Andrew Seemann]

Stuff tends to sit a week or two or maybe a month or year or two before I get to it, but that isn't on purpose. I don't intentionally let the lumber acclimate; honestly I don't think it matters. The humidity changes around here can be so fast and drastic, that nothing really ever reaches equilibrium. I have as much problems with wood that has been in the shop for a year as I do with stuff I just bought. Heck, last winter I cut into a piece of maple that had been in the shop for nearly a decade and it still pretzeled when I ripped it. The lumber yard isn't in a different climate, so whether it sat there or in my shop for two weeks likely doesn't matter.

If anything, when I get lumber S2S SL1E, I want to use it as fast as possible, before it warps from acclimating.

[Ron Selzer]

most of the time 1 month to 5 years
I like to buy 500bdf at a time, due to price, how far i drive to get it, how hard it is to get in basement shop
right now have some rift sawn white oak that has been down there since 2015, popular 1988,2017,2019 cherry 2017, 2019
If I was a production shop then I would move it in 2-3 months unless I bought it in middle of summer with high humidity
Ron

[Ken Fitzgerald]

2-5 weeks even if bought locally or in the nearby area. Here in the valley we are extremely dry compared to the surrounding area.

[Doug Dawson]

Wondering how long you let newly accquired material acclimate to your shop before you begin machining?


Anywhere from a few weeks to 20 years. I still have a stack of white oak from back when I used to use more of it, stickered in my storage room.

A good quality surface-contact (i.e. non-pin) moisture meter is your friend, and should be the ultimate decider of whether something is immediately usable, both before and during machining.

[William Hodge]

There is no standard, because shop conditions, wood conditions, and final product vary so much.

Humidity control in the shop and a moisture meter are crucial to managing wood storage. My fire wood goes into the shed at 25% moisture content, and by August I get it down to 8% to 11%. In the fall, moisture content tends to creep up a bit. I keep the shop at 30% to 45% humidity, winter and summer. I check the lumber coming in, and the moisture content of the benches in the shop to see what's going on. Unless the wood has come from a mill green, or is extra thick, moisture content stays around 9% to 11%.

The final product is the key factor. When making tomato stakes, I don't check the moisture content of the 2X stock I'm ripping up. Doors with 18" wide panels are another matter.

OP, what are you making, what is your wood source, and what is the relative humidity in your shop?

[roger wiegand]

6 months to 40 years (so far). I seldom buy wood for a specific project, instead I buy exceptional wood whenever I find it and restock on my basics of maple, cherry, walnut, and poplar as I start to run low, buying a couple hundred bf at a time.

[Rod Sheridan]

Wondering how long you let newly accquired material acclimate to your shop before you begin machining?

Thanks

Sometimes decades:)

Normally a few weeks, however that's dependent upon the wood's moisture content...........Rod.

[Alan Lightstone]

Typically a week or so, though I also have some nice wood that's been here closer to a decade.

As said above - a moisture meter is your friend, and the final purpose / destination / moisture content at that destination play a role.

[Jim Becker]

Since I started doing more work for others, I get into the situation of using "new stock" more often now. Much of what I buy needs little or no time but I still most often take a conservative route and only mill shy of final, let it sit stickered to acclimate and then mill to final. As has been mentioned, my moisture meter plays a roll, too. For that locker door project I did not long ago, the 6/4 clear pine that I had to order in required a lot of coddling to "Get there" and was milled in multiple steps with stickering and air flow over almost a week and a half before I even considered using it. The meter was absolutely the guide there. Fortunately, pine gives off moisture relatively quickly.

[John TenEyck]

I've found that the worst thing I can do is to bring wood into my shop and wait a few days for it to acclimate and then start using it before it really has. I was pressed to finish a project a few years ago and bought some 6/4 maple that I needed to resaw into door panels. My mm said it was 11 -12% and my shop was 7 - 8%. After 3 days the surface was 8% so I resawed it. It cupped as soon as it came off the bandsaw. I figured it would flatten out in a couple of days. Nope. Never did. Still under pressure to fiinsh the project I bought some more of the same wood and resawed it immediately. It was 11% both inside and out when I did that. It never cupped.

So either use it immediately or wait until it's at equilibrium with your shop (the better choice by far), but using it while it's in transition is a really bad idea.

John

[Ron Citerone]

Another thought about acclimation. Seasonal issues. Here in PA, I have found taking wood from an unheated outdoor situation at the change of season is problematic. E.G. end of summer, end of Fall. I had issues with wood from sheds and unheated garages in the past.

Never had a moisture meter, but I should. I think that would solve a lot of issues.

I do believe in acclimating lumber when ever possible.

[glenn bradley]

Moisture meter. I rarely find material that won't acclimate in a few days. Another few days (or whenever the meter says so) for resawn stock. Dimensional lumber . . . 2 months or more. I live in a dry climate with mild humidity swings but, kiln dried 2 x 12's are still soaking wet.

[Warren Lake]

your shop should be 60-80 F
your shop humidity should be 30-40 percent
your hard wood should be 6.5 percent when you buy it
your soft wood should be 11 percent when you buy it

there are plus or minuses on those numbers but its not too much,

What type of moisture meters, pins that Penetrate 5/16" .

[Will Blick]

Great post Warren! Hard for some of us to keep shop at 30-40% in high humidity areas, but point well taken.
John T, what a scary story...good way to waste some good wood... I have some re saw projects coming up, I will certainly be on the look out for this...
How do you determine the moisture in the middle of a 1.5" board without cutting it?

[roger wiegand]

How do you get your shop to 30-40% humidity? We get that low (or lower!) for a couple months in mid-winter, but most of the year it's in the 40-60% range, and through the summer 50-70 with the AC on. (it's 85% outside right now) That's in Massachusetts, not what most people regard as a particularly humid environment. It would be delightful to have my shop at 30%, but I think I'd have to run a huge bank of dehumidifiers to get there. Given the typical RH in New England lumber from the yard comes in at 8-9%, consistent with a ~50% RH.

[Warren Lake]

the specs are from Gerry Metz who was a top consultant to industry.

People with shops running up to 1000 pieces wrote in to him with problems and he told them what they were doing wrong and what was causing it. He wrote for many years for Wood Magazine and he knew his stuff. Its nothing new if you are a veneer guy you have a room and its temp and humidity controlled where its all stored. If I buy wood from a pro supplier its 6.5 to 7. Agree hard to keep a shop to those numbers and ive had to work miracles from mine its not possible so I have to build according to what it is. As soon as you make a piece where you are and it goes to another place then its a whole other temp and humidity different for different places.

[Kevin Jenness]

Jerry Metz also prescribed ripping and flipping pieces no wider than 3" for panel glueups as I recall. I wouldn't take everything he espoused as gospel. His recommendation for using softwoods at 11% may be valid for exterior millwork but makes no sense to me for interior work.

[Warren Lake]

I dont do all he said, I dont do all the old guy I learned from said but for the most part I dont see stuff close to the old guys work. Raised panel one piece cathedral up mortise and tennon. Door maker seen up to 11 rips cope and stick.

i dont do the ripping and flipping as im not making 1000 pieces. Look at the application, and why, most factories are using a low grade of wood to begin with. I once emailed a wood expert who talks moisture and wood in the shop and asked him how many thousands of feet he has machined and got no answer. Wood is a dance of tension release.

Ive used 11 for exterior and 6.5 pine last supplier on interior and it felt brittle to machine compared to the exterior stuff. The 6.5 pine for me was for more wall storage cabinets I should check it and see what it is now. I moved them last night and they felt damp. I agree the 11 sounds high, I asked my supplier and it was a junior guy and non answer on the 6.5. I had an email today on my Delmhost meter and will see what they say.

[Will Blick]

Great thread !
Is there a table showing shop % RH and what wood % humidity should be for that environment?

Here in SCal, it can be 80% RH in the shop today... tomorrow the winds change direction (Santa Ana's) and the shop falls to 12% RH for several days, or even a week. Major swings. I would say 80% of the days, it averages 60% RH in my shop.

Also, if the finished project will be subjected to the same temp and RH as what its built in, the finished product should fare well, yeah?

[Kevin Jenness]

Here's a short article on the subject with a graph plotting equilibrium moisture content vs relative humidity https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-and-moisture/. (https://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/wood-and-moisture/)