Massive Wood Panel Drying

[Rob Will]

Several websites offer large slabs of wood for sale.
Something like 30" x 60" x 1.75" thick.
These are offered for use in table tops, desks, natural edge furniture etc.

This has me wondering.......just exactly how do they dry these huge pieces of wood without splitting?

Here's an example of a piece I saw on the internet.

Any ideas?

Rob

[Ian Abraham]

Not easily :rolleyes:

But a few things that can be done

Pick the right species, Walnut and many softwoods will be easier to dry because of their lower shrinkage. Woods with higher shrinkage are more prone to split as they dry. You seldom see big pieces of oak like that.

Dry them slow, end seal the boards to control the drying there, and try to get the whole piece to dry slowly and evenly.

Cut them from the right place in the log. If you cut big slabs like that with the pith included, or even close to the pith, you are asking for trouble. It will split every time. A live edge slab cut from 1/3 of the way through a log is going to be more stable.

Expect to get some end splits and trim them off after the slab is dried.

And if all else fails, the split is a 'natural feature' that you enchance with contrasting butterflys or fill with epoxy resin ;)

Anyway thats why they can charge the big bucks for those big boards :)

Cheers

Ian

[Jim Becker]

They are air dried for a long time before seeing the inside of a kiln if one is used. Since these are generally used "natural edge", "natural" includes cracks and checks which are sometimes "fixed" as Ian indicates with butterfly inlays, etc.

There is a local operation near me that saws and sells slabs to Mira Nakashima. Properly cutting them is sometimes an art unto itself. After air-drying, the Nakashima operation "finishes" them in their own kiln built specifically to handle this work. (That local place has a bunch of slabs drying in their parking area "as we speak" that are at least 6" thick and bigger than the pickup truck that I used to drive...incredible slabs...)

[Rob Will]

Thanks Ian and Jim.
I was just commenting to my family as to how the Internet has made the world a smaller place. Here I am on a farm in Kentucky learning to dry some natural edge slabs of my own.

Within a few hours, Ian provided some helpful advice all the way from New Zealand and Jim is in touch with how the Nakashima family does this sort of thing in PA. SMC is a great place!

BTW: I aquired a 44" poplar log today.......hey hey hey!

Rob

[Ben Grunow]

I saw a US Navy flatbed 18 wheeler picking up some mahogany planks, if you can call them that, that were 6" x 24" x 20'+ long at Condons Lumber in WHite Plains NY about 5 years ago (awesome lumber spot BTW but bring cash). Apparently for a ship restoration. Come to think of it the wood could have been teak.

These boards were S4S! I dont know what mill made them but they were incredible.

Ben

[Scott Banbury]

The main reason I bought my own sawmill was to be able to work with large natural edged flitches (slabs). The species I prefer for this are Cherry, Walnut, Birch and Soft Maple.

Through creative positioning of the log I can boule saw a 28" diameter log and on bigger logs I cut natural edged flitches off two opposing sides of the log until I hit the 28" (space between roller guides) on each side and then grade saw the rest.

I saw the widest clearest slabs (the tangential ones halfway between the pith and the sap) 6/4 or 8/4. I go thicker on Cherry as it seems to cup a little more than other species.

Getting closer to and including the pith, I like to saw 10 or 12/4 to be resawn later (another reason to have a sawmill) or ripped up for legs, etc. These flitches closer to the pith often check down the middle but a few butterflies can fix that.

If the bark is easy to peel, I take it off before stacking, leaving super smooth natural edges. If the bark is hard to remove I leave it on while drying to avoid marring the edge by using adzes, spuds, etc. Left on, beetles will nicely decorate the edge of the slab and make it easier to remove with a drawknife later.

One of the nice things about big slabs is that you have years to get to know them as you move them around the shop for the 3 or more years that it takes them to dry :D

[Ian Abraham]

I know what you mean about moving them about :D

This one is still in the shed waiting to be transformed into my new kitchen table. It took 3 of us to lift One End of it onto the trailer. It's a bit lighter now it's dried, but it's still going to be one heck of a table.

The wood is Monterey cypress, it is a nice stable wood to dry and finishes up real nice.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=34408&d=1142888265

Cheers

Ian

[John Shuk]

I saw a US Navy flatbed 18 wheeler picking up some mahogany planks, if you can call them that, that were 6" x 24" x 20'+ long at Condons Lumber in WHite Plains NY about 5 years ago (awesome lumber spot BTW but bring cash). Apparently for a ship restoration. Come to think of it the wood could have been teak.

These boards were S4S! I dont know what mill made them but they were incredible.

Ben

You got that right about Condon's. Have you ever been to the location in Stormville NY? Warehouse size!

[Ben Grunow]

Didnt know there was one. Thats a long trip for me but someday...

They have a great supply of plywood there too (in addition to all sorts of solids).