Air Dry Thick Veneer?

[Scott Felicetti]

I'm having a few hard maple veneer logs milled for me in thin veneers. 1/16" and 1/8". The veneers will be 5"-14" wide and 4'-8' in length. Any tips on the best way to air dry the veneers? How long it will take? Stacking etc. Thanks in advance for any assistance. I'm concerned about bowing, cupping and the like.
Scott

[John Thompson]

I am not familiar with how to air dry them after you mill them to veneer thicknesses Scott.... but I would also be concerned about cupping.. warping also to the point I would air dry then have them milled. Hopefully someone may have more in-sight on this as I. I have just never heard or seen it done that way even though I am not familar with commercial procedure to do so?

Good luck...

Sarge..

[Richard M. Wolfe]

I've not tried it, but from what I've read the best way is to layer the material between absorbent material like cardboard or some type of fiberboard. The outside is a layer of something durable that will take pressure like heavy plywood which is then clamped. The drying is monitored (usually checked daily) and the absorbent carboard replaced as needed. One source I read suggested newspaper but I would be concerned with staining from the newsprint. Also some say to use thin stickers placed very close together. If you will go to the Woodweb forum and use the search terms "drying thin stock" you can find a number of articles on the subject. Good luck with the project.

[Frank Drew]

How do they do it in veneer mills? Do the run the newly cut veneers through a drying oven?

I'd be worried about staining from mold, and stickering between sheets that thin won't work. In the absence of a very compelling reason to have that large an amount of my own veneer sawn, I'd be inclined to buy veneer and have nice logs saws into lumber.

Let us know how you do.