how long for wood drying

[Jeff Cremers]

If I were to leave some Mesquite in my garage in Texas.
about 150 bd ft of 4/4 and about 150 bd ft of 8/4 stock
nothing to long 3 feet to four feet boards.
How long would it take to dry out enough to use it from when its cut?
stacked and stickered.
Thanks
Jeff

[John Keeton]

Not sure about Mesquite as we don't have much of that in KY! But, normally, an inch a year for air drying - so on the 8/4, two years. You generally have low humidity in Texas from what I understand and that may speed things up a bit. Any pieces on the concrete floor - will never dry!

[Frank Drew]

I'm with John in my unfamiliarity with mesquite, or with the drying conditions in your part of Texas, but I like to give a well stacked and stickered pile with nice air movement a minimum year per inch of thickness, plus an additional year. So, at least two years for 4/4, three years for 8/4, etc. It's been my experience that air-dried stock is quite often nicer to work than kiln-dried, and the longer the air drying the nicer the working properties.

Your mileage may vary.

[Dennis Peacock]

Standard rule of thumb for most any lumber drying is 1 year per Inch of thickness + 1 month.

Of course you could buy a moisture meter and check it every month. :)

[Jim Becker]

The drying time varies by species and density combined with local conditions. You can "start" with the one inch per year rule of thumb, but you need to measure it. Fortunately mesquite is one of the most stable species even when at a higher moisture content.

BTW, in your garage is not a good place to dry lumber. You need air flow to wick off the moisture that is leaving the wood. The best place is outdoors in an area that has good ambient air movement. (Wind) with a simple cover to keep standing water off of the pile. Incidental wetting from blowing rain doesn't matter.

[Sean Rainaldi]

Standard rule of thumb for most any lumber drying is 1 year per Inch of thickness + 1 month.

Of course you could buy a moisture meter and check it every month. :)

Does stock need to be very smooth, or can it be rough sawn, for an accurate moisture content reading?

[Jim Becker]

Does stock need to be very smooth, or can it be rough sawn, for an accurate moisture content reading?

Lumber is typically dried in the rough...if you are using a pinless meter, a quick swipe with a block plane will give you a smooth enough surface to get a reading. Pin type moisture meters are generally best for working with a stack of drying lumber and you have the option of embedding some auxiliary pins deep in the stack so you can measure inside, rather than being restricted to what you can reach on the top and sides.

[Dennis Peacock]

Does stock need to be very smooth, or can it be rough sawn, for an accurate moisture content reading?

Sean,
All the wood I dry is in the rough. I never measure with a meter mainly because I don't have one. But, after 1 year or longer? I've never had any problems with making stuff from Oak (red or white), cedar, or any other local species of wood I buy "green". Green lumber is a lot cheaper to buy than dry and if you have the room to stack, stick, and let dry? Then you have greatly reduced your expense of buying lumber. Just get it thick enough so that when you have some pieces that are twisted, you have enough wood to make one side flat and still have enough "meat" to plane down to your desired thickness of 3/4".

The only lumber I've bought and dried that was a near 100% loss, was Red Elm. That stuff twists and warps like it was dried on top of the ocean surface.!! :eek: I consider it a lesson learned. :o