Looking a Gift Horse In The Mouth

[Rick Hubbard]

A fellow was just in my office and he offered to GIVE me a huge slab of Maple (about 2 inches thick, 8 feet long and he said "Close to 2 feet wide"). I immediately said yes, but now I'm wondering what I've done.

It's green- how am I going to dry it? After it is dried, how deformed is it likely to be? Assuming I can figure out how to dry it so it is not warped, bowed or cupped, what I going to build with this monster?

Rick

[Chuck Durst]

Hi Rick,
I'm not a expert by any means ,but you should take the wood. I assume you have a band saw for cutting it up[ after its dry. I've read that drying it must be up off the floor or any place you plan to dry it. Outside it must be covered so it not exposed to the elements. That about all I can tell you. But I'm sure you will figure out something to do with it.

Best Regards
Chuck

[Jim Becker]

You dry a slab the same way you dry something thinner...up off the ground with some weight and a cover to keep standing water/sleet/rain off of it without compromising air flow through it. Outside where there is air flow, I might add.

[Steve Griffin]

A fellow was just in my office and he offered to GIVE me a huge slab of Maple (about 2 inches thick, 8 feet long and he said "Close to 2 feet wide"). I immediately said yes, but now I'm wondering what I've done.

It's green- how am I going to dry it? After it is dried, how deformed is it likely to be? Assuming I can figure out how to dry it so it is not warped, bowed or cupped, what I going to build with this monster?

Rick

You should definitely keep that horse!

The rough rule is 1 year per inch of thickness to dry, but I'm sure that can vary wildly.

Just store it flat with good air spaces all the way around. Maybe put it on a shelf hi up in the shop/garage and forget about it for a while.

As far as what to with it--you'll have plenty of time to think about that and you may want to see how well it dries.

-Steve

[Rick Hubbard]

Just store it flat with good air spaces all the way around. Maybe put it on a shelf hi up in the shop/garage and forget about it for a while.


-Steve

This is encouraging advice. Jim's recommendation that I store it outside had me bummin'- we get so confounded much snow where I live that I was racking my brain trying to figure out some place to store it where it wouldn't get buried over the winter.

I have an attic over my shop with a gable door access that would probably work pretty well (providing I have the "ooomph" to lift it up there by myself :eek:).

Do you think it would be advisable to put stickers under it and some weight on top, or should I just lay it flat on the floor and call it good?

Rick

[Frank Drew]

Do you think it would be advisable to put stickers under it and some weight on top, or should I just lay it flat on the floor and call it good?


Yes to the stickers; probably help, can't hurt to the weight question (thinner material, definitely); but absolutely no to laying it flat on the floor -- you want air circulation all around the piece. If you do put some weight on top, use stickers so that there's circulation above, too.

Green wood will only dry as flat as it's originally laid down; even something as thick as your slab would sag if, for instance, you put down one sticker at each end and no support along the rest of the length. A sticker every 18 inches or so should be fine; for a two-inch thick slab, you could probably get away with every two feet. All the stickers have to be the same thickness, of course; short pieces of 2x4 would do nicely in this situation, giving plenty of air space underneath.

[Rob Diz]

If it is very green, then you should think about stickering it outside so you don't introduce a ton of moisture into your shop. It is perfectly acceptable to bulid up stickers on top of LEVELED cinder blocks, puts some stickers on top, then a sheet of the cheapest damaged sheetgood you can buy at the BORG that will withstand a year's worth of rain, and put a few more cinder blocks on top (of the stickers).

Then basically forget you have that slab for at least a year and a half, if not longer.

Then take a look at what you have.

Oh, and if it is still green, check to be sure the end grain had a sealant applied or you will get checking.

[Rick Hubbard]

Hmmmm . . . .

This whole thing is starting to sound like a lot more trouble than it's worth (to me anyway).

On the other hand, there is a fellow a couple of miles up the road from me with a small sawmill and drying kiln. I think maybe I'll pay him a visit :)

Rick

[Lewis Cobb]

Hmmmm . . . .

This whole thing is starting to sound like a lot more trouble than it's worth (to me anyway).

On the other hand, there is a fellow a couple of miles up the road from me with a small sawmill and drying kiln. I think maybe I'll pay him a visit :)

Rick

Hey Rick -
It's not often I come across people close to me - just wanted to say hi from across the border in New Brunswick. I'm about 1 hour from Houlton, ME so that's probably a couple of hours total from you. Next time I'm heading down your way I'll flick you a note and maybe drop by. If I can jam that slab of maple in the Volkswagen, I'll relieve you of your torment and lug it back up here - :D

Cheers,
Lewis

[Chris Padilla]

Pick up a couple of cinder blocks, plop it directly on them, toss a tarp over it, forget about it. I have serveral planks of 10/4 maple drying that way and they are fine. The wood is going to move however it wants and there is little you can do about it so why fight it. It is free so who cares about yield....

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Rick,

Don't be in a rush to store the slab indoors. It will dry too quickly and check badly. It even pays to air dry it a couple years before kiln drying. Thisk boards dry badly in a kiln unless the operator really knows his stuff. If he does, he will recommend air drying to start.
After you dry it, sell it if you can't think of a project.
Faust

[Josiah Bartlett]

I dry big slabs like that in my garage, on the floor. I sticker them up about 1" off the floor and park my truck right over them (so the wheels straddle), and put a drip pan over the top (my truck is very old and drips a bit of oil). They are out of the way, on a relatively flat surface, and don't dry out too fast. The slab moderates the temperature. My garage is unheated, but has enough ventilation to prevent condensation.

Once they are safely dry I store them in the attic or in my lumber rack. Green wood is far heavier than dry, and you would be surprised how much it will weigh. You might end up with a warped attic if you aren't careful.

[David DeCristoforo]

A few years back a medium sized walnut tree came down next door. A guy showed up with a chainsaw mill two days later. I got a 2' wide 10' long 2.5" thick slab out of the main trunk. It's been living under my table saw bench ever since, ends well waxed and with a plywood cover (stickered). Don't see any cracks in the ends which is all I can see at the moment. One of these days it will re-emerge and become the top for my new computer desk.

[Jacob Reverb]

Be sure to seal the end grain with something to minimize checking.

[Rick Hubbard]

Hey Rick -
It's not often I come across people close to me - just wanted to say hi from across the border in New Brunswick. I'm about 1 hour from Houlton, ME so that's probably a couple of hours total from you. Next time I'm heading down your way I'll flick you a note and maybe drop by. If I can jam that slab of maple in the Volkswagen, I'll relieve you of your torment and lug it back up here - :D

Cheers,
Lewis
Hey Lewis-

You Bet! I'm practically right next to to I95, so it would be easy to stop by. In fact, just to make things a bit easier, I'll PM you some phone numbers.

Rick

[Rick Hubbard]

Ask And You Get

Thanks, everyone, for all the advice and direction.

Based on what you all have told me, I've devised a way to store the slab outside. I'm going to build a "rack" (something like my canoe rack) out of 2x4's up off the ground about 5 feet so it doesn't get buried with snow and snuggle the whole thing up against my utility shed. Since it is considered to be "uppity" in this neck of the woods not to have "something" on one's property covered with a blue plastic tarp, I'll tack one of those to the side of the shed to keep the water off. That way (after 10 years) maybe the locals won't think I'm a snob and wil actually talk to me AND, by the time I'm ready to retire, it should be ready!

Life is good

Rick

[Sparky Paessler]

Well you could cut it up and turn it green into 4 really nice 23" platters. Opps wrong forum!:)