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Thread: Stickering Wood in climate controlled shop

  1. #1
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    Stickering Wood in climate controlled shop

    Does it make sense to sticker wood in a climate controlled shop? Currently have a lot of rough cut walnut that I'm storing because I got it at a good price, but didn't have a project. If I remove the stickers I can store more boards in the lumber rack.

    Climate control is a mini split and a humidifier. Usually run the mini split at 50 degs if I'm not in the shop, 65 when I am, or like 80 if it's summer time.

  2. #2
    I think it only makes sense when the wood is not dry. And sometimes it doesn't even make sense then, as I have seen
    wood change color so drastically while stored that even after planing off a heavy 1/16th the marks still showed. Can't
    remember now what those species were, mainly because after seeing it once we stopped doing that. Perhaps the
    plastic "sticks" would not leave marks. I don't know.

  3. #3
    Quote Originally Posted by Andrew More View Post
    Does it make sense to sticker wood in a climate controlled shop? Currently have a lot of rough cut walnut that I'm storing because I got it at a good price, but didn't have a project. If I remove the stickers I can store more boards in the lumber rack.

    Climate control is a mini split and a humidifier. Usually run the mini split at 50 degs if I'm not in the shop, 65 when I am, or like 80 if it's summer time.
    IMO it _always_ makes sense to have air circulation around stored wood. FWIW the closer you can get the stored wood to equilibriate to the environment it will ultimately be used in as furniture etc. the easier time you will have, re longevity of the finished product. It sounds like the storage environment is already not representative of the “use space” (who lives in a house that gets to 50 degrees when you’re not in the room?) A good moisture meter is your best friend. But I digress...

  4. #4
    It depends how soon you need to use it. It will equilibrate to shop conditions without stickers, but more slowly.

  5. #5
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    Kiln-dry rough sawn I do not sticker in the shop. After the milling commences I very carefully sticker and stack on a flat surface.

  6. #6
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    It really depends upon the material. You can also accomplish air flow if desired by using very thin stickers...cut up some cheap 1/4" luan plywood and use that were you feel best about keeping things separated and the stickers will take up a whole lot less space in the pile. I keep a bunch of these for exactly this purpose.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  7. #7
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    Good point Jim. I was using some 3/4" cedar since that's what I had scraps of from another project, but I've got some 1/4" plywood scraps now I could move to.

  8. #8
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    Yes, the thin stuff is really handy for both "storage" situations when indicated as well as for when you want to acclimate material to your shop after purchase or after initial milling to equalize moisture. The thinner stickers work just fine and take up a heck of a lot less space when you are storing them for next use! Great way to leverage scraps, too. While I mentioned plywood, I also use solid stock from cut-offs and resawing by quickly running them through the thickness planer to get them all the same thickness.
    --

    The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...

  9. #9
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    Only if you run them 24/7. Do you ever turn them off? What is the exterior climate? How expensive is electricity on your continent. You do live on a continent, don't you. etc etc.
    Bill D

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Becker View Post
    Yes, the thin stuff is really handy for both "storage" situations when indicated as well as for when you want to acclimate material to your shop after purchase or after initial milling to equalize moisture. The thinner stickers work just fine and take up a heck of a lot less space when you are storing them for next use! Great way to leverage scraps, too. While I mentioned plywood, I also use solid stock from cut-offs and resawing by quickly running them through the thickness planer to get them all the same thickness.
    Here’s a trick that I use. Let’s say you’re supposed to build a chest of drawers. Take the wood that you’re supposed to build it with, and stack/sticker it in the place where that chest of drawers is ultimately supposed to go. It will sit there for a while while it equilibriates. In the meantime, your wife will bug you that said chest of drawers hasn’t been built yet, because you said it was equilibriating. Ultimately this is going to be tension between her and the moisture meter. When it finally comes time to build it, you just take the wood into the shop briefly and do the machining and construction. The wood is oriented to where it will ultimately reside, and domestic harmony is achieved! Everybody wins. It’s up to you to achieve that balance.

    I like to cut stickers out of scrap wood with a fence on the bandsaw, feed and repeat, no need for precise thickness effectively.

  11. #11
    Whenever possible, I make the stickers from the same wood I'm drying to eliminate staining marks.

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Bud Brinkley View Post
    Whenever possible, I make the stickers from the same wood I'm drying to eliminate staining marks.
    Yes, that can be useful. Also, if there’s going to be direct sunlight involved in the “storage area”, provide some shade such as even with landscape cloth or something that breathes.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Doug Dawson View Post
    Here’s a trick that I use. Let’s say you’re supposed to build a chest of drawers. Take the wood that you’re supposed to build it with, and stack/sticker it in the place where that chest of drawers is ultimately supposed to go. It will sit there for a while while it equilibriates. In the meantime, your wife will bug you that said chest of drawers hasn’t been built yet, because you said it was equilibriating. Ultimately this is going to be tension between her and the moisture meter. When it finally comes time to build it, you just take the wood into the shop briefly and do the machining and construction. The wood is oriented to where it will ultimately reside, and domestic harmony is achieved! Everybody wins. It’s up to you to achieve that balance.

    ...
    Question: Doug, how long have you been married (to this wife)? Asking for a friend...
    David Walser
    Mesa, Arizona

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by David Walser View Post
    Question: Doug, how long have you been married (to this wife)? Asking for a friend...
    Thirty odd years. :^) She’s also a co-conspirator, handling the decorative end of things (upholstery, finishing.) It’s good to have the family involved.

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