I was given 18 QS American Black Walnut boards 10ft x 16" and 5/4 that was stickered and air dried in a shed. I get average 9% moisture....just where I want to be in my zone. Boards are straight but have checking and small-ish areas of rot from when the tree was standing just not removed when milled.
Got it home yesterday and realized I don't have room to properly sticker the boards.....right now the boards are hanging over both ends of my longest bench more than I'm comfortable with. If I cut off the checks and rot I'd be ok to sticker properly. However, I NEVER do any kind of machining on rough b4 3-4 weeks of sitting in my shop. Is it safe to remove the checks right now to make the size manageable w/o causing some an issue? Last thing I want to do is introduce some kind of uneven acclimatization issue by opening the edges/ends.
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