Hello,
I just recently bought a sawmill and cut up some cherry logs, I want to use a few pieces to make shelves in my kitchen some 1-1.5in for wall shelves and a thicker 2in piece for a counter height shelf/ledge (no cabinet underneath).
I had planned on taking these out to get kiln dried but every place around is either crazy ($2 a bdft for the thicker stuff) or won't run small batches. These logs have been down for a while (don't know exact age but ends were dark and weathered, I am guessing over a year) before I cut them up, they have been air drying for a few weeks now. I live in Michigan and it is getting cold out, any idea how long I would need to wait before I use them? With my usage just being a board mounted on the wall can I use it with a little higher moisture then you would want for furniture?
I have a small de-humidification kiln I built I have used as a sterilization chamber, would it be worth putting it in there? I try not to use that during the winter due to energy cost the walls are 4in styrofoam but it still seems a lot harder to heat when its cold out. Any idea how much being in a home built kiln like this will speed things up?
Or do I just need to be patient and wait for it to air dry?