I recently purchased about 40 bf of black walnut at a local sawmill to build a aquarium cabinet with doors. Long story short, while milling and cutting boards to dimension, I couldn't help but notice that the wood seemed to be brittle. For example, the edges chipped rather easily when machining. I can't quite articulate exactly why, but the "feel" of the wood while working with it just felt brittle or too dry which has me a bit concerned about picking up moisture later. I'm also concerned that the sawmill operator may have used excessive temperatures to dry more quickly and perhaps damaged the wood cells. Is this even a concern?
My moisture meter only reads as low as 6% to 8% which is what it reads for this lumber.
Welcome any thoughts on the woes of over drying, or otherwise.
Terry