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Hi All,

Last year I was lucky enough to get a large walnut tree. Sliced it up and stickered it in june 2010. My question is now that it has been a year and a bit , do I leave it out forever, or do I bring it in? The bottom six rows are quarterd or nearly so, the rest flatsawn. Also, if i do bring it in, must it be stickered? I could store it in a smaller space if it wasn't , other wise it may not all come in(small house).Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Thx all,

Rover

You should definitely leave it outside the house.
Also, you should PM me your address.

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I don't stack and sticker my rough boards inside after they have dried outside. I don't know where you are located or the type of environment the stack has been in but it should be about as dry as it will reach outside in your climate. If you plan to turn it into backs and sides, the sooner you resaw the wood into rough thickness the better your results (ie: decreased potential for case hardening) and the sooner the wood will be ready to use.

There is a myth that you should let wood sit around a year maybe even two before sawing to side/back rough thickness. I believe most if not all woods should be sawed as soon as possible and stickered and stacked right away.

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There is a myth that you should let wood sit around a year maybe even two before sawing to side/back rough thickness. I believe most if not all woods should be sawed as soon as possible and stickered and stacked right away.

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So, how come you didn't seal the ends of those boards??? You're going to loose a bunch off each end because of checking.

When you decide to bring them inside, make sure you cut off the checked ends and SEAL THE ENDS so the boards dry at a consistent rate versus drying out faster at the end grain versus face grain...

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If some of those quartered boards have the pith in them cut that out.
I would deal with the QC now & sticker.
There's no rush to bring it inside unless you are going to use it soon.
Seal the ends.
MM

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Mike McNerney

Hi Guys and Gals

Thanx for the replies. First off, the ends were sealed by my sawyer, maybe just a little too lightly. Some did split at the ends and I wondered as well. I'm located in Burlington, On, Canada, so winter/snow should be arriving shortly!!

Mike- Pith? and QC? I'm not sure what that is, could you expand on that?
Tarhead- Case hardening? wow , i've never heard of that in wood. Is that really a concern in wood and long term storage?

In the end then , the concensus is that i'm safe to leave it outside if i wanted, but start bringing in what i'm going to use shortly. The only problem is i have a couple of years worth of backs and sides to get through first, so this may not see use til 2014/15.

Many thanks,
rover

QC = quarter sawn
pith, is the centre of the tree. The entire approach of cutting the widest possible slab from a log which yields nice wide QC pieces is OK when you think splits and checking is fine but for insturment wood the pith will always check, so get rid of it & the rest will be more stable.
So this log was from south ON. How close are the annual rings?
Go ahead and add more sealant to the ends either paint or whatever you have around.
MM

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Mike McNerney

Hi Rover - I would suggest calling or emailing A&M Wood Specialty in Cambridge, and get their opinion. They air dry some of their lumber, and are in the same climate zone as you are. They always seem to be helpful when I've been there.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Case Hardening happens when the outside dries much quicker than the inside of a piece of lumber. When you mill the lumber it has tension release causing it to go wonky. Dangerous when ripping on a tablesaw without a splitter/riving knife.

When it's below freezing the wood isn't drying.

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Wood will lose moisture even when frozen, although more slowly. It is the same as food getting freezer burnt - moisture being drawn out. If you go by the year/inch air drying standard, it would twice as long to dry wood in northern climates as it would in the south.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Winter is not a bad time for drying as pointed out. The RH is lower and while you may thing moisture is locked up , it can evaporate without liquifying . sublimate is the term I think for that .

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Someone once told me that wood dried faster in the winter than in the summer because at the same relative humidity, the actual humidity (ppm) was lower. Has anyone else heard this, and if so, do you agree?

I'm in the camp for cutting it into sets now and sticker out. The resaw job will be easier on you and your bandsaw and the conversion much better than if you leave it to dry out completely and chance allowing those end checks to run away...It would be a different story if you were making solid table tops, doors or window frames etc where you need stability in thick stoke, but for guitar sets, weeks from downing the tree is enough drying prior to resaw, no need for months or years. The sooner you cut it thin, the less wood you will loose.

Cheers

Kim