How long should I wait to plane rough sawn lumber?

[ryansm7]

I'm looking for some advice on how long should I wait to plane rough sawn lumber?

This sticked hard maple has been in a closed garage for about 3 years and then for another year in a cool, dry, basement (70 F, 30% humidity).
The planks are from 8 to 16 feet long, ~1.25" thick, and from 6 to 13 inches wide.

I've only planed as needed. Is there good reason to stay with "just in time" planning? Or is it ok to plane it and store is (sticked or no stickers)?

Either way, the main idea is to gain some floor space.

.

[jimsjinx]

Here in Alabama, there are lots of small portable sawyers, making rough cut stuff pretty available. I store mine in a 48' sea container. I sticker everything that is freshly cut, or known to be wetter than you would want. I don't plane it to a finished surface untill I need it. A good buddy of mine is into rustic EXPENSIVE furniture building, and almost all his lumber is local cut and dried. He gave me a pretty good rundown on fresh wood storage. The humidity in Alabama and Georgia is brutal, but with stickering and weight on the ends, I have straight boards. I'd try a few boards, sticker em, and watch them for a few months /seasons to see if they start to wander and check. I also set off bug bombs a couple times a year, to keep out the boring beetles and termites. Check out Google, and look for Daniels Wood Den, in Cataula Ga..He's like my brother, and I do alot of work for him. He is a treat to talk to, and a fine craftsman. jimsjinx

[ryansm7]

I don't plane it to a finished surface untill I need it. A good buddy of mine is into rustic EXPENSIVE furniture building, and almost all his lumber is local cut and dried.

I'd try a few boards, sticker em, and watch them for a few months /seasons to see if they start to wander and check.

What is the worst thing that can happen? checking, cupping, checking?

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[jimsjinx]

It's hard to say what will happen. It depends on how much "stress" and moisture is in the wood when you plane it. I just paid an arm and leg for 3 poplar posts, 4"x4"x6'. These were sawn from a huge solid kiln dried beam of material. That being said, the last piece of scrap, was also a 4x4, and had a small 4 or 5 inch check at one end. The sawyer avoided this area due to that small crack. I asked him if it was gonna get worse, and he replied that most likely, this was the center piece outa the beam, and that's where all the stress was, along with a bit higher moisture content. Sure enough, after bringing into my temp. controlled shop, it now has a full length crack that is deep enough to render the 4x4 useless for anything other than small pieces. The wood that I AM using, was brought in, stickered, and clamped together to keep things flat, and so far, (a week), they are dead nuts flat, and no cracks. My point is, unless you dry wood slowly, under some force to keep it flat, it does what it wants!. I think leaving lumber rough untill use is just a way to allow us some wiggle room, if the boards move. The most frequent damage, I believe, is end checking, due to the rapid loss of moisture at the ends of the boards. You could brush on some melted parafin wax to combat this. Next would be linear warpage. To avoid it, if planing prior to storage, then plane BOTH sides, so the wood is able to release water equally on both sides. Then soon after, stack with stickers, ( I use luan scraps), and weigh down the ends and middle of the stack with something heavy, or clamps. Be sure to sight down the stacked boards to be sure they are FLAT! Any unevenness of your rack will certainly transferr to your boards, so use shims to adjust the stack so it is DEAD FLAT! Mind you, I live in an awfully humid place that gets hot, so this may all be overkill anywhere else. When I had a shop in San Diego, things were a little more forgiving. The air was more constant humidity and temp. Any sawyers out there, please set me straight, but for me, this is my experience. Maple is pretty stable, once it is dried, but allow it to absorb moisture, and it will, over time, go nuts! Wish you were closer, I'd let you put it in the sea container in trade for a few boards!! LOL jimsjinx

[pennview]

Ryan, your wood should be as dry as it's going to get at this stage. The rule of thumb is one year for each inch of thickness to air dry lumber. The best way to check however is with a moisture meter.

I'd agree with Jim about not planing the lumber until needed, but that's just a personal preference. Many dealers sell lumber that been planed well before you buy it. After it's dry, I simply stack it while trying to keep everything level so I have flat boards, although some of it is stickered. For stickers, I use strips of pressure treated plywood.

You need to remove all traces of checks in the ends of boards when using the lumber. Otherwise, stresses in the board are likely to cause the crack to spread down the length of the board and ruin your project, especially over the winter months when humidity is low.

[Ed in Tampa]

I'm looking for some advice on how long should I wait to plane rough sawn lumber?

This sticked hard maple has been in a closed garage for about 3 years and then for another year in a cool, dry, basement (70 F, 30% humidity).
The planks are from 8 to 16 feet long, ~1.25" thick, and from 6 to 13 inches wide.

I've only planed as needed. Is there good reason to stay with "just in time" planning? Or is it ok to plane it and store is (sticked or no stickers)?

Either way, the main idea is to gain some floor space.

.

While your wood is probably as dry as it is going to get, planing it now just exposes it to potential problems.

Once you dimension the lumber if something happens to the surface and that something requires you to plane off more wood you have a problem.

What could that something be? Stains, stains from the stickers, stains from insects, stains from something spilt on the wood.

That something could also be dents and nicks and scratches. Go to the big box and look at their wood, usually the top layer and bottom layer and all boards on the outside of each stack is damaged in some way that I don't even consider them when I'm picking the pile.

If you have the wood stablized and stickered I would just let it set until I needed a board and then I would run that board through the plane.

[jimsjinx]

When I opened a shop in SanDiego, I had to have 3 Eucalyptus trees cut down, due to disease and danger of falling on our house. One tree, (and I'm not exaggerating), was almost 110 foot tall! I invisioned tons of material to use, and it is rock hard. Well, not being a sawyer, and buying mostly from a specialty lumber company, I knew nothing about the properties of Eucalyptus. Apparently, the railroads, way back when, wanted to try seeding this tree by airplanes all over California, because they knew it was super heavy and very hard. Bugs HATE it,too! Perfect for railroad ties! Well, over a short time, the timbers went hog wild. Splitting, twisting, and every other stability problem arose. Now then, they had trees all over the place, and it was basically useless to its original purpose! (After living through 2 California wildfires I also learned that the resins in it burn like gasoline!!!) I traded a guy 7 cords of this stuff for his fireplace, for a Ulmia Ott cabinet makers bench! I lived there 13 years, and when I sold my house, I still had several cords of wood stacked, as did the guy I traded! Nice bench, too! He didn't know what it was, and had it sitting out in the weather! I got it before it got ruined. Still have that bench, and use it every day! jimsjinx

[charlese]

I'm looking for some advice on how long should I wait to plane rough sawn lumber?

This sticked hard maple has been in a closed garage for about 3 years and then for another year in a cool, dry, basement (70 F, 30% humidity).
The planks are from 8 to 16 feet long, ~1.25" thick, and from 6 to 13 inches wide.

I've only planed as needed. Is there good reason to stay with "just in time" planning? Or is it ok to plane it and store is (sticked or no stickers)?

Either way, the main idea is to gain some floor space.

.

Several reasons NOT to to plane before use]http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/products/publi ... eader_id=p[/URL]
(better yet -read the whole chapter)

With the temp and Relative Humidity in your basement, the moisture content in your wood should be around 6% That's pretty dry!

[ryansm7]

My point is, unless you dry wood slowly, under some force to keep it flat, it does what it wants!. I think leaving lumber rough untill use is just a way to allow us some wiggle room, if the boards move. The most frequent damage, I believe, is end checking, due to the rapid loss of moisture at the ends of the boards.

I'd agree with Jim about not planing the lumber until needed, but that's just a personal preference.

If you have the wood stablized and stickered I would just let it set until I needed a board and then I would run that board through the plane.

Several reasons NOT to to plane before use]Gonna come out with 1/4", 3/4 or 4/4?[/INDENT]
[INDENT]What widths and how much of each.[/INDENT]
c. Finished planed lumber will oxidize over time making gluing not as effective because of decreased wettability. This presents another reason - as said by others, you will want to re-size.

That's what I was afraid of; but it looks fairly obvious - not to find space by compromising material...

.

[ryansm7]

[quote="charlese"]Ways to save floor space]

Before relocating the maple from the garage to the basement last summer, I planned the layout pretty much as you suggested.
The 12' lengths are up the floor joists.
The 16's are about the same, but a little room left.
The cut-off bin holds the rest.

Well, at least I can give my beloved an answer to that age old question,
"What are you going to do with all that wood?”

I'll just refer to you fine craftsman and say, "well it's going away one piece at a time... but not now"

Thanks again for your help !

.