How Long to Dry?

mikecop48127 · Post by **mikecop48127** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:10 pm

I was fortunate to get some timber from a friend who has some wooded property. What I have is maple pieces about 3' long and 7" - 10" across, which I plan to use for turning pieces on my "new" shopsmith. These were cut from standing timber, rather than deadfall trees.

How long should I let these pieces dry before using for turning? Should I cut the pieces into shorter lengths for faster drying? I have seen comments on some woodworking programs on TV about turning wood while it is not dry enough, causing cracking in the pieces later.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:45 pm

mikecop48127 wrote:I was fortunate to get some timber from a friend who has some wooded property. What I have is maple pieces about 3' long and 7" - 10" across, which I plan to use for turning pieces on my "new" shopsmith. These were cut from standing timber, rather than deadfall trees.

How long should I let these pieces dry before using for turning? Should I cut the pieces into shorter lengths for faster drying? I have seen comments on some woodworking programs on TV about turning wood while it is not dry enough, causing cracking in the pieces later.

Welcome to the Forum, Mike!

Don't know much about turning green wood, but if you are going to first laminate these pieces to make blocks, you'd best wait a year or so. No exaggeration here - the rule of thumb is it will take one year per inch of lumber thickness to dry green wood.

You didn't say how thick these boards are or if they are in fact still green. If you can find someone with a moisture meter, this would help.

I am assuming these maple boards are rough sawn and about 1" thick. If they are truly green they will be around 18 to 20% moisture. *Correction! nearer to 65% to 70%!* You need to review the portion of the "Wood Handbook" dealing with drying wood and make sure you have the boards stickered and in a location that has good circulation. Maybe you could ask Santa Clause for a Moisture meter.

Here's the reference to "Wood Handbook" http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgt ... gtr113.htm See Chapters 3 and 12.

tom_k/mo · Post by **tom_k/mo** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 8:44 pm

There's a video in the archives where Nick talked about air drying lumber and how to tell when it was "done"... Might want to check it out.

sawmill · Post by **sawmill** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 10:01 pm

On your pieces of Maple don't stack them on top of each other without using spacers between them. Maple will mold very easy if it does not get airflow on it. If it starts to mold mist a 50 % bleach solution over it. I looked in my sawmill book and it says it will take 30 to 200 days to lower the moisture content to 20%. This depends on the location and the time of year that they were cut. This time frame is for 1 inch thick boards. If your boards came off a green tree they are probably arouns 30% moisture at the time they were cut. One of the guys that I sawed for built furniture and I would saw 2000 to 3000 bf of lumber a couple of times a year for him and he would air dry it for 1 to 1 1/2 years before using it. This was in Michigan so I think in a dryer area it may dry faster.

friscomike · Post by **friscomike** » Wed Oct 22, 2008 11:04 pm

Howdy,

I ran across these sites a while back and they appear to be pretty good for using green wood including turning green and aging:

http://aroundthewoods.com/firewood.shtml (go throught steps - video included)

http://www.customwooddesign.com/turninggreenwood-1.html

Hope this helps,
mike

flashbacpt · Post by **flashbacpt** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:41 am

All of the above suggestions are right on the money............You are looking at least one year before using the wood.

The only thing that I would add is to make sure that you mark the wood somehow (Blue Painters Tape) with the date, the type of wood and even the moisture factor.

Taking the time to do this will pay off for you down the road in several ways. First, you will know exactly when your drying period started. You will/can make moisture checks thru out the year (record them also with date), and who knows, You might ran across more green wood to dry.
In the end, there will be no question about which piece has been set aside to dry, and you will start to get a handle on exactly how long it will take to complete the process in your area.

So..........You and your wood are hung out to dry for at least a year!:)

FlashbacPT

beeg · Post by **beeg** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 11:50 am

GREAT links you posted Mike. Thank You for them, I have them bookmarked now for the future.

charlese · Post by **charlese** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 3:15 pm

Many thanks - Frisco Mike!!!! That Howard Lewin article from Fine Woodworking is wonderfully explanatory! Now I'm sorry I didn't start taking Fine Woodworking earlier than I did.

I haven't been much of a turner in the past, but this article is so intriguing as to push me along toward the edge of getting away from flat wood. Maybe!

At least piqued my interest for a while. Don't want to get carried away here!:eek:

friscomike · Post by **friscomike** » Thu Oct 23, 2008 8:45 pm

Glad folks enjoyed the links.

Rick's TA class was a good one for getting familiar with turning basics, but going from green to lathe was a bit of a mystery.

The two series posted really helped me get going. There is nothing like seeing someone use a chainsaw to carve the basic shape. I would have tried it on the bandsaw with little success on big pieces.

Chuck, combining turnings with flat stuff is fun!

Happy trails,
mike