I just received some freshly milled red cedar that will be used for exterior window trim. Most stains recommend an 18% moisture content max. Does anyone have a rule of thumb for how long it takes to achieve this? I’ve stacked the cedar so that each board is well exposed to air and fully protected from rain. Right now we’ve got warm dry days with plenty of wind. Any thoughts much appreciated.
goodwood
Replies
gw, the easy answer is 'buy a moisture meter and find out for sure' - if you are going to be doing much work with this kind of wood, it is good advice...
beyond that, here's a couple of considerations - tho the wood may be freshly milled, when was the tree cut? - - if it was felled in the winter, the starting content will be much less than if it was recently felled -
cut a piece the width of your trim, measure the width accurately, put it in the oven @200* for 4 hours, measure how much it has shrunk - - ya can do this once a week till the movement is tolerable - -
I try to wait a season or two before using native rough-sawn, but in the case you describe, assuming the wood is dimensioned to 1", I would guess a month to 6 weeks and then go for it -
uh oh..can o worms, can o worms..
it's like this...it depends on what the RH is where you live..
I'd say in period of from now to Aug. you might get there..depends on if ya live in Death Valley, or Juneau Alaska...if in Juneau...never, In DV..give it a day or two.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
It probably goes without saying, but USE DRY STICKERS between your boards. I've got some red oak, pretty prime stuff, but my Dad used green stickers and every board is stained. The cherry didn't stain at all. I would think that cedar would be susceptible.
I'd try to find someone with a small kiln - who wants to wait ?
Greg.
I sided a house north of Charlottesville, VA with local full 1" thick red cedar. It was cut in the Spring, stickerd similarly to what you have, and was nailed up after about three months of summer drying. I don't know exactly what the moisture content was, but there was negligible shrinkage. Western cedar may be a different story, everything else out there is<G>
Don't worry, we can fix that later!
You can probably put it right up!!
Cedar dries very fast compared to hardwood species.. Most Conifer trees felled start around 25% moisture* and in a few weeks they are easily down to 18% That's why SD19 is so common on lumber nowdays, SD stands for shipped dry 19% so it needs to be 19% moisture when it arrives at it's shipping point..
A little factoid, it is common practice in Oregon to overload the trucks by 2000# and by the time they arrive at the scale in California they are on the limit!
Now I'll grant you that driving down a highway at 65 miles per hour will dry wood out pretty fast compared to it stacked up in your garage..
* that varies from the time of the season and the amount of rainfall prior to the felling of the trees...
I think it'll take little time to dry out given dry weather. It's only 3/4" thick and I've already noticed a change after only one day. I'm not going to shell out for a moisture meter so I guess I'll rely on intuition and experience. I've worked with plenty of dry cedar previously and should be able to tell when this stuff is ready. I've got time...
I can take eastern white pine from fully green to usable in about two weeks. Since Pine and cedar are so similar as far as cell construction etc. goes it's fairly accurite. I do have a moisture meter and when it's critical for stuff like furniture I use it..
For use outside when you are waiting to prime it, remember once you prime it you dramatically slow the drying rate..
Do however seal the ends right away.! If you don't they will dry too fast and then split.
good tip, ends are sealed.