Is there a trick to drying out dimensional lumber?
I’ve tried leaving it in the boiler room, but the last few pieces have not been a good story. 2×10 cupped, then a 2×8 split in several places along the grain, now a 2×10 has split along almost its entire length. DW claims I’m drying it too fast, I blame POS lumber. Ok I got it from El Cheapo because there was no lumber yard open, but it’s same supplier as I see at our regular yards, and at least at El Cheapo you can go through the stock trying to find non-garbage lumber.
All I can think of is regularly shuttling the lumber in and out of the boiler room to slow down the drying.
KD 2×10 not an option in this Godforsaken (for building materials) place….
Replies
It sounds like you need to slow down. I've bought some preasure treated lumber recently and it always seems wetter that regular lumber. So I just sticker it outside for about a week. That usually does the trick. If you get too much rain or whatever you can put something on top to keep the wet stuff off of it. But leave the sides open to let air move through the pile.
Without looking at it, I'd say that every piece that split had the pith of the log in it. You may have been drying it too fast, and that would compound the problem. I had a few 4x4 cants in my shop last year that I got from a local mill, dripping green, and as they dried, every one split and opened like a book if the heart was still in the piece.
Dry them outside, stickered, under cover. An unheated garage or shed works the best. Give it 3-4 weeks to get surface dry, they will probably still be at 15-20% MC.
Thanks, 3-4 weeks isn't really possible.... I'll try leaving it in indoors but not in the boiler room.... So how is KD lumber dried without hitting this problem? I think of a kiln as being pretty hot....
Commercial kilns inject steam into the process to avoid drying too fast.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Dry 'em too fast........and you're in trouble.
Fail to adequately sticker 'em and you're in trouble.
Fail to seal off the end grain (coat with melted paraffin for example) and you're asking for it.
Edit: It's Xmas time. Treat yourself to a copy of Bruce Hoadley's "Understanding Wood".
Knowledge is power, but only if applied in a timely fashion.
Edited 12/20/2004 11:38 am ET by GOLDHILLER
Definitely line dry, using a tumble dryer will make a ton of noise.Norm":o)
a lot of lumber these days stinks. I try to recycle as much of the older close grain Doug Fir studs I pull out of projects as I am able. It is time consuming, but when I add up the "green factor", time to sort through crappy new lumber at the yard, throw away the twisted ones once they are dry, etc I think it is generally worth the time to recycle the salvagable wood. That older lumber from the 60's and 70's is generally tight grained and straight and strong.
I pick through the pile when I am buying lumber and try my darndest to avoid pieces with any wood coming from near the heartwood of the tree - this stuff invariably twists.
Stack and stick the pile so you are putting as much weight on the wettest pieces so their is some resistance to the twisting and cupping.
I quickly paint the end grain with some clear wood preservative to slow down evaporation their where you get the most splitting.
Last I put old wool blankets over the top of the pile in my basement as I think it slows down the drying enough to minimize the splitting but still lets moisture escape.
Cheers
Wylie
Success = Work+ Risk + Luck, in that order. Muriel Seibert