Sawing and Drying

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Drying northern red oak

7/29/19       
Jason Member

I had a whopper of a northern red oak come down on my property and I want to try to pull the logs out to dry them. It fell kind of perfectly so that the base is on one side of a dip and the top is on the other. The logs I want have been off the ground for roughly 1 year so far. (Hard to see that in the pics) I need to cut them and pull them out so I can put them up to dry. The two trunks of the tree are about 20" at the large end, 16" at the small and about 20' long. One is larger than the other but those are fairly good numbers to work from. Can anyone offer any advice on how long to dry them and the best way to set them up to dry? My main goal is to get a mantle out of one of them so I can replace the original mantle in the house that warped over time. It's also red oak and is 9'x8"x5". I'm not in a hurry, just don't want to see them go to waste.


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7/29/19       #2: Drying northern red oak ...
rich c.

You're suggesting you want to dry the entire log so you can saw a mantle out on it some time in the future? That's a long way around to get a mantle.

7/29/19       #3: Drying northern red oak ...
GeneWengert-WoodDoc

We hardly ever dry a log, especially red oak. Saw, then dry the thick mantle for a year or so carefully.

7/30/19       #4: Drying northern red oak ...
Jason Member

I wasn't really suggesting so much as ignorantly opining. :) So, if I want to get a specific size out of it, is there some rule of thumb about how I should saw it down to dry? Like leaving x more than I actually need? I've read quite a few different opinions on the topic so it's a little tough to know which way to go. Some say it's best to cut it first. Some say not to cut it. Some say strip the bark, some say to coat the endgrain with wax, etc etc. I was just trying to get suggestions for my specific situation.

7/30/19       #5: Drying northern red oak ...
Jason Member

So, GeneWengert-WoodDoc, can you describe "carefully" a little more?

7/30/19       #6: Drying northern red oak ...
GeneWengert-WoodDoc

Carefully means very slow air drying is a sheltered location. Even then, it will likely check some if over 2” thick. Details for drying thick lumber are in Drying Hardwood Lumber.

8/14/19       #8: Drying northern red oak ...
Mark

I own and operate a Wood-Mizer sawmill. My experience with Red Oak does not have a log drying much except at the cut ends and causing cracks and checks. The rest of the log still has a lot of moisture.
It appears your logs are in your woods and not along the edge of the woods. When you have large branches on one side of the tree as at the woods edge there is a lot of tension in the log and the lumber will bow and warp more. Your lumber should remain straight.
Even with that, a piece as large as a mantle should be cut with the heart of the log in the center third of the piece or it will likely bow.
You need to saw it to the desired lumber and dry that. Painting the end of the log slows the drying in that area to minimize cracks and checks too.


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