Dipping Lumber Before Stickering
A brief description of dipping lumber in fungicide and insecticide for short-term dead stacking before stickering to air dry. March 28, 2012
Question
What is with dipping lumber as soon as it comes out of the saw? And how long can it be dead stacked before stickering?
Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor B:
Please define "dipping lumber." Dip in what? Sometimes I will blow lumber off with a pressure washer to remove the sawdust before letting it drip dry and stickering. Dead stack? Again, not sure of what you mean. Always sticker cut lumber if it is wet.
From contributor D:
I worked at a square mill installing vacuum kilns for several months (6 kilns). Squares would come out of a gang rip and be dead packed. Then the pack would be dipped. The product was StaBrite or some name like that. The blanks would then go to a line of chop saws (now computerized) then back to being dead packed by length. The whole process might take a few days but the dip would keep white wood (like HM) white and stain free.
From the original questioner:
I've always been told from saw straight to stickering, but they dip it in a certain product and stack it without stickers for a short period of time (maybe for transport ) and sticker it afterwards.
From Professor Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor:
In warm weather, with some species that are white colored, dipping is best of done within 24 hours. Usually, dipping is so closely connected to the sawmill that this presents no problem.
Note that dipping refers to dipping in a fungicide/insecticide. It is essential in warm weather for whiter woods when stacking and drying will not follow sawing immediately.
