Dry Kiln Information Resources A list of clubs, organizations, books and publications providing information about drying lumber for use in woodworking. 1998.
Blue-Stained Pine Pros and Cons Controversy simmers over whether blue stain is is a special value, a visual defect, or a mold liability risk. September 17, 2008
Stain in Maple -- Prevention and Cure An explanation of why maple wood stains, ways to slow the process down, and how to bleach stains out. July 28, 2006
Sticker Thickness Three quarters of an inch is the practical minimum. April 10, 2005
Choosing a Moisture Meter A well-informed discussion comparing the cost and characteristics of various pin and pinless moisture meters. October 11, 2012
Borates for Protecting Oak Beams Borate treatments can provide good protection against insects for softwood that is kept dry, but has limited usefulness on hardwood, especially if exposed to rain. January 14, 2008
Ash, Pine, Bugs, and Borates More info on the insects that may infest hardwoods and softwoods, and on the use of borate-based controls. December 6, 2009
Using a Corn Drier as a Kiln Lumber drying is a controlled process, that an agricultural corn dryer probably cannot accomplish correctly. February 15, 2009
Automatic vents for solar kiln Can vents be left open at night or must they be controlled? (Sawing and Drying Forum) April 29, 2003
Spalting Tips and Tricks A question about how to get rid of a bad batch of spalted Maple leads to a nice discussion of different ways to spalt wood, with photos. April 15, 2012
Is it Worth Kiln-Drying Firewood? Considering the cost of kiln construction and energy inputs versus the value of extra-dry firewood, it's hard to see how the dollars make sense. January 27, 2008
Hairline Cracks in Kiln-Drying Cherry Checking in Cherry appears as a fine crack, and is the result of too-fast air-drying, not kiln-drying. April 15, 2012
Fresh-Cut Pine for Rafters In theory, green softwood should perform acceptably for barn rafters. In practice, on the other hand ... well, life is full of surprises. November 28, 2006
Diagnosing a Beetle Infestation The Wood Doctor discusses the risk indicated by insect exit holes appearing in wood recently brought indoors. April 30, 2009
Minimum Sticker Thickness How thin can stickers be in order to maximize kiln capacity without creating drying problems? May 11, 2005
Limits of Air Drying Even in the driest parts of the U.S., air-dried lumber typically won't get below about 10% moisture content. March 10, 2008
Drying Cherry in the Basement Even for a brief storage period, a basement is a dubious place for stacked, stickered wood. January 14, 2009
Test for Honeycomb A method for testing dried lumber to detect honeycomb, with advice on how to prevent the checking that leads to honeycomb. June 13, 2014
Air-Drying Silver Maple Basic advice on stacking, stickering, and covering Maple for air drying in winter. October 17, 2012
Finish Over Air-Dried Pine Soft resin and volatile natural solvents in softwoods will interfere with finishes unless the wood is kiln-dried at a high enough temperature to "set the pitch."August 17, 2009
Vacuum kiln drying How do vacuum kilns work and how effective are they? (From WOODWEB's Sawing and Drying Forum) January 21, 2003
Drying Eucalyptus Eucalyptus is a fussy wood to air-dry or kiln-dry. Here are some clues about its character. October 14, 2006
Blue Stain in Pine How big a concern is blue surface stain on softwood? June 12, 2006
Drying Ash Flooring Kiln-drying is essential to kill bugs and achieve the proper low moisture content for stability in service. May 11, 2005
Acid Condensation Issues with Drying Kilns This discussion of drying Oak for iron-and-wood furniture purposes takes an interesting detour into a discussion of acidic conditions in wood and kilns. October 15, 2010
Causes and cures for sticker stain The Wood Doctor weighs in with comprehensive information about the causes and prevention of sticker stain. 1998.
Air-drying oak Can a suitable MC for cabinet construction be reached? February 6, 2002
Sawing Walnut: Sapwood and Heartwood Here's a discussion about the proportions of heartwood and sapwood in a Walnut log, drying methods, and the value of both for furniture, bowls, et cetera. May 15, 2012
Case Hardening Explained A semi-technical discussion about how the wood drying process can create stresses between interior and surface wood layers — and about how to reduce or prevent that situation. January 19, 2012
Double-Checking Moisture Content You can check your moisture meter by drying wood samples and weighing them, but the method has its own uncertainties and imprecisions. August 29, 2006
Drying Lodgepole Pine in Colorado Detailed advice on air-drying and kiln-drying lodgepole pine (some logged green and some killed by beetles). April 21, 2008
Dead Standing Douglas Fir: Is It Dry Already? A discussion about the useability of wood from dead standing tree logs without further drying, and a little bit of kiln-related history. April 27, 2007
Moisture Testing Variability A discussion of factors that could account for a discrepancy between a supplier's wood moisture content readings and the customer's. October 12, 2008
Reconditioning of Collapsed/Washboard Timber Collapse of sawn lumber during drying is a rare event. Steaming may help prevent the problem, and to some extent cure it. January 12, 2015
End Checking and Sticker Placement Placing stickers very close to the ends of the lumber stack can help limit end checking. This thread also offers additional tips on preventing checking. November 16, 2010
Checking Moisture and Achieving MC Targets Higher moisture near the core has a lumber dryer doubting his moisture meter, but drying conditions are the more likely concern. September 6, 2010
Air-Drying Wood in a Grain Bin A discussion of air-drying sheds light on issues relating to target moisture content. July 28, 2008
Long-Term Storage of Air-Dried Lumber Air-dried lumber left in drying stacks for long periods without kiln-drying is at high risk for insect damage and spoilage. June 18, 2010
Kiln Drying Color Change Experts and sawyers discuss the various reasons wood from the same batch might end up with slightly different colors. September 6, 2010
Definition of Primary Process Locating the dividing line between primary and secondary processing of wood products. September 5, 2011
Air-Drying Thick Maple Four-inch-thick maple slabs are likely to degrade a lot during air-drying. Here are a few tips for better results. July 13, 2006
Drying Eastern Red Cedar Eastern Red Cedar dries readily with simple air drying, and behaves well when exposed to variations in ambient humidity. April 20, 2011
Cypress board and batten siding It's better to kiln dry that cypress before siding your house with it than to let air-drying suffice. 1998.
Kiln drying Mexican oak Mexican oak can be dried using the same schedules as those used by processors in the United States. 1998.
Moisture content of walnut -- and measuring it A woodworker seeks information about acceptable moisture contents for walnut used in furniture, and wonders what makes moisture meters tick. 1998.
Pitch Build-Up When Planing Air-Dried Pine There's no way to stop Pine pitch from gumming up machinery, short of kiln-drying the lumber. (This thread has some interesting asides about using your own sawn wood for construction.) April 27, 2011
Heat Up Rate in Lumber Drying Most wood-drying situations don't require careful control of the rate at which the load heats up. June 13, 2014
Black Locust as a Utility Pole Thoughts on whether to dry a Black Locust pole before burying the end, and related issues. March 28, 2010
Borate-Treating Freshly Sawn Wood Ideas, thoughts, and tips for using borax and borate solutions to make green lumber bug-resistant. June 12, 2006
Stabilizing Wood with Polyethylene Glycol Advice and explanations about using PEG to prevent shrinkage and cracking in heavy wood disks being dried for a specialty application. July 15, 2014
Salt pastes and PEG Polyethylene glycol is high-priced, but the alternatives for stabilizing green wood are few. 1998.
Drying Capitol Christmas Tree Slabs Despite several interesting suggestions, Woodweb fails to provide a secret formula for drying cross-sections of a pine tree trunk with no radial checking. Still a fun thread, though. August 16, 2012
Self Air-Drying Versus Kiln-Drying Carefully air-drying wood yourself may be preferable to trusting the load to a less-than-perfect kiln-drying operation. January 18, 2011
Warp in Drying Causes and cures for warpage when drying lumber. May 4, 2001
Air-Dried Oak for Furniture In theory, kiln-drying is better; but people have successfully made furniture from air-dried hardwood. April 20, 2011
Eradicating an Insect Infestation A load of insect-infested reclaimed wood may have contaminated a whole operation. What to do? April 20, 2011
Temperature, Humidity, and Drying Some generic head-scratching over relative humidity and the heat required to dry wood under various conditions. April 10, 2007
Drying with Moderate Heat Here's info on how various types of wood will respond to conditions in a home-built drying room that doesn't get much warmer than 120°F. There's a useful lecture here on how case-hardening occurs. May 16, 2008
Air-Drying and Kiln-Drying 8/4 Oak Experts and kiln owners discuss the proper drying schedule and the best equipment for drying thick Red Oak boards. August 13, 2014
Drying wood in a tent Recommendations on how to use the sun's rays and a plastic tent to dry lumber. November 7, 2001
Storing Wood in a Subtropical Climate Thoughts on how to keep air-dried lumber sawn on site from decaying while stored for a season or two — in Nicaragua June 22, 2012
Why is Walnut Purple Sometimes? The purple color of some Walnut boards is natural. Here's more background with comments and observations from woodworkers. February 16, 2014
Moisture Meter Accuracy Moisture meters aren't perfectly accurate, and wood moisture content can also vary within a piece. October 25, 2006
Sawing and Drying Tips for Pecan Orchard-grown pecan wood warps badly when drying. Here is advice on how to cut and dry pecan in order to minimize warping and improve quality. July 28, 2006
Shrinkage of Pressure-Treated Lumber It's delivered sopping wet, with moisture forced in under pressure. So how much does it shrink? Experts clarify the situation. July 12, 2005
Lumber Conditioning Advice Info on mixed loads, re-wetting dried lumber, and related topics. September 25, 2014
Treating Air-Dried Wood with Pesticides Surface-applied pesticides may be dangerous or even illegal, and will probably do no good. Instead, heat-treat wood to kill bugs. February 14, 2006
Managing Airflow in the Pre-Dryer Advice on using temporary baffles to keep air flowing through the remaining stacks as some wood is removed. June 13, 2014
Lowering Wood Moisture Content A woodworker has some lumber at 12% moisture content that he wants to dry down to 9%. Here are some quick and cheap ways to accomplish that. October 19, 2013
Time to Air-Dry Thick Lumber Many variables affect drying time. Here's a discussion about the typical drying-time window. November 16, 2011
Drying Mesquite with Denatured Alcohol Denatured alcohol (DNA) drying techniques work best on porous wood, not so well on a low-porosity species like Mesquite. October 1, 2010
Drying Time for 6/4 Red Oak Here's a quick technical look at the factors affecting kiln drying 6/4 Red Oak, including kiln type and initial moisture content. Air drying may be more cost-effective. July 16, 2012
Determining MC by weight Tools and techniques for measuring moisture content by weighing lumber cuttings. January 4, 2001
Drying Willow in a Solar Kiln Challenging scenario: a tricky wood to dry and a difficult kiln to control. February 14, 2010
20 Steps to Drying Hard White Maple The Wood Doctor's 100 percent guaranteed, sure-fire, no-snake-oil method for successfully drying hard white maple. 1998.
Challenges of Drying Eucalyptus Many ways have been tried to prevent Eucalyptus wood's tendency to warp and check, but none have proven to be highly successful. February 29, 2012
Growth Stress End Checking Log characteristics can cause checks to open up, even when ends are coated and drying conditions are correct. February 19, 2006
Safe Time for Tight Stacking How long can you safely "dead stack" wood without air spaces before stickering the pile? February 27, 2013
Stacking and Drying Southern Yellow Pine A sawyer gets advice on stacking and stickering Southern Yellow Pine, and on protecting it against insects. January 25, 2010
Air Drying Shed Design A couple of basic tips, plus an example of a simple drying shed for rough sawn lumber. April 21, 2011
Ring Shake in Hemlock Hemlock makes good boards or framing lumber, but wood from trees exposed to grazing animals may be have structural flaws. July 12, 2005
Drying Holly Holly wood is prized for its white color, but it stains easily during drying. October 1, 2010
Mahogany Honeycombing Defect Honeycombing that appears after planing is typically a drying defect — similar to end checking, but different. April 17, 2009
Drying Lumber in the Attic It's hot and dry up there — maybe too dry. But for small amounts, attic drying is feasible, though tricky. December 1, 2005
Controlling Splits in Pecan An explanation of various causes of splitting in lumber as it dries. November 14, 2009
Interpreting the Psychrometer Accurate readings are important when using the psychrometer to calculate moisture content. April 15, 2012
Drying 4" by 12" White Oak Slow air-drying before kiln-drying will partially limit the cracking of large pieces of White Oak.
"Worm tunnels" or fungal growth? Strange growths on freshly sawn lumber turn out to be "fungal hyphae," not a tunnel made by worms or insects.June 4, 2012
Blue Stain in Red Oak A discussion of staining, drying odor, and related problems in a large oak tree blown down by wind. December 12, 2008
Bowing in Pine Staves After Planing Here's a good explanation of why lumber may move after being planed — and why that is not easy to correct. January 20, 2010
Properly Drying Oak for Use in a Porch Swing Thoughts on air drying, kiln drying, and conditioning for oak intended to be used in outdoor versus indoor conditions. January 11, 2007
How to Prevent Drying Stress A quick explanation from the Wood Doctor of what causes drying stress, and how to prevent or reduce it. August 15, 2011
Holly Staining: Fungus or Pigment? Holly stains if it's not dried quickly and properly. But what's the real cause? A scientist weighs in on samples collected by a sawyer. July 12, 2005
Baseball Bat Billets Tips on sawing and drying rough stock for bat makers (a tough market to break into). June 18, 2010
Drying rough-sawn timbers A large outdoor project raises questions about drying large, rough-sawn timbers for long-term use. June 20, 2000
Checking Concerns with Massive Wood Posts A custom home project calls for 15-inch-wide solid timber posts. Here's a discussion of the inevitable checking that will occur, and how to minimize it. November 13, 2005
Ambient Humidity and Wood Moisture Content A problem of wood warping in a dry basement storage area leads to a discussion of temperature, relative humidity, and wood moisture. July 10, 2007
Cupping, Bowing KD VG WR Cedar? More fun with wood moisture: Figuring out why some supposedly kiln-dried cedar boards cupped and bowed after being resawn and planed. January 26, 2008
Drying Oak Lumber: Step 4A, Air Drying Flat, solid support, maintaining an optimal air flow, and protecting the pile from re-wetting by rain are the keys to quality results when air-drying sawn lumber. August 27, 2012
Sawing and Drying Sweet Gum Sweet Gum is a troublesome wood to work with because of its tendency to twist and move, but the effort can be worth it for some uses. February 14, 2010
Re-Drying Kiln Dried Lumber An architectural woodwork mill gets advice on acclimating stock before machining it. December 9, 2010
Controlling Mildew in Air-Drying Lumber Surface mildew in a stack of boards being air-dried should respond to some dehumidification in the space. April 15, 2012
Furniture from Air-Dried Red Oak If "air drying" is understood to include drying to equilibrium in a conditioned indoor space, then the result can be useable wood. May 27, 2008
Intentional Spalting Can you treat logs with fungus and humidity to create spalting on purpose? Some say "yes," but it's more art than science. June 23, 2005
Drying Thick Slabs Thoughts on managing cracking in thick slabs during drying. December 6, 2009
Elevated Moisture Readings after Planing Wood that is not uniformly dry will read higher after planing; and the results vary between pin meters and pinless models. June 4, 2012
Seasons and Logging The time of year when a tree is cut may affect drying time, and also can have other effects. April 18, 2009
Comparing moisture meters An assessment of the performance of pin and pinless moisture meters made by major manufacturers. July 11, 2000
Drying Oregon Madrone Pacific Madrone is prone to drying movement, but that can make it interesting to woodworkers. May 13, 2009
"Shop-Dried" Versus "Air-Dried" Lumber A discussion of the quality and value of hardwoods that have been stacked and dried in a dry indoor area, but not in a kiln. March 26, 2013
Storing Maple in Partially Dried Condition A woodworker gets advice on the feasibility of maintaining wood at 25% moisture content for use in drying operations. January 8, 2010
Charging for Stickers Stickers, like anything else, have a value and a price. October 25, 2006
Sawing An Old Elm Tree Tension wood from growth stress may call for a modified technique. April 10, 2005
Lindane Information on Lindane, a pesticide used to control powderpost beetles. June 21, 2000
Maple Color and Drying Conditions Maple can turn gray as it dries. If you want white wood, you have to carefully control the kiln conditions. July 30, 2007
Mold on Southern Pine The wood doctor explains why Southern Pine supposedly dried to 18% moisture content would still support mold after being stacked inside a dried-in house under construction. January 25, 2013
Log Drying and Degrade Don't wait to long to saw ... but don't be too quick to write off an old log either. faOctober 4, 2011
Warping, Moisture, and Wood Shape Memory Will a piece of wood that was restrained to prevent warping during drying warp later, while in use? Only if the moisture in its environment varies. October 30, 2005
Cures for sticker stain Drying lumber can suffer from sticker stain for a variety of reasons. June 20, 2000
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
Drying Logs for Cabin Construction Advice on drying logs for cabin building, including how long to expect air drying to take and how hot to heat logs to set the pitch. October 19, 2014
Measuring MC by weight How to measure moisture content in wood without a moisture meter. August 10, 2000
Hackberry Staining Hackberry gets a green chemical stain if not sawn and put in a kiln without delay. February 12, 2007
"Depression" explained How to determine relative humidity with two types of temperature readings. June 20, 2000
Drying Persimmon Persimmon is an active wood that is tricky to air-dry. November 27, 2007
Thinner Sticks in the Lumber Drying Pile Reducing the thickness of spacer sticks in the lumber stack could reduce the drying effectiveness of the system and create quality issues. October 19, 2014
Moisture transfer in humid climes Do tropical and sub-tropical species re-absorb moisture when left in their humid, native lands? September 6, 2000
EMC/RH ratios Here's a listing of equilibrium moisture content to relative humidity ratios. July 11, 2000
Weighting lumber stacks How much weight is necessary for stacked lumber, ready to be air-dried? June 5, 2001
Air drying sycamore What steps to take, from stickering to weighting. October 31, 2000
Drying hackberry Drying hackberry is easy, provided you move quickly. June 5, 2001
Buying Lumber at Auction Tips on assessing the quality of air-dried hardwood up for sale at a small auction. October 3, 2009
Promoting blue stain How to promote this visual effect in a stack of red pine. March 21, 2002
Preventing Mold Formation on Freshly Sawn Pine Surface dryness is the best answer to preventing mold from getting a foothold on sawn softwood. Here are tips on how to achieve it. April 18, 2010
Bugs in air-dried ash Can a stack of ash be saved from an infestation of powderpost beetles? June 20, 2000
Basement drying basics The Wood Doctor prescribes proper drying procedures for a small batch in a basement. June 21, 2000
Building with Green Water Oak Building with timbers that have not been dried creates some degree of risk. September 27, 2008
Peruvian Walnut Drying Defects Peruvian Walnut shows wide variability, which can create drying and machining difficulties. June 13, 2014
Drying a Walnut Slab This thread about how to slowly air-dry a Walnut slab has some beautiful photos of a Walnut slab table. August 16, 2012
Drying a Large Butcher Block There are ways to dry a large one-piece block without checks developing. October 20, 2005
Moisture content for exterior doors Determining the appropriate MC for lumber that will be exposed to vastly different humidity levels. November 14, 2001
Sticker Thickness and Sources For good air circulation, stickers need to be at least 3/4 inches thick. Here are ideas on where to get them. October 25, 2006
Aging yellow cedar Attaining the look of naturally aged yellow cedar. September 2, 2002
Ripping and Re-Gluing to Limit Cupping The Wood Doc weighs in on the old-timer technique of ripping and re-gluing boards in order to lessen moisture-related cupping. February 19, 2008
Straightening Thin Dowels A woodworker struggles with a crooked dowel problem in a mass production setting. October 1, 2010
Regaining MC in overdry wood Is machinability lost when lumber has been overdried, then had moisture put back in? May 17, 2003
Is storing cants feasible? Can large cants be stored until an order for custom-cut lumber is received? February 19, 2002
Moisture Content of Western Red Cedar A stable wood that is typically serves exterior uses, Western Red Cedar is usually delivered at about 12% moisture content. But you can find it drier than that. July 28, 2006
Air-Dried Wood for Furniture As this example demonstrates, when a people tell you your air-dried lumber won't make a sweet (and sweet-smelling) piece of furniture, sometimes it's because they want to take your wood away for free. January 11, 2007
Wood Worms White worms in reclaimed lumber intended for furniture. What to do? April 20, 2011
Water Damage to Glued Cherry Glued-up wide Cherry boards got rained on. What's the best hope for salvage? January 18, 2011
Ambrosia Maple Beetles carry the fungus into semi-wet wood to create food for their offspring. December 11, 2007
Controlling Checking in a Walnut Mantel A carefully located plunge cut in the hidden side of a large sawn member may restrict checking to that location. April 18, 2010
Protecting Fresh Wood from Bugs Chemical means have drawbacks and are not very effective. So good drying and careful hygeine in the the yard are your best methods for keeping wood bug-free. April 20, 2011
Pink Stain in White Ash Pink fungal staining is tough to bleach out, and may be allergenic. March 9, 2010
Managing Fungus on Cedar Advice on handling and cleaning a Cedar slab that wasn't properly dried and now harbors fungus. October 19, 2014