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air drying 1/2" red oak in a heated garage

2/10/08       
Ed Member

How long to air dry 350 pieces of 1/2" x 6" x 8' red oak, and what is the best way to do this? I’m located in Illinois so humidity is not a problem now. I have a heated garage where I could stack the lumber. It would be easy to keep the temperature around 70 degrees or more. Is it ok to have the heat blow directly on the wood? I also have a large fan that I could have constantly blowing across the lumber. Once the lumber is dry enough I will be using the oak as indoor paneling and will place it horizontally with 2 nails every 16 inches and will also use a shiplap cut. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

2/13/08       #3: air drying 1/2" red oak in a h ...
Jeff  Member

Website: http://www.themillsgroup.ca

Make sure they are stickered properly, and the golden rule is 1 year per inch of thickness to air dry. That being said, people have found ways to speed this up with fans blowing through the pile etc and it may take longer depending on humidity.

So your 1/2" stuff should take 6 months if you sticker and park it in your garage. Best advice is buy a meter and measure the MC.

2/13/08       #4: air drying 1/2" red oak in a h ...
KCR

Ed,
To get the flattest material when stickering rough 4/4 lumber, it's best to sticker 12" O.C. So if you have 1/2" lumber it will need to be stickered as often as 6" O.C. to keep it flat. Also I suggest you post this again in the drying forum above.

2/14/08       #5: air drying 1/2" red oak in a h ...
David Freed

Website: http://www.freedhardwoods.com

The 1" per year Idea has been discussed several times before. That idea came about before there were dry kilns to dry lumber in. If you have heated air blowing on 1/2" red oak, it will more than likely be dry in less than a month. Make sure it is just a very slight breeze blowing directly on the wood and watch it closely for checking. If it does start to check, turn off the fans for a few days. If you catch checking in the early stages and take corrective measures, the cracks will close back up and the lumber will be ok.


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