hot mower and tool shead/ wood seasoning

[porthos]

i have pieces of crabapple and yew 2-6 inches in diameter and up to 18 inches long. after sealing the ends; i wonder if i store them in my shed where it is probably 120 degrees today. if, this would accelarate the seasoning. i'm very impatient about the seasoning time required. each 1 inch of thickness requiring 1 year to season. i.m also going to use the microwave for smaller pieces. any thoughts??

 

[michiganbuck]

Local Amish lumber yard will likely dry it for a couple of bucks.
QT: ( i.m also going to use the microwave) that is interesting ) why not just the kitchen oven at 100*

 

[john.k]

Dunno about your wood,but out here it was discovered that microwaving camphor laurel cures the wood without any cracking......previously cracking made camphor laurel useless.

 

[DDoug]

i have pieces of crabapple and yew 2-6 inches in diameter and up to 18 inches long. after sealing the ends; i wonder if i store them in my shed where it is probably 120 degrees today. if, this would accelarate the seasoning. i'm very impatient about the seasoning time required. each 1 inch of thickness requiring 1 year to season. i.m also going to use the microwave for smaller pieces. any thoughts??

Wouldn't that infuse the wood with gas (and maybe oil) fumes ?

 

[M. Moore]

The rules of thumb for air drying wood apply to sawn lumber. With sealed ends rounds will dry very slowly no matter the temperature. Air drying will only be accelerated with air flow, higher temperatures and very dry air are not the best combination.

I don’t know if there are any studies on drying in the round other than the information known about fully submerging in fresh water. Although that will not satisfy your need for speed.

Wood turners use a lot of wood in the round so that community will have more useful information.

Microwaving wood is very possible with small pieces but you would have to experiment. Oven drying is done with
kiln samples to determine absolute dryness but there is no concern for quality. When drying wood the quality of the dry wood is more important than time.

Good luck and let us know how it goes if you experiment with the microwave.

 

[scsmith42]

I am a Sawyer and kiln operator. To better answer your question, I need to know your intended use for the wood.

Are these to be turning blanks, or do you intend to have them milled into boards?

 

[porthos]

i love beautiful grained wood which most of the pieces have. i will shape them into various shapes and finish with whatever i decide. in a previous life i worked as a "stocksmith" and finished 400 + gunstocks; so, i'm pretty familar with wood finishes; at least for this purpose.

 

[Scruffy887]

"In the round" referring to small round branches or logs? Likely to split when dried. Any part with the heart in it has a good chance of splitting. Radial VS tangential shrinkage. One will win, other not so lucky.

 

[scsmith42]

i love beautiful grained wood which most of the pieces have. i will shape them into various shapes and finish with whatever i decide. in a previous life i worked as a "stocksmith" and finished 400 + gunstocks; so, i'm pretty familar with wood finishes; at least for this purpose.

Wood dries very poorly in log form. If you plan on making gunstocks from these, I would advise you to seal the ends with Anchorseal (fresh end cuts only. End sealer loses it's effectiveness if not applied within 3 days of a fresh cut, and faster application is better). Don't apply anchorseal to the board faces - only the ends. Stack and sticker under a shed overhang. If bugs are a concern, apply a 15% solution of Timbor in hot water - saturating all surfaces of the lumber immediately after the wood milled. It is safe for humans and pets and will repel bugs during the drying process. Weight on top of your lumber stacks (250 psf) will help keep them flat during drying. If kiln drying is desired, for thick, highly figured material I would suggest a vacuum kiln. You will want to mill enough material to the exact same thickness so that they can get a good layer in the kiln.

 

[Bill D]

Does your summer humidity run over 30% or more? If so drying will take a lot longer then in my climate. Faster hotter drying risks cracking/splitting the wood. I wonder if anyone has tried using a vacuum chamber to speed it up.
I use one of those self inking date stamps to mark the ends of boards so I know how long they have been drying.
Bill D

 

[scsmith42]

Actually, for thicker material, a higher RH will provide a more gentle drying process.

Wood will dry down to 18% mc even at 92% RH.

Vacuum kilns are pretty much the epitome of kiln drying, but they are not as cost effective as conventional kilns for larger kiln loads (over 15k bd ft).