Hi Matt. A lot of great info here. If I might add a few points without stepping on anyones toes, I'd like to share a few things I've learned from my 30 years running a portable sawmill business, drying lumber, and building furniture. Anchorseal is the best. But to get the most out of it you should apply it to a fresh cut, either when the log is first bucked to length, or right after it is milled. With the later, it's best to make a fresh cut an inch or two on each end of the board, then coat. Second, you really should keep your first and last sticker within an inch or so of the end of the board. Seventy percent of end checks will stop at the first sticker. Here in PA when drying lumber outside you can bring the moister down to around 15% (relative humidity). After the I often bring the wood inside and stack it behind the couch in the living room for a few weeks to bring it down to 8%. However, I've found this system only works if I actually produce a nice piece of furniture for my wife. Hope this info helps. Keep up the good work. Pat Shull, Shullwood Portable Sawmill
Timber should be dried according to the relative humidity in the area you're living in. The closest to PA I've seen is NY and the relative humidity there is 12%. 8% is very dry but I guess there are places that low. Timber should be acclimatized to the area where it will be used before starting a job because there's virtually nothing you can do to stop it matching the relative humidity of where it is.
Well done Matt. I would add a couple of other points that will improve the quality of the air-dried lumber. Be consistent with the spacing of the stickers. I would recommend every 12", but 18" is okay. The stickers should be within 3 inches of the end of the boards. That would mean that your pile is the length of your longest board and you stack to both ends by alternating which end your boards will be closest to. Leave between 1" and 2" between boards so you get air movement bottom to top as well, and cover the last layer with plywood on stickers, then weight. A pin moisture meter needs to reach 1/5 the thickness of the board to be able to measure the Average Equilibrium Moisture Content of the board. With one pin length it can only measure one thickness. The Wagner meters work great, but the species setting can't take into consideration boards which fall outside that norm. For instance if you're measuring something like Punky ash for guitar bodies, it will not measure accurately, and pieces thinner than 1/2" will not measure accurately. This is coming from 40 years of experience and a degree in Wood Science and Technology.
I just cut my very first slabs with a chainsaw mill, 2" red oak my neighbor had cut down that would have otherwise gone to a landfill. I'm calling it 'rescue wood', haha. So excited, and it looks beyond gorgeous, seeing each unique grain pattern pop out at you as you remove each slab is like opening Christmas morning presents. Thanks so much for this video, Matt, a lot of work goes into this and I really wanted to make sure I produce slabs as straight as possible and properly dry them. Super helpful info!
Nice video. Here is an old man tip. Never ever let your lumber touch the cement or bare ground with out a cloth or plywood. First time you run a rock or pebble through a sharp planer or jointer blades you'll get it ! One more is lumber tends to stop checking splitting to the first sticker and stop. Not 100% but enough I noticed in my life in lumber use. Hold them out to the ends!
Matt. I really appreciate you taking your time to make these videos. Im just a rookie wood turner and thanks to you,and people like you, it really helps in sharing the knowledge. Not knowing any better,I had gone to woodcraft and bought all kinds of expensive exotic blanks in January,they had the chemical on them so I thought all was good. Recently as I began to actually turn the blanks I noticed internally there were cracks. One night I was tired and left a piece on the lathe and in the morning the cracks had grown. I have not figured what Im doing wrong yet but thanks to you and others I may be able to find a solution. Thanks again.
Long after it was a fresh video - but, a helpful hint that I have used for years... The best stickers I have ever found has been 2" PVC pipe cut in half. It gives you a U shape that has minimal contact points, it is dirt cheap, doesn't rot or carry moisture. Won't stain or cause those issues and you can store a ton of them in a five gallon bucket. Create a little jig for pushing the pip through on a band saw (mainly a bit of metal to act as a splitter and keep the pipe from twisting as you rip a few dozen feet in half) and you can create them in a few minutes. While they don't quite have the same compressive strength as solid wood stickers do, I have never had one fail and have had them holding up boules of 4 foot wide sinker cypress that were still so water logged that you could actually watch the water steam off the blade when cutting them.
Matt great job in explaining everything in detail. It shows your knowledge base and your professionalism. Craftmanship is brought out in your work as well.
thanks for this no fuss straight facts video, you got right to the point without any person stuff. I appreciate you not wasting people's time. very helpful video
In the basement of my last house, if I left anything on the floor the moisture would dampen it. The floor was never wet it was just the moisture coming up from the ground thru the cement. The house was left vacant for a year & even in the attached-garage things got damp. I had a pretty new bicycle in there and the chain rusted up solid! I'm telling you this because if I was stacking wood in a basement like this it would need to be up off of the floor at least 8inches maybe more. Great Video as always!!
If inside, you can use a dehumidifier to dry it out. It will remove moisture faster than a fan will and you can see/control what humidity level the wood sits in storage (on the LCD display). For outside, you can buy a fungicide additive from any decent paint store and spray it on lightly with a garden pump sprayer. Same with an insecticide. Mold/fungus can't survive in 55% humidity or less.
Suggestions: to increase natural convection space first layer 4-5" above ground and leave 7-8" space from wall (chimmey effect). Also leave more space between lumber (cooling drop). To prevent checking and uneven drying do not stack sticlers directly over the sticker below (creates concentrated wet area). Stagger stickers slightly. The best way to stop end splits is to have a sticker at the very end of board (over hangs split like crazy). Flip boards on top occasionally especially early on. Also never move things twice if you don't have too!
Super helpful! I just had 2500 bf of clear pine milled at my cottage and am planning to finish the interior once it's ready. It's freezing here now so as soon as winter is at an end I'll get that end cut sealer on the boards. The miller stacked it all up very carefully, with some large weighing it down on top, and a light cover of tar paper to shed the weather. This video tutorial is really great education. Thanks!
In my experience, I've learned not to wait at all - for any reason. Get that Anchorseal on the edges as soon as you stack them. Even if you have snow/ice on them fresh from the mill. The day/night melt/freeze cycle will check them harder. I keep the Anchorseal toasty inside, and paint it on the ends. If you kick off the ice/snow, the tiny amount left will melt and the seal will stick nicely :-)
Hey I have been at this stuff for a while milling and drying my own lumber and I learned something new today. The dry scrap piece to measure against your lumber is a great idea. Thanks Matt !!
I value your advice, thank you. I personally use round sticks between the boards as it provides the minimum contact with the lumber. It works for me, but whatever tickles your fancy💪
Was sent here from James Wright's channel. Learned a lot from both of your channels and I am excited to eventually have a place to be able to buy/make my own lumber and begin the long process of drying it for future use. In the meantime. I'll have to stick with wood that is "ready to go" already for small projects/practice in my renewed love of woodworking.
I just found a mill selling kiln dried and green. He sells thick stock but it's green. After watching your video, I have the confidence to buy green and dry it myself; Thank you
Some mills in Holland kept logs in water for up to 2 years, but simply soaking them for a few days will do, it will drown bugs, and clean off dust, just air dry for a day befor stacking.
Great information Matt, your channel is quickly becoming one of the most informative woodworking channels out there, thanks for putting out great content, I am learning a lot
Seriously great information Matt! I already have some checking in the small log I cut up because I didn't paint the ends. Just to let you know I have the perfect lumber drying environment at my house. 1 month in the summer heat here and I guarantee your stack will be bone dry. Solar kiln is me just putting wood outside.
So you sell wood? I made a couple of farm tables out of construction lumber which I should have laid down in my basement before I made it. At 42 inches wide I ended up with a cracked top because I was STUPID and put a breadboard edge on with biscuits, pocket screws and glue. It shrunk a half inch and my daughter to who it was a gift heard a loud bang and found a crack about a quarter inch wide. Character I told her, she didn't buy into it so I sawed the bread board edges off and glued the crack and the bread board edge back on. I would like to make a real one out of either white oak, cherry or walnut. The next construction lumber one got a design change with a not attached breadboard edge. It did not crack.
Incredibly informative. Thanks a bunch man. I am looking to have a real big spruce tree milled and didn't know where to start looking on drying the stuff.. helped a ton
Hi Matt, thanks for the video. I read somewhere (haven't tried it for myself) that PVC conduit cut in half lengthways makes for good stickers. No staining, minimal wood contact and won't change shape on you. The only problem may be the building of a jig to cut it in the first place.
Matthew Cremona It would depend on the conduit used, in Australia we have HD electrical conduit which is orange and very tough, I don't see a problem having several hundred kilograms on a set of stickers made from this.
Very informative video and very well done as always. I have the same pin meter you show and use it when I go to a couple of hardwood dealers that buy locally to roughly gauge how wet they are. It's pretty wet in my neck of the woods. In the winter indoor humidity runs between 30 and 40% with electric heat. We have a dehumidifier that runs year round in our basement to keep it below 50%. It doesn't run as often in the winter as it does in the summer.
Jim Coogan Thank you Jim! It's incredible how much water there is inside of a tree! When I first bring these boards in, they are outside of the range of my meter. So wet!
Matt as you can see my pic is a Cypress knee. I live in Florida and I've been working cypress with no drying time at all. I know I'm taking a chance. The pieces are small and I'm not making a large project. Plus Cypress doesn't crack much, I also use a hardener on my wood. The biggest problem is getting the glue to dry when joining boards because the glue between the wood does not dry completely. Thanks for the tips on drying. I'm mostly drying rough cut wood no boards.When I graduate to a larger shop and projects, your techniques will be invaluable.
I air dry hardwood lumber on stickers in the eaves of my barn. It works good enough, but I must say that I always get movement after I bring my finished pieces into the house. My oldest samples are about 6 years old. I did some work with 40 year old cherry lumber and that was good and stable. But i can't wait that long for the rest!
+Peter Collin dried lumber will still have movement as ambient tempurature and humidity change with the seasons or location. This is even true with kiln dried lumber purchased from a lumber yard. This is why its often a good idea to bring your pieces for a project into the shop a few days or weeks before final milling and why its absolutely essential to allow for movement in your furniture designs.
It is very important to get the base level and straight. This is a must to get your boards straight. It's harder if you are stacking on an uneven surface; easier if you are starting with a concrete floor.
Another great video! I'm originally from Michigan (currently in silicon valley CA renting) and long for the days spending with my grandfather and other relatives with land to go out on and hunt, pull logs, etc. Really great stuff, I can't wait to retire (or make my millions :) hehe) then head back to Mich and settle on some land and haul my own lumber and craft my own goods. So cool. Keep up the great work!
Mathew if you have a junk yard close to where you live you could probably get some old car scissor jacks for a little of nothing that you could weld a piece of steel channel across the top of 2 jacks, you could then jack up either side that was off level about three sets of these will be all that you would need for a log.
You can measure the moisture content by cutting off a chunk, weighing it, microwaving it till it’s dry and weighing again. The difference is the amount of water in it. Better to sell a plank and use the money to buy a scanning meter😀 If you are drying inside your house a dehumidifier might be a good idea.
You seem to know more than the average bear about wood, and so I felt motivated to share a few details with you also. It has been my experience that to protect the wood from picking up decomposer microbes from the soil it is important to drape the ground where the wood will contact the earth. Because the wood had been in the air in its whole life and was maintained with a living immune system, it never adapted to direct ground contact on open wood tissues with parasitic and invasive decomposer organisms and lacking an active immune system. The consequence is the early retirement of the wood from usefulness. Basically, It will fall apart. Very important detail. I am planning to spray down my entire cord of furniture wood with a potent antifungal spray until I can set up my drying barn. I've also seen someone use lots of epsom salt between the planks in the stack to pull the moisture out. The moisture was visibly frothing and boiling out of the ends of the planks in the pile. I supposed that was a speed-dry method.
Thanks Matt! Another great, educational video. Just went to buy that Moisture Meter (the good one).... Holy moly Batman, 375.00 bucks now! I think I'll need to stick with my two prong one for now. Thanks again!
Thanks! You and a friend of mine are the only people who mentioned something more realistic than the 1 yr/inch of air drying time. I was one trip to the store from starting to build a solar kiln (which my friend talked me out of). How often and how long per day do you run your fan in your basement?
Great video! I milled some virginia scrub pine on my bandsaw mill and make some large beams to span over a creek for a bridge to get tractor over. As they are super big I burned them and put some old motor oil. I figured trying to air dry those would take forever. And I dont have a solar kiln or basement like you. Do you think I made the right call? Also, made 2”x8” boards for bridge deck.
I stacked some mulberry, pine, and red cedar in my garage to dry, using 3/4" stickers (sliced up sub floor). I used a fan to create airflow, and then I used a dehumidifier. After six months I dismantled the stack and took it to a friend who has a kiln .... he did a moisture check before putting it in the kiln, and he found that the timber was as dry as if it had been kiln dried! This was during summer in The South, when the ambient temperature was 90°F +/-5°
Thank you very much matt. I just got my first load of ash in and it will need to be dried. The board has varied thicknesses, should I stack from heaviest to lightest or just use something else for weight? Luckily for me, the only place I have to dry is in my basement and its no longer hot here.
If you plan on using the thinner stuff first, you can stack the thicker stuff on the bottom. That stuff will take longer to dry and you won't have to unstack it when you start using the thinner stuff on top. If you don't have anything else to use for weight, stack the thicker ones on top. They require less force to keep them flat.
forestor/sawer told me to use stickers of a different species and it will minimize sticker stain. He also said you should dry the wood in the elements for at least a year. He works for a big mill in the area.
Hi Matt, great video, lots of good info.. I recently had a tree taken out in my front yard, (it's roots were pushing up my concrete driveway), and I had the lopers leave me the main trunk which had a really interesting curly shape. I then sliced the trunk into 27 "hockey pucks" with a chainsaw a week later.. each puck is between 2 and 4 inches thick, ( by that I mean some are 2 inches thick, some are 3 and some are 4, but each puck is a fairly consistent width) and they range in diameter from about a foot to nearly 2 feet for the big ones.. I'm not sure of the tree species, nor do I know if it is a hard wood.. how long do you suggest I dry theses pucks for..? I've got them in the back corner of my garage, under a shelf, up off the concrete by an inch or so, with 3/4 inch spacers between the layers.. I know that air flow may be an issue in that location, but it's now summer here in Australia, so the days are getting quite warm. If I stick my head down near them it doesn't smell very musty, which I think is s good sign, right? Any advice would be great help. Regards, Gene.
I like the log storing idea for outside. One thing is when I'm milling up lumber I'll switch the face over and see which grain I like best so I wouldn't be able to assemble it back to the same shape. But for most cases I think this would work good.
thanks for the tips. I dry very small batches occasionally (urban harvested) and have used wood glue painted on the ends with a brush for sealing. It seems to work, I always have lots of glue around. Also I think the European style drying you showed is called "en boule" or "in the round". I have heard it referred to as that anyway, not sure about the spelling. cheers
I have been drying wood for 30 years. Doors, gun stocks, etc. I weigh the board and write that and the date on the wood. When the weight stops going down, the board is at equilibrium with the room. The book UNDERSTANDING WOOD by Hoadly was a life changer for me 30 years ago. I have given away a lot of copies over the years, but it never does any good. Woodworkers do not read books that read like engineering.
Good Job Matt... Just want to leave a very valuable tip when drying Lumber with everyone. The Surface moisture should only be allowed to dry no more than -2% from the Core at any given time. Or you can Case Harden and actually trap moisture inside. Also, As Matt said, you cannot dry the wood too slow or it will begin to mold and you will have allot of staining. Too fast though and you can actually ruin it with warping and cupping, cracks and splits as well as the aforementioned Case Hardening. Lastly There is a huge difference between Drying wood and seasoning it. The most enjoyable wood to work is wood that is allowed to season outdoors under cover from Rain, and sun for years and years. Then bring it indoors for another year. There is no comparison to how stable it is and how it works compared to Fast drying or Kiln Drying. Keep your saw in the kerf!
I've watched several videos and read a bunch of things oh the process of drying out maple wood slices (1 inch thick x 14 around). I am confused. I do like your process of stacking - thank you for this information. I am using the wood slices for my daughters wedding centerpieces at the end of June 2023. Should i be applying anchor seal on the raw cut wood and live edge prior to stacking? Or is it after it gets to the proper moisture level? I am VERY new at any kind of wood working but i also couldnt resist the gorgeous pieces i was given! Advice is so very welcome here! thank you!!
white/Burr oak minimizes sticker staining and the stick should be dried before using. Keeping lumber up off the ground deters bugs and on a slab of concrete is even better. bugs really like the wane/sap wood
Thanks for the ideas. I have stacks around the house too. I think it helps to stack with as much space around the boards as possible, to let the wood breathe better. Also, it helps lay a rain cover over the outdoor stacks.
Your reference [dry] piece of wood once left out in room/outside air will "track" changing relative humidity of that air, adsorbing moisture to correspond. Ex.: if RH is 100%, MC of wood will stabilize eventually at ~30% (fiber saturation point). Wood is hygroscopic, like hair, calcium chloride, etc.
Great video packed with all kinds of good tips! Thanks for sharing your knowledge Matt, and I had aways been curious about the 1" per year guideline. In NV, it super dry and I bet it goes quicker than that here too.
Good info. I use that pin style meter. It does have different settings for varied densities. I usually do like you said, check another piece of lumber of the same species that's been in my garage for awhile and see how close it is. I just bought a hydrometer/temp gauge so I can monitor what the garage stays at. I run an electric heater ever so often and my air filtration unit on high to circulate the area around wood that I bring it. Luckily the garage matches the houses humidity level. I haven't brought any green wood into dry just yet but this has gotten me starting to think about it. I really like working with slabs and if I can bring essentially an entire cut log into the garage and have it sit for a year and be dry enough to use, that would be great. I love working with walnut and the best way to dry it seems to be air drying. Kiln drying, it loses some of that dark rich color. Watching your videos has gotten me wanting to start milling. I've got the room on my property and lots of treescape in the back yard. I just don't know if the neighbors would appreciate it, haha. Maybe whenever we move on to another home I'll take it on as a hobby.
I recommend buying a few packs of beef jerky and saving the jell packs that say "do not eat" those absorb moisture. But i put my wet lumber in my furnace/boiler room with a small fan and a dehumidifier. He forgot to mention the "faster" your wood drys the easier it cracks and warps
Frogking9 Good tip. That's true, but that's pretty hard to do when doing simple air drying. When you move to drying in a warmer, dryer, high airflow environment then it becomes really easy to ruin boards.
Matt, my neighbor cut down a nice uniformed hickory tree. By the time I got there he had them in 18" lengths and they were 12" in diameter. They still have the bark on them. How would you recommend to dry them? Remove bark, cut in 1-2" thicknesses, inside an unheated or heated room, painted ends? I may use some for turning but the lathe is the next tool on my list.
Ted, hickory is the worst for containing powder post beetles (ask me how I know). Once they get out of the wood and into your house, you can have a real infestation. If you bring the wood into the house, remove the bark first, then paint the outside of the wood with borax solution such as TimBor or BoraCare (non toxic to people or pets) that will kill the bugs when they exit the wood.
+Dave Boyt Thanks Dave, I have the lumber in my attached garage right now with the bark on it. It is not near the opening to the house, but I will get on that right away. It's been about three weeks and I don't want to be infected.
small comment, Flex Seal is awesome on the end grain. I haven't found anything else that comes close! I use the spray because it's easier, but spray or brush its great either way! Not a plug, just actual experience...
Thanks for your videos. I have some black walnut to cut up. I thought I would try milling some of it and see how it comes out. I will use the techniques I learned from you so thanks again
just a note from Europe... we stack it outside as you showed, but always,,,,ALWAYS, put a sheet of something waterproof on top, such a a sheet of galvanized or similar. you need to stop the water getting between the stack.
Matt, Let me bounce my plan off of you and your subscribers. I have property in So Georgia, it is 7 acres of virgin southern white pine. I would like to clear my home site and harvest the trees I remove for future use. Step one clear the underbrush and select the spot for the house. The house will be 5 shipping containers, the wood I use will be the internal framing. I am planning over the next three years two cut my trees into 5 or 6 inch slabs and place in a tent garage for drying. In a couple of years add a shipping container as a make shift kiln. It will be ventilated with solar attic fans. This should be another year or so. Most of this wood will be 2x framing material, I am most concerned about bugs and dimensional stability. Should I plan to make my slabs large enough to run them through a planer prior to cutting into 2x framing wood? Also in Georgia is there a better time to harvest the wood? In NY the sap runs to the roots in winter, I expect this would expedite drying since most of the moisture is left in the ground. Is this significant enough to plan my tree cutting for the winter months? You have seen my mill on youtube, you complimented it, made me feel like a hero! Thanks. I know this is a lot to consider but I respect your experience. Thanks for your time.
Hi Matt, thank you so much for the information. I have a general drying question. In PA air dried lumber will not get below 12%. If I dry it to 8% or get kiln dried to 8% and store it in my shed outside, will it eventually go back to 12% to match the environment? If so why dry it to 8%? Thanks again, I really do love this content.
DAMN! just found some bug holes in some slabs I will put out to dry today... Should I take out my flame thrower right away? Or what should I do with those boards before laying them down to dry? Newbie here...
Matt, could you please talk about drying your own wood for turning? Also, is it possible to dry small diameter logs w/o cutting them up? Say 6 - 8 inches in diameter.
Take good care of my walnut. When would be a good time in 3-4 months when no one will be home for a few hours for me to come pick it up? You're going to need a bigger dog if you want to keep me out. Actual question: What brand/size dehumidifier do you have/recommend because I have had terrible luck with them. I'm lucky if I get 3 years out of them. The last one lasted a year and I just did without last year because I was so disgusted with them.
krtwood The video of me stacking was from back in Nov. This batch will be ready to go in a couple week. Pancake will be waiting for you. I have a Frigidaire 50 pint. I've had it for about a year now. My last one was involved in that recall but I had that one for 3 years. It was a Gree brand, I think.
Matt, we have a saw mill and i'm still pretty new at using it. I'm going to make some raised beds for our garden out of juniper wood. We have juniper on our property so i'm going to cut the trees down, mill them into the lumber and then use them. After watching this video do i need to let them dry out after i mill them if i'm just going to use them for raised beds and put them on the ground where they are going to get wet again from irrigation? And is there any drying or anything i need to do between cutting the trees down and milling them? Thank you for your help.
This answers a lot of questions I had about drying lumber. So in general, it is a better idea to slab the lumber first and then let it dry? How thick do you usually slab it? Looks like you're cutting to about 2"
Been educating myself on drying green lumber, watched alot of videos on the subject and yours are very informative so thank you for that, one question on the cheaper pin type moisture meter, if you drilled small holes same dia as pins to get them deeper in the wood maybe half way thru would you get more reliable readings? Just curious as to what your thoughts are, thanks
Incredibly helpful! Should I be doing anything to the wood before using it in furniture or for building materials? Probably be using boiled lin seed oil once furniture is completed. Also can this wood be suitable for outdoor use? Around here (Ontario, Canada) the most popular woodworking product is outdoor muskoka chairs out of Cedar. Will the Cedar here have any negatives over store bought Cedar for this application?
Good info here, although I'll have to disagree on the moisture meter sometimes it glitches and shows only surface moisture compared when you stick the pins in the wood. I install hardwood floors so the moisture levels between the sub-floor and hardwood is a bit deal.
Just don't use green sticks. At a kiln I ran many years ago we didn't have any staining problems but the sticks we used had been through the kiln many times. They were 3/4 x 3/4 from some hardwood and they got used for everything that went through the kiln.
When you are putting down your stickers always try to put a row within about 3 inches of the end of the board. Even if the board checks it tends to stop at the first sticker. I learned this from an old saw miller. I have about 1k bf of mixed red & white oak currently drying using this method. Nice looking walnut.
Steve McEntyre Thanks for the tip, Steve! I really don't have an issue with checking on the ends for whatever reason but that's probably a good thing to do for good measure. Thanks! Plans for all that lumber?
Matthew Cremona I'll probably be making some chairs and a few other odds and ends. Most of it is cut to 5/4 except for several 4 inch thick slabs. Sittng in my dad's metal building so when summer gets here it will be a kiln. LOL. You certainly have a nice inventory of wood.
Hi Mat, I truly admire your woodworking skills and I watch your videos whenever they come out. But I can't help but wonder why you don't build yourself a solar kiln. Wouldn't that be best for the lumber you mill from trees?
Matt, I have thoroughly enjoyed your videos: I appreciate the information you share and the inspiration you have given me! I also appreciate your attitude and and the way you communicate. Thank you! In one of your videos (with your Dad, as I recall) you were starting a new stack outside, and you had some adjustable stands/bars you used to start out flat and level: what are those stands called, and where can I buy a set?
I'd like to add that Sycamore is very sensitive to sticker staining. Pine stickers have stained by sycamore slabs 1/16" deep :( I'm a big fan of 'same species' stickers but would love to find a viable plastic alternative to avoid staining.
Now this is why I subscribe! Great info. For sealing end grain I was taught to use a mix of 50/50 pva glue (normal wood glue) and water. Makes a thin latex-paint ish substance that dries clear. Any ideas on doing it that way?
***** I'm sure that works too. The anchor seal dries to a thick wax so I'm sure it technically seals better but I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes. For all I know it could be marginal. Thank you!
I was the 1000th like lol. That was cool. Very informative video. I've been thinking of trying this ( of coarse I'm naïve enough to think that I can try everything LMAO) .
+Matthew Cremona naivety and optimism I guess it's all the same. LOL. I watch the milling video and it reminded me when I was a kid and I help my grandfather and his sawmill. Those were scary times I remember the blade on that thing was as tall as I was. I experienced kickback on a very large level LOL
I don't know you lived in Minnesota! what town? your awsome man. now I feel dam intimidated. the man with the plan in my state. keep kicking ass. I keep hearing about you from all the big names on youtube.
I am in Minnesota too and want to make some hand hewn 6x6 beams. I will storing them in a building that is used for storage on a farm. Do you think it will still take 9 months to a year per inch?
Stacking 50 1" x 8 " yellow pine on a concreat slab. Shaded about 70 %. Plan to put 2 large fans running 24/7. Might put a tent over it to increase heat. Does this speed up drying?
Hi Matt. A lot of great info here. If I might add a few points without stepping on anyones toes, I'd like to share a few things I've learned from my 30 years running a portable sawmill business, drying lumber, and building furniture. Anchorseal is the best. But to get the most out of it you should apply it to a fresh cut, either when the log is first bucked to length, or right after it is milled. With the later, it's best to make a fresh cut an inch or two on each end of the board, then coat. Second, you really should keep your first and last sticker within an inch or so of the end of the board. Seventy percent of end checks will stop at the first sticker. Here in PA when drying lumber outside you can bring the moister down to around 15% (relative humidity). After the I often bring the wood inside and stack it behind the couch in the living room for a few weeks to bring it down to 8%. However, I've found this system only works if I actually produce a nice piece of furniture for my wife. Hope this info helps. Keep up the good work.
Pat Shull, Shullwood Portable Sawmill
How long does it take to get down to 15% outside? I'm in south central PA.
Dehumidifier helps with a fan too.
Kathy, can you apply the Anchorseal in cold weather?
Timber should be dried according to the relative humidity in the area you're living in. The closest to PA I've seen is NY and the relative humidity there is 12%. 8% is very dry but I guess there are places that low. Timber should be acclimatized to the area where it will be used before starting a job because there's virtually nothing you can do to stop it matching the relative humidity of where it is.
Thank you for the addition info . One wouldnt think that a sticker would stop a check
Well done Matt. I would add a couple of other points that will improve the quality of the air-dried lumber. Be consistent with the spacing of the stickers. I would recommend every 12", but 18" is okay. The stickers should be within 3 inches of the end of the boards. That would mean that your pile is the length of your longest board and you stack to both ends by alternating which end your boards will be closest to. Leave between 1" and 2" between boards so you get air movement bottom to top as well, and cover the last layer with plywood on stickers, then weight. A pin moisture meter needs to reach 1/5 the thickness of the board to be able to measure the Average Equilibrium Moisture Content of the board. With one pin length it can only measure one thickness. The Wagner meters work great, but the species setting can't take into consideration boards which fall outside that norm. For instance if you're measuring something like Punky ash for guitar bodies, it will not measure accurately, and pieces thinner than 1/2" will not measure accurately. This is coming from 40 years of experience and a degree in Wood Science and Technology.
I just cut my very first slabs with a chainsaw mill, 2" red oak my neighbor had cut down that would have otherwise gone to a landfill. I'm calling it 'rescue wood', haha. So excited, and it looks beyond gorgeous, seeing each unique grain pattern pop out at you as you remove each slab is like opening Christmas morning presents. Thanks so much for this video, Matt, a lot of work goes into this and I really wanted to make sure I produce slabs as straight as possible and properly dry them. Super helpful info!
Nice video.
Here is an old man tip. Never ever let your lumber touch the cement or bare ground with out a cloth or plywood. First time you run a rock or pebble through a sharp planer or jointer blades you'll get it ! One more is lumber tends to stop checking splitting to the first sticker and stop. Not 100% but enough I noticed in my life in lumber use. Hold them out to the ends!
what is a sticker?
Matt. I really appreciate you taking your time to make these videos. Im just a rookie wood turner and thanks to you,and people like you, it really helps in sharing the knowledge. Not knowing any better,I had gone to woodcraft and bought all kinds of expensive exotic blanks in January,they had the chemical on them so I thought all was good. Recently as I began to actually turn the blanks I noticed internally there were cracks. One night I was tired and left a piece on the lathe and in the morning the cracks had grown. I have not figured what Im doing wrong yet but thanks to you and others I may be able to find a solution. Thanks again.
Long after it was a fresh video - but, a helpful hint that I have used for years...
The best stickers I have ever found has been 2" PVC pipe cut in half. It gives you a U shape that has minimal contact points, it is dirt cheap, doesn't rot or carry moisture. Won't stain or cause those issues and you can store a ton of them in a five gallon bucket. Create a little jig for pushing the pip through on a band saw (mainly a bit of metal to act as a splitter and keep the pipe from twisting as you rip a few dozen feet in half) and you can create them in a few minutes.
While they don't quite have the same compressive strength as solid wood stickers do, I have never had one fail and have had them holding up boules of 4 foot wide sinker cypress that were still so water logged that you could actually watch the water steam off the blade when cutting them.
Monkey
I know "is that a pig or a dog", and a wonderful distraction, this guy is awesome, throwing pearls to us all, thank you Matt.
Matt great job in explaining everything in detail. It shows your knowledge base and your professionalism. Craftmanship is brought out in your work as well.
thanks for this no fuss straight facts video, you got right to the point without any person stuff. I appreciate you not wasting people's time. very helpful video
Thank you Jason!
In the basement of my last house, if I left anything on the floor the moisture would dampen it. The floor was never wet it was just the moisture coming up from the ground thru the cement. The house was left vacant for a year & even in the attached-garage things got damp. I had a pretty new bicycle in there and the chain rusted up solid! I'm telling you this because if I was stacking wood in a basement like this it would need to be up off of the floor at least 8inches maybe more. Great Video as always!!
If inside, you can use a dehumidifier to dry it out. It will remove moisture faster than a fan will and you can see/control what humidity level the wood sits in storage (on the LCD display). For outside, you can buy a fungicide additive from any decent paint store and spray it on lightly with a garden pump sprayer. Same with an insecticide. Mold/fungus can't survive in 55% humidity or less.
Suggestions: to increase natural convection space first layer 4-5" above ground and leave 7-8" space from wall (chimmey effect). Also leave more space between lumber (cooling drop).
To prevent checking and uneven drying do not stack sticlers directly over the sticker below (creates concentrated wet area). Stagger stickers slightly.
The best way to stop end splits is to have a sticker at the very end of board (over hangs split like crazy).
Flip boards on top occasionally especially early on.
Also never move things twice if you don't have too!
Super helpful! I just had 2500 bf of clear pine milled at my cottage and am planning to finish the interior once it's ready. It's freezing here now so as soon as winter is at an end I'll get that end cut sealer on the boards. The miller stacked it all up very carefully, with some large weighing it down on top, and a light cover of tar paper to shed the weather. This video tutorial is really great education. Thanks!
In my experience, I've learned not to wait at all - for any reason. Get that Anchorseal on the edges as soon as you stack them. Even if you have snow/ice on them fresh from the mill. The day/night melt/freeze cycle will check them harder. I keep the Anchorseal toasty inside, and paint it on the ends. If you kick off the ice/snow, the tiny amount left will melt and the seal will stick nicely :-)
Hey I have been at this stuff for a while milling and drying my own lumber and I learned something new today. The dry scrap piece to measure against your lumber is a great idea. Thanks Matt !!
Ross Hastings Thanks Ross!
I value your advice, thank you. I personally use round sticks between the boards as it provides the minimum contact with the lumber. It works for me, but whatever tickles your fancy💪
Was sent here from James Wright's channel. Learned a lot from both of your channels and I am excited to eventually have a place to be able to buy/make my own lumber and begin the long process of drying it for future use. In the meantime. I'll have to stick with wood that is "ready to go" already for small projects/practice in my renewed love of woodworking.
I just found a mill selling kiln dried and green. He sells thick stock but it's green. After watching your video, I have the confidence to buy green and dry it myself; Thank you
david althaus Awesome! Have fun!
Some mills in Holland kept logs in water for up to 2 years, but simply soaking them for a few days will do, it will drown bugs, and clean off dust, just air dry for a day befor stacking.
Great information Matt, your channel is quickly becoming one of the most informative woodworking channels out there, thanks for putting out great content, I am learning a lot
Matt Williams Thank you Matt!!!
Seriously great information Matt! I already have some checking in the small log I cut up because I didn't paint the ends. Just to let you know I have the perfect lumber drying environment at my house. 1 month in the summer heat here and I guarantee your stack will be bone dry. Solar kiln is me just putting wood outside.
AdventuresInDIY Thanks Chris! Yes, you live in a kiln :)
So you sell wood? I made a couple of farm tables out of construction lumber which I should have laid down in my basement before I made it. At 42 inches wide I ended up with a cracked top because I was STUPID and put a breadboard edge on with biscuits, pocket screws and glue. It shrunk a half inch and my daughter to who it was a gift heard a loud bang and found a crack about a quarter inch wide. Character I told her, she didn't buy into it so I sawed the bread board edges off and glued the crack and the bread board edge back on. I would like to make a real one out of either white oak, cherry or walnut. The next construction lumber one got a design change with a not attached breadboard edge. It did not crack.
Incredibly informative. Thanks a bunch man. I am looking to have a real big spruce tree milled and didn't know where to start looking on drying the stuff.. helped a ton
Hi Matt, thanks for the video. I read somewhere (haven't tried it for myself) that PVC conduit cut in half lengthways makes for good stickers. No staining, minimal wood contact and won't change shape on you. The only problem may be the building of a jig to cut it in the first place.
***** That would work great. I wonder what the compression strength is like?
Matthew Cremona
It would depend on the conduit used, in Australia we have HD electrical conduit which is orange and very tough, I don't see a problem having several hundred kilograms on a set of stickers made from this.
What size of pipe would you suggest?
@@rogerboucher1913Maybe 40mm? That gives you 20mm between layers once cut.
Very informative video and very well done as always. I have the same pin meter you show and use it when I go to a couple of hardwood dealers that buy locally to roughly gauge how wet they are. It's pretty wet in my neck of the woods. In the winter indoor humidity runs between 30 and 40% with electric heat. We have a dehumidifier that runs year round in our basement to keep it below 50%. It doesn't run as often in the winter as it does in the summer.
Jim Coogan Thank you Jim! It's incredible how much water there is inside of a tree! When I first bring these boards in, they are outside of the range of my meter. So wet!
Matt as you can see my pic is a Cypress knee. I live in Florida and I've been working cypress with no drying time at all. I know I'm taking a chance. The pieces are small and I'm not making a large project. Plus Cypress doesn't crack much, I also use a hardener on my wood. The biggest problem is getting the glue to dry when joining boards because the glue between the wood does not dry completely. Thanks for the tips on drying. I'm mostly drying rough cut wood no boards.When I graduate to a larger shop and projects, your techniques will be invaluable.
I air dry hardwood lumber on stickers in the eaves of my barn. It works good enough, but I must say that I always get movement after I bring my finished pieces into the house. My oldest samples are about 6 years old. I did some work with 40 year old cherry lumber and that was good and stable. But i can't wait that long for the rest!
+Peter Collin dried lumber will still have movement as ambient tempurature and humidity change with the seasons or location. This is even true with kiln dried lumber purchased from a lumber yard. This is why its often a good idea to bring your pieces for a project into the shop a few days or weeks before final milling and why its absolutely essential to allow for movement in your furniture designs.
Really appreciate the information. I always know where to go when I have a woodworking question. 9 times out of 10 you already have a video about it.
Thank you!!!
It is very important to get the base level and straight. This is a must to get your boards straight. It's harder if you are stacking on an uneven surface; easier if you are starting with a concrete floor.
Another great video! I'm originally from Michigan (currently in silicon valley CA renting) and long for the days spending with my grandfather and other relatives with land to go out on and hunt, pull logs, etc. Really great stuff, I can't wait to retire (or make my millions :) hehe) then head back to Mich and settle on some land and haul my own lumber and craft my own goods. So cool. Keep up the great work!
***** That would be the life for me. I would miss it too if I were you! Thanks!
Mathew if you have a junk yard close to where you live you could probably get some old car scissor jacks for a little of nothing that you could weld a piece of steel channel across the top of 2 jacks, you could then jack up either side that was off level about three sets of these will be all that you would need for a log.
You can measure the moisture content by cutting off a chunk, weighing it, microwaving it till it’s dry and weighing again. The difference is the amount of water in it. Better to sell a plank and use the money to buy a scanning meter😀
If you are drying inside your house a dehumidifier might be a good idea.
You seem to know more than the average bear about wood, and so I felt motivated to share a few details with you also. It has been my experience that to protect the wood from picking up decomposer microbes from the soil it is important to drape the ground where the wood will contact the earth. Because the wood had been in the air in its whole life and was maintained with a living immune system, it never adapted to direct ground contact on open wood tissues with parasitic and invasive decomposer organisms and lacking an active immune system. The consequence is the early retirement of the wood from usefulness. Basically, It will fall apart. Very important detail. I am planning to spray down my entire cord of furniture wood with a potent antifungal spray until I can set up my drying barn. I've also seen someone use lots of epsom salt between the planks in the stack to pull the moisture out. The moisture was visibly frothing and boiling out of the ends of the planks in the pile. I supposed that was a speed-dry method.
"Still frozen, needs to dry" Truly, you are a wood guru, Matt!
Thanks Matt! Another great, educational video. Just went to buy that Moisture Meter (the good one).... Holy moly Batman, 375.00 bucks now! I think I'll need to stick with my two prong one for now. Thanks again!
Joseph Muench I know! I couldn't believe the prices on those now. Glad to know that something I own has appreciated so much lol! Thanks Joseph!
Thanks! You and a friend of mine are the only people who mentioned something more realistic than the 1 yr/inch of air drying time. I was one trip to the store from starting to build a solar kiln (which my friend talked me out of).
How often and how long per day do you run your fan in your basement?
Great tip about keeping the dry sample of wood with the stack... I've got a pin-style meter and I had never heard that tip.
wordsnwood Thanks Art!
Great video! I milled some virginia scrub pine on my bandsaw mill and make some large beams to span over a creek for a bridge to get tractor over. As they are super big I burned them and put some old motor oil. I figured trying to air dry those would take forever. And I dont have a solar kiln or basement like you. Do you think I made the right call?
Also, made 2”x8” boards for bridge deck.
I stacked some mulberry, pine, and red cedar in my garage to dry, using 3/4" stickers (sliced up sub floor). I used a fan to create airflow, and then I used a dehumidifier.
After six months I dismantled the stack and took it to a friend who has a kiln .... he did a moisture check before putting it in the kiln, and he found that the timber was as dry as if it had been kiln dried!
This was during summer in The South, when the ambient temperature was 90°F +/-5°
Thank you very much matt. I just got my first load of ash in and it will need to be dried. The board has varied thicknesses, should I stack from heaviest to lightest or just use something else for weight? Luckily for me, the only place I have to dry is in my basement and its no longer hot here.
If you plan on using the thinner stuff first, you can stack the thicker stuff on the bottom. That stuff will take longer to dry and you won't have to unstack it when you start using the thinner stuff on top. If you don't have anything else to use for weight, stack the thicker ones on top. They require less force to keep them flat.
Matthew Cremona fantastic, Thanks Matt
forestor/sawer told me to use stickers of a different species and it will minimize sticker stain. He also said you should dry the wood in the elements for at least a year. He works for a big mill in the area.
Hi Matt, great video, lots of good info.. I recently had a tree taken out in my front yard, (it's roots were pushing up my concrete driveway), and I had the lopers leave me the main trunk which had a really interesting curly shape. I then sliced the trunk into 27 "hockey pucks" with a chainsaw a week later.. each puck is between 2 and 4 inches thick, ( by that I mean some are 2 inches thick, some are 3 and some are 4, but each puck is a fairly consistent width) and they range in diameter from about a foot to nearly 2 feet for the big ones..
I'm not sure of the tree species, nor do I know if it is a hard wood.. how long do you suggest I dry theses pucks for..?
I've got them in the back corner of my garage, under a shelf, up off the concrete by an inch or so, with 3/4 inch spacers between the layers.. I know that air flow may be an issue in that location, but it's now summer here in Australia, so the days are getting quite warm. If I stick my head down near them it doesn't smell very musty, which I think is s good sign, right?
Any advice would be great help.
Regards, Gene.
I like the log storing idea for outside. One thing is when I'm milling up lumber I'll switch the face over and see which grain I like best so I wouldn't be able to assemble it back to the same shape. But for most cases I think this would work good.
deleetmeeh Yeah, with that method, you're pretty much stuck cutting through and through
Best info I have heard about drying one's own lumber! Thanks Matt. Really enjoyed this video. Will be referring back to it in the future too.
James Berghout Thank you James!
thanks for the tips. I dry very small batches occasionally (urban harvested) and have used wood glue painted on the ends with a brush for sealing. It seems to work, I always have lots of glue around. Also I think the European style drying you showed is called "en boule" or "in the round". I have heard it referred to as that anyway, not sure about the spelling. cheers
I have been drying wood for 30 years. Doors, gun stocks, etc. I weigh the board and write that and the date on the wood. When the weight stops going down, the board is at equilibrium with the room. The book UNDERSTANDING WOOD by Hoadly was a life changer for me 30 years ago. I have given away a lot of copies over the years, but it never does any good. Woodworkers do not read books that read like engineering.
I do. Thanks for the tip
Good Job Matt... Just want to leave a very valuable tip when drying Lumber with everyone. The Surface moisture should only be allowed to dry no more than -2% from the Core at any given time. Or you can Case Harden and actually trap moisture inside. Also, As Matt said, you cannot dry the wood too slow or it will begin to mold and you will have allot of staining. Too fast though and you can actually ruin it with warping and cupping, cracks and splits as well as the aforementioned Case Hardening. Lastly There is a huge difference between Drying wood and seasoning it. The most enjoyable wood to work is wood that is allowed to season outdoors under cover from Rain, and sun for years and years. Then bring it indoors for another year. There is no comparison to how stable it is and how it works compared to Fast drying or Kiln Drying. Keep your saw in the kerf!
Dusty Splinters Great points! Thank for sharing them. Like I said, this was just an intro :)
I've watched several videos and read a bunch of things oh the process of drying out maple wood slices (1 inch thick x 14 around). I am confused. I do like your process of stacking - thank you for this information. I am using the wood slices for my daughters wedding centerpieces at the end of June 2023. Should i be applying anchor seal on the raw cut wood and live edge prior to stacking? Or is it after it gets to the proper moisture level? I am VERY new at any kind of wood working but i also couldnt resist the gorgeous pieces i was given! Advice is so very welcome here! thank you!!
white/Burr oak minimizes sticker staining and the stick should be dried before using. Keeping lumber up off the ground deters bugs and on a slab of concrete is even better. bugs really like the wane/sap wood
Thanks for the ideas. I have stacks around the house too. I think it helps to stack with as much space around the boards as possible, to let the wood breathe better. Also, it helps lay a rain cover over the outdoor stacks.
Another great video Matt...i love these types of videos. Really has me wanting to try milling some of my own lumber.
Jeremy Thompson Thanks Jeremy! Go for it! you'll love it!
Your reference [dry] piece of wood once left out in room/outside air will "track" changing relative humidity of that air, adsorbing moisture to correspond. Ex.: if RH is 100%, MC of wood will stabilize eventually at ~30% (fiber saturation point). Wood is hygroscopic, like hair, calcium chloride, etc.
Wow, that was a LOT of REALLY GOOD information! Thanks Matt!! Really loved this video, MUCH appreciated!!
McGinn's WoodShop Thank you Jason!
Great video packed with all kinds of good tips! Thanks for sharing your knowledge Matt, and I had aways been curious about the 1" per year guideline. In NV, it super dry and I bet it goes quicker than that here too.
Zac Higgins Oh yeah! Where you are lumber would dry just as fast as it does in my basement. Thanks Zac!
Good info. I use that pin style meter. It does have different settings for varied densities. I usually do like you said, check another piece of lumber of the same species that's been in my garage for awhile and see how close it is. I just bought a hydrometer/temp gauge so I can monitor what the garage stays at. I run an electric heater ever so often and my air filtration unit on high to circulate the area around wood that I bring it. Luckily the garage matches the houses humidity level.
I haven't brought any green wood into dry just yet but this has gotten me starting to think about it. I really like working with slabs and if I can bring essentially an entire cut log into the garage and have it sit for a year and be dry enough to use, that would be great. I love working with walnut and the best way to dry it seems to be air drying. Kiln drying, it loses some of that dark rich color.
Watching your videos has gotten me wanting to start milling. I've got the room on my property and lots of treescape in the back yard. I just don't know if the neighbors would appreciate it, haha. Maybe whenever we move on to another home I'll take it on as a hobby.
Great tip about keeping the seasoned off-cut near your wood stack for comparison.
Francis Barnett Thanks Francis!
I recommend buying a few packs of beef jerky and saving the jell packs that say "do not eat" those absorb moisture. But i put my wet lumber in my furnace/boiler room with a small fan and a dehumidifier. He forgot to mention the "faster" your wood drys the easier it cracks and warps
Frogking9 Good tip. That's true, but that's pretty hard to do when doing simple air drying. When you move to drying in a warmer, dryer, high airflow environment then it becomes really easy to ruin boards.
Matt, my neighbor cut down a nice uniformed hickory tree. By the time I got there he had them in 18" lengths and they were 12" in diameter. They still have the bark on them. How would you recommend to dry them? Remove bark, cut in 1-2" thicknesses, inside an unheated or heated room, painted ends? I may use some for turning but the lathe is the next tool on my list.
Ted, hickory is the worst for containing powder post beetles (ask me how I know). Once they get out of the wood and into your house, you can have a real infestation. If you bring the wood into the house, remove the bark first, then paint the outside of the wood with borax solution such as TimBor or BoraCare (non toxic to people or pets) that will kill the bugs when they exit the wood.
+Dave Boyt Thanks Dave, I have the lumber in my attached garage right now with the bark on it. It is not near the opening to the house, but I will get on that right away. It's been about three weeks and I don't want to be infected.
small comment, Flex Seal is awesome on the end grain. I haven't found anything else that comes close! I use the spray because it's easier, but spray or brush its great either way! Not a plug, just actual experience...
Thanks for your videos. I have some black walnut to cut up. I thought I would try milling some of it and see how it comes out. I will use the techniques I learned from you so thanks again
just a note from Europe... we stack it outside as you showed, but always,,,,ALWAYS, put a sheet of something waterproof on top, such a a sheet of galvanized or similar. you need to stop the water getting between the stack.
Matt, Let me bounce my plan off of you and your subscribers. I have property in So Georgia, it is 7 acres of virgin southern white pine. I would like to clear my home site and harvest the trees I remove for future use. Step one clear the underbrush and select the spot for the house. The house will be 5 shipping containers, the wood I use will be the internal framing. I am planning over the next three years two cut my trees into 5 or 6 inch slabs and place in a tent garage for drying. In a couple of years add a shipping container as a make shift kiln. It will be ventilated with solar attic fans. This should be another year or so. Most of this wood will be 2x framing material, I am most concerned about bugs and dimensional stability. Should I plan to make my slabs large enough to run them through a planer prior to cutting into 2x framing wood? Also in Georgia is there a better time to harvest the wood? In NY the sap runs to the roots in winter, I expect this would expedite drying since most of the moisture is left in the ground. Is this significant enough to plan my tree cutting for the winter months? You have seen my mill on youtube, you complimented it, made me feel like a hero! Thanks. I know this is a lot to consider but I respect your experience. Thanks for your time.
Hi Matt, thank you so much for the information. I have a general drying question. In PA air dried lumber will not get below 12%. If I dry it to 8% or get kiln dried to 8% and store it in my shed outside, will it eventually go back to 12% to match the environment? If so why dry it to 8%? Thanks again, I really do love this content.
Holly crap, there is a lot of stuff going on when drying wood. Thanks for the info.
Thanks Mike!
Nothing on this whole Earth is ever simple. Not even painting.
Excellent explanation Matt!
BoatworksToday Thanks Andy!
Thanks Matt, this is an awesome video! I have some black walnut I am milling over the next couple of weekends. I appreciate the video!
DAMN! just found some bug holes in some slabs I will put out to dry today... Should I take out my flame thrower right away? Or what should I do with those boards before laying them down to dry? Newbie here...
This is where my birch plywood comes in handy. Basically free and really consistent.
deleetmeeh yes! That would work great for stickers :)
Matt, could you please talk about drying your own wood for turning? Also, is it possible to dry small diameter logs w/o cutting them up? Say 6 - 8 inches in diameter.
“This one it’s ah....magic...” bahaha love it!
Take good care of my walnut. When would be a good time in 3-4 months when no one will be home for a few hours for me to come pick it up? You're going to need a bigger dog if you want to keep me out. Actual question: What brand/size dehumidifier do you have/recommend because I have had terrible luck with them. I'm lucky if I get 3 years out of them. The last one lasted a year and I just did without last year because I was so disgusted with them.
krtwood The video of me stacking was from back in Nov. This batch will be ready to go in a couple week. Pancake will be waiting for you. I have a Frigidaire 50 pint. I've had it for about a year now. My last one was involved in that recall but I had that one for 3 years. It was a Gree brand, I think.
Matt, we have a saw mill and i'm still pretty new at using it. I'm going to make some raised beds for our garden out of juniper wood. We have juniper on our property so i'm going to cut the trees down, mill them into the lumber and then use them.
After watching this video do i need to let them dry out after i mill them if i'm just going to use them for raised beds and put them on the ground where they are going to get wet again from irrigation? And is there any drying or anything i need to do between cutting the trees down and milling them? Thank you for your help.
This answers a lot of questions I had about drying lumber. So in general, it is a better idea to slab the lumber first and then let it dry? How thick do you usually slab it? Looks like you're cutting to about 2"
Thanks for all of the advice for rough saw lumber.
That Walnut was beautiful!
Been educating myself on drying green lumber, watched alot of videos on the subject and yours are very informative so thank you for that, one question on the cheaper pin type moisture meter, if you drilled small holes same dia as pins to get them deeper in the wood maybe half way thru would you get more reliable readings? Just curious as to what your thoughts are, thanks
Great video Matt. Learned a lot watching it. Keep up the great work.
***** Thank you so much!
Incredibly helpful! Should I be doing anything to the wood before using it in furniture or for building materials? Probably be using boiled lin seed oil once furniture is completed.
Also can this wood be suitable for outdoor use? Around here (Ontario, Canada) the most popular woodworking product is outdoor muskoka chairs out of Cedar. Will the Cedar here have any negatives over store bought Cedar for this application?
Good info here, although I'll have to disagree on the moisture meter sometimes it glitches and shows only surface moisture compared when you stick the pins in the wood. I install hardwood floors so the moisture levels between the sub-floor and hardwood is a bit deal.
You can avoid sticker staining by using the same species of wood as what your stacking.
Danstasuik2010 interesting
I put packing tape on my stickers, haven't had a problem in 12 years
Just don't use green sticks. At a kiln I ran many years ago we didn't have any staining problems but the sticks we used had been through the kiln many times. They were 3/4 x 3/4 from some hardwood and they got used for everything that went through the kiln.
Very Informative, I have plans to try and mill some of my own lumber this summer!
Lane Bros WoodShop Have fun! You'll love it!
By the way, I love your channel. You have great content and present very well!
Wow Matt, what a stack of lumber! Nice.
Mike Kapotsy Thanks Mike!
When you are putting down your stickers always try to put a row within about 3 inches of the end of the board. Even if the board checks it tends to stop at the first sticker. I learned this from an old saw miller. I have about 1k bf of mixed red & white oak currently drying using this method. Nice looking walnut.
Steve McEntyre Thanks for the tip, Steve! I really don't have an issue with checking on the ends for whatever reason but that's probably a good thing to do for good measure. Thanks! Plans for all that lumber?
Matthew Cremona
I'll probably be making some chairs and a few other odds and ends. Most of it is cut to 5/4 except for several 4 inch thick slabs. Sittng in my dad's metal building so when summer gets here it will be a kiln. LOL. You certainly have a nice inventory of wood.
Steve McEntyre LOL!!! unintentional kiln. awesome! Thanks!
Hi Mat, I truly admire your woodworking skills and I watch your videos whenever they come out. But I can't help but wonder why you don't build yourself a solar kiln. Wouldn't that be best for the lumber you mill from trees?
Matt, I have thoroughly enjoyed your videos: I appreciate the information you share and the inspiration you have given me! I also appreciate your attitude and and the way you communicate. Thank you! In one of your videos (with your Dad, as I recall) you were starting a new stack outside, and you had some adjustable stands/bars you used to start out flat and level: what are those stands called, and where can I buy a set?
Matt, you're pretty knowledgeable about lumber.
How did you build up your business life you have?
I'd like to add that Sycamore is very sensitive to sticker staining. Pine stickers have stained by sycamore slabs 1/16" deep :( I'm a big fan of 'same species' stickers but would love to find a viable plastic alternative to avoid staining.
Now this is why I subscribe! Great info. For sealing end grain I was taught to use a mix of 50/50 pva glue (normal wood glue) and water. Makes a thin latex-paint ish substance that dries clear. Any ideas on doing it that way?
***** I'm sure that works too. The anchor seal dries to a thick wax so I'm sure it technically seals better but I'm not sure how much of a difference that makes. For all I know it could be marginal. Thank you!
Nice, walnut lasagna, would love some of that :) Looks wonderful, the mind is just a buzz with project ideas.
woodturningjohn Now I'm hungry! If you decide on a project let me know. This batch will be dry in a couple weeks.
Hi Matt.I really in joy watching you .By the way you have a Maltese surname. Wish you the best future.
Thanks!
Thanks, I just stacked my 1st set of boards.
I was the 1000th like lol. That was cool. Very informative video. I've been thinking of trying this ( of coarse I'm naïve enough to think that I can try everything LMAO) .
Thanks for the thumbs up! I have the same naivety and it seems to be working out for me so far :)
+Matthew Cremona naivety and optimism I guess it's all the same. LOL. I watch the milling video and it reminded me when I was a kid and I help my grandfather and his sawmill. Those were scary times I remember the blade on that thing was as tall as I was. I experienced kickback on a very large level LOL
I don't know you lived in Minnesota! what town? your awsome man. now I feel dam intimidated. the man with the plan in my state. keep kicking ass. I keep hearing about you from all the big names on youtube.
I'm in Brooklyn Center. lol thanks!
I am in Minnesota too and want to make some hand hewn 6x6 beams. I will storing them in a building that is used for storage on a farm. Do you think it will still take 9 months to a year per inch?
Thanks, great information. I have a two foot long trunk I am going to slab and dry.
Stacking 50 1" x 8 " yellow pine on a concreat slab. Shaded about 70 %. Plan to put 2 large fans running 24/7. Might put a tent over it to increase heat. Does this speed up drying?
use a leaf blower to get off dust and dirt. I like used cut short pile carpet in strips make work as sticker. double them up back to back.
Enjoyed the video. Lots of good explanations and tips. Thank you for doing this.
Glad it was helpful. Thanks Terry!
Matt,
I enjoyed your presentation and learned alot.
Thanks
Mike
Sully Grills Thank you Mike!
Hi Matt! Do you have any books you would recommend on slabbing/drying your own lumber?