Good Wood, Direct from the Mill

(Page 2 of 2)

August 7, 2008
By Steve Maxwell 
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You can use sticker-dried lumber for all kinds of structural uses, but if you want to build furniture, the moisture content needs to be down to 6 percent to 8 percent. In most parts of the continent, wood never gets this dry after being stored in an unheated space — no matter how long you leave it there. In order to get wood dry enough for cabinetmaking without a kiln, wood must spend time indoors, in a heated building, preferably during winter. This is the second drying phase. A hand-held moisture meter is a foolproof way of monitoring progress, but you can develop a feel for the process, too. In my experience, dry, winter indoor air will lower the moisture content of pine from about 16 percent to 8 percent in 6 weeks. The fastest air-drying process I completed was with 1-inch-thick pine. It went from the log to finished furniture in seven months, with no cracking or warping. It’ll take longer than this for hardwoods. You can speed secondary drying substantially by using a fan to blow air over the pile of wood.

RELATED CONTENT

For more information on cutting your own lumber and using it for building projects, read Profit with Portable Sawmills, Choosing Safe Lumber and Our Handmade Home.

Do you have experience cutting and drying your own lumber? Tell us about it in the comments section below.
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  • tim 8/17/2008 5:36:02 PM

    I am writing in about the wood drying article you featured. I would like to know how long does wood need to be dried before it can be used for the framing and siding on a house

  • SteveR 8/14/2008 7:21:00 AM

    Hi Rosemarie,

    The general rule of thumb is 1 year of drying for every 1 inch of thickness that your boards are milled to. This is usually the time it takes to reach what is called EMC or Equilibrium Moisture Content. In other words, this is the moisture level which it will naturally reach through air drying. The exact EMC value will depend on where you live and other factors (species of wood, time of year, location of your stacked timber, etc) You can look up the target EMC for your area online or ask around the lumber yards. Any good lumberyard should know the moisture content of their products.

    I would advise covering your timber to keep the elements off of it and from leaves and debris collecting on it. Also a covering will ensure more even drying. Make sure, however, that there is still good air movement around it. A storage area with a roof and open sides would be the best, such as a carport.

    Since you are using it for outdoor projects, you probably won't have to dry it any more than this but as a safe bet, this amount of time would render your timber usable for this purpose. You can buy or borrow a moisture meter to verify/monitor your moisture content before you are ready to use it and make adjustments as you go in preparation for your planned construction date.

    Good luck and make sure you replant with new trees after cutting down the pines for the next generation.

  • chazrull 8/14/2008 7:01:12 AM

    I read a lot about drying wood. I wonder, did woodworkers throughout history really wait all that time for wood to dry before building what they needed? I somehow doubt it.

  • Mac McDougall 8/13/2008 8:34:07 PM

    I worked in a water powered (turbine) sawmill in a historic town (state owned) in the '70's in New Jersey. We cut cedar and some pine for the town restoration. We stored some in the loft above the mill with wood spacers between the layers. There was no heat in the building and It wasn't insulated so the wind was a constant presence. I don't recall seeing much checking or spliting. I recall we had some walnut and oak up there that was ready for use. Some of the cedar was left for several seasons, but most was used within a year. We made our own shingles too.

  • Rosemarie 8/13/2008 1:11:39 PM

    I have 8 ~40ft pines endangering my house (I think they're close to the end of their lifecycle). I'd like to have a barn/shed/chicken coop built using their wood. Stickered in my back yard--no indoor drying--how long would the wood take to be usable? The real question is: how can I tell when the wood is ready? And does it need to be protected in some way until building is done?

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