Air Drying in Arizona

I had some black walnut logs, around 36” wide, sawn up after they had sat under cover for about 6 months and sent them to Nevada in the early springtime. I’m in NW Oregon. My brother down there let them set and dry for about a month then sliced them up and completely tricked out the inside of his home with it. Absolutely beautiful. But walnut is forgiving, and can put up with stresses other woods cannot. This is getting pretty late in the year to send wet wood down there, but if you can control the woods’ drying then it may still work okay. Best of luck.

-- Power tools put us ahead of the monkeys

Yea, I was looking at using locally found woods and thought that drying out the lumber to fast in this heat might not work out to well.

-- Ken, USAF MSgt, Ret.

Ken,
I’m in Snowflake and have brought back several hundred green BF of various species from TN, AR, GA, IL.
After about 3-4 months, everything is dry enough to use.
My mesquite takes less time but I’m not sure how long it laid in the log before I got it and milled it.
One caveat, most of mine is under roof and what isn’t is tarped. The pieces exposed seem to check readily.

-- Gene 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

Yea, I was thinking about Tarping and end painting to keep things from going to crap. But for the moment it’s more a thought about doing this than practice.

-- Ken, USAF MSgt, Ret.

I live in Peoria, AZ and am in the middle of drying some rough cut pieces of mesquite/ash/eucalyptus in my garage. I cut them extra thick (1.5-2”) and heavily coated the end grain with latex paint. Make sure you stack them evenly with separators (~ every foot) made out of a wood that won’t discolor (oak has tannins that can stain). Considering the intense dry heat here in AZ, I would be less optimistic about drying outside, but if you do, I would opt for a shaded area then cover with plywood and weight it down. Make sure you elevate the boards off the ground/concrete. Ensure adequate airflow around all surfaces. Oh ya… and be patient … figure a year for every inch of thickness. Good luck :)

-- Maximize - Your Time, Your Experiencies, Your Life, Yourself!

No way that it will take one year for 1” wood to dry in AZ. Walnut and cherry dry to 12 – 14% here in GA in about 4 – 5 months, and even red oak air dries in 6 – 8 months. The humidity in AZ is much lower on average, so fast drying will occur. The moisture meter does not lie.

-- Wood-Mizer LT15

Yep, no need to wait a year. Like I said earlier, 4 summer mo. for green stuff from back east. Mesquite, maybe a little less.

-- Gene 'The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.' G. K. Chesterton

I was thinking AZ in the summer = kiln dried, LOL

-- Ken, USAF MSgt, Ret.