# Do you let your wood acclimate to..



## Gixxerjoe04 (Jan 31, 2014)

I always here people say when buying lumber, you should let it acclimate to your shop for a couple weeks, month, varying answers. Also here of people bringing wood into their house if they have a garage shop like a lot of guys do. So what are your alls standards when it comes to this topic? I don't see any point in letting acclimate to my particular shop, my shop is my garage that isn't insulated, the mills I buy my kd wood are basically in big garages and in my state, so don't think there would be much difference in environment. The other guys who say they put their wood in their house before a project, I just don't see that very feasible, my wife is really nice but I already bring enough dust in the house, if I started bringing in rough lumber I might be looking for a new place to live haha. So what's everyone's rule of wood thumb before starting a project. Also do you joint and plane, then let it sit for a week or so and do it again to bring to final thickness(just another random question that is in the same ball park I thought). Main reason I ask is because I'm going to start on a table in the near future and don't want to make it and bring it in and it warp or something.


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## fuigb (Apr 21, 2010)

Other than sheet goods I let everything sit for a week or two or more before doing a thing. This goes for the good stuff from the mill and the cheap dimenaional crap from the big box. I'm in a garage too, nonetheless I've experienced a lot less warping and checking by letting nature have her way. And no, I don't do a dang thing -I.e. plane or joint- until my cooling off period has passed. Rushing things usually has resulted in disappointment.


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## TheFridge (May 1, 2014)

Talked to a fellow recently, who talked of build a hundred tables or so, and he told me to at least surface the faces and sticker for a week or 2. I'm kinda in the same boat as you since I've never built a panel bigger than 2'x2' and don't want to screw up the tables I'm going to build.


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

I buy my lumber kiln dried from a retailer nearby, and I have learned the hard way to leave it alone for AT LEAST a week. As soon as the wood leaves the kiln it begins to take moisture back into it and if it happens at an accelerated rate it can build up stresses in the lumber. It might have been kiln dried three months to a year ago and retailers don't worry about what moister content the wood is at when they sell it; it's kiln dried that's good enough. In a perfect world I would put it in a curing room in the heart of the shop, (hoping to get there someday) that is set at a constant temperature and humidity until it has stabilized. Then I pull out the lumber to be used and draw out my patterns a bit over-sized and rough cut them out. This gives the stresses in the wood that are still held up a chance to relax and get to know their new shape. Then cut to the finished pattern shape and plane and mill as needed. I live in a climate with high humidity so I keep dehumidifiers in my shop and try to maintain a constant dry climate for the lumber. If you are building with seasonal movement in mind it shouldn't be a problem to make a chair in Arizona and ship it to Florida the wood will move, but you have made allowances for this so it will move in harmony with the piece. If the wood is not seasoned correctly before construction you could have a chair arm or back spring out of place, a dresser side could decide to curl and stop up all the drawers. When I first started out I was commissioned to make a set of wooden dinner plates from some local Myrtlewood. I went to my supplier and picked out the lumber. I took it home, milled it up and put finish on it. I went back to the shop the next day to package them and found they had turned into bowls. So my best advice is to leave the wood in your shop for as long as you can put up with before you get to it. Hope that helped.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jan 31, 2014)

I had bought some kiln dried 2×4's from lows to build a shelf in my garage, obviously they aren't dried under 10% or whatever mills usually do it to. I let them sit in my garage, didn't sticker them or anything, just laid on the ground. Every freaking one warped, one looked like a dang screw, and they were straight as an arrow when I bought them. Of course my question is regarding rough hardwood and not lowes lumber.


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

By laying them on he ground if you have concrete especially they can react very badly. That is a very important aspect to sticker it.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jan 31, 2014)

What about when they're on a lumber rack off the ground, should I sticker them then? I haven't mainly because my racks are full and haven't had enough room to do so.


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

If you are trying to season them and acclimate them you should definitely sticker them, you can use thin stickers, but they need that air flow.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jan 31, 2014)

Dang, now I gotta figure out how to make that work with so much wood and so little room. Can't wait to move and build a little building just for wood.


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

One thing you can do is to pick your battles. Place the wood that you are not going to get to within the next few months outside stickered again with a roof to protect from rain and sun. Then mill up some stickers and stack your lumber up in order to be used. If you can make multiple stacks works good so you can cherry pick. You will be surprised the crazy areas you find to store it.


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## jmartel (Jul 6, 2012)

The wood I buy usually sits for a while solely due to the fact that I buy whenever I find a good deal on craigslist and figure out what I'm going to make with it later.


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## bonesbr549 (Jan 1, 2010)

I tend to buy in bulk 400-500 bf at a time. My last house my shop was in the 3 car garage. I'm lucky now and have wood storage in my shop sufficient to keep it all in my shop. I let my stock set a couple weeks from the store minimum. I then take a piece and cut it and mill it and see what happens. I keep it stickered till its ready to use.

I take it down rough to about flat and skip planed. I sticker it and let it sit and watch it. If it starts moving better to catch it early. (1 week)

I then take it down to almost final dimensions and let it set again (at least a couple days)

Final dimension and let it set over night.

I know it's a lot but give it time. Also, when thicknessing wood, I make sure to take equal amounts off both sides of the board.

Also accept you will get some boards that just don't cooperate and move. chuck em in the kindling bin, if you use it you will only regret it. (don't ask me how I know)

One thing I've learned over the years is patience. Burned my butt a couple times in my youth, and I lerned an expensive lesson. Good Luck and cheers.


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

I agree with that kindling pile comment, On the good side it keeps the shop warm.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

Gixxer,

The issue is 1)fluctuating humidity, not the absolute humidity itself and 2) unequal moisture content on 2 faces. This is why resawing can be such a PITA.

Little things matter, too. For example, I have had wood cup because I stupidly put the panel under a fan. I also had a board cup because I left it under the task light on my bandsaw. It can happen in a matter of 30 minutes.

I recommend focusing on the environment of your shop. My shop is in a converted horse barn. It is not insulated, but it is fairly well sealed. I make sure the windows are closed and the doors are shut at night especially in the summer when the humidity always goes to 95% in the early morning.

I am fortunate to have a small climate controlled studio off my shop where I do my carving and designing.
I frequently sticker my freshly milled boards in there if I'm anticipating a storm or weather change.
I also do a alot of shrink wrapping and put boards in plastic bags to slow down the process.

You are correct in what you say about incremental millings. I usually take two or three light passes over the planer on on each side of the board (this is what's important). I'll do this 3 or even 4 times until I get to final thickness. If the wood is stable you don't need as many steps. I also weight the boards down when stacking. I'll usually put a couple heavy timbers (I've even used concrete blocks and cargo straps) especially with wide boards.

For your tabletop, I would sticker the wood inside the house if you think your shop environment fluctuates too much.

As far as the time necessary, that depends on what state your wood is in and the %humidity in your shop. 
For example, if starting from rough air dried timber, I would expect to sticker the wood for at least a week between millings. If kiln dried and/or S3S lumber, it would be a few days probably.

Of course I would watch the wood and if its very stable maybe only a few days. I don't use a moisture meter but probably should. I've done ok just watching the wood.


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## Gixxerjoe04 (Jan 31, 2014)

Dealing with taking equal parts on both sides, usually I don't pay attention enough to exact amounts of close to it. One confusing part is, if your board is cupped or bowed, it might take multiple passes on one side to get it flat while only a couple on the other. How do you get the exact amount of each side if you take, let's say a 1/4" from the center of the board but just a 1/16" on the sides because then it's flat?


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## bearkatwood (Aug 19, 2015)

That is why letting the wood acclimate completely to your shop is so important. If you are patient and can wait months with the wood in your shop you can mill it without too much concern about milling equally. It really makes a big difference in how your work will go together. Patience grasshopper.


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## BinghamtonEd (Nov 30, 2011)

> Dealing with taking equal parts on both sides, usually I don t pay attention enough to exact amounts of close to it. One confusing part is, if your board is cupped or bowed, it might take multiple passes on one side to get it flat while only a couple on the other. How do you get the exact amount of each side if you take, let s say a 1/4" from the center of the board but just a 1/16" on the sides because then it s flat?
> 
> - Gixxerjoe04


I think, ideally, you'll flatten that board in the first pass at milling, and after acclimating again for a few days, you can take the same off each side. If a board cups/warps bad after the first milling, I'll generally not use it, or use it for smaller parts.


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## rwe2156 (May 7, 2014)

> One confusing part is, if your board is cupped or bowed, it might take multiple passes on one side to get it flat while only a couple on the other. How do you get the exact amount of each side if you take, let s say a 1/4" from the center of the board but just a 1/16" on the sides because then it s flat?
> 
> - Gixxerjoe04


Obviously you can't. You have to joint one side, plane the other, sticker the wood and repeat. Once the wood is acclimated, and hopefully stays flat, then you are doing incremental millings.

It took me a while to learn, but you have to be patient, watch your wood and think of the milling operation as month long procedure, maybe. It also pays to turn off the machines, stop and think about why the wood is bent. As far as I know, there are only two reasons why wood distorts: unequal drying and internal stresses (or both).

My experience is if a board comes off the wood pile already cupped or warped (or right out of the saw after resawing or ripping) this is because of internal stresses, not unequal moisture content. In this case, particularly with wide boards, you may not get a usable board. All you can do is incrementally rejoint and replane and see if it holds. Sometimes it will be necessary to rip a wide board down, remill and reglue.

OTOH, if the board already true becomes cupped between milling operations, it is moisture related. Sometimes it is because the wood is simply too wet, other times because of unequal drying. All you can do it give the wood plenty of time to acclimate. On wider boards I will usually employ clamps or cargo straps to hold them flat. I also pay close attention to where I'm stacking my boards out of direct sunlight, etc.

A few months ago, a friend of mine who owns a sawmill sold me some cherry so cheap I couldn't turn it down. I picked it up right off the saw , stickered and stacked in my drying shed like I've done for 1000's of bf of lumber before. Within a couple weeks I see "pretzel wood"-a lot of boards are twisted, warped, cupped or a combination of all 3. Tells me there was a lot of stress in the tree. Glad there are a bunch of 6/4 boards.

Stock prep can be extremely frustrating at times.

If anyone has other suggestions, I'm all ears.


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