# fresh cut wood



## supervato (May 19, 2010)

Hey everybody, does anybody know how long i have to waite before i can use cut wood to break down into useable lumber. I have some black walnut and hickory tree logs that my friend gave me. Some i will cut down to 8/4 stock and some I will use as 3×3 turning blanks. But do i have to wait to mill them or can I mill them then wait and let them dry out. Or do i have to wait at all?


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## woodspark (May 8, 2010)

Mill them while the logs are green and then you dry. Only problem is you will have to wait a couple of years to airdry 8/4 stock!


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## tnwood (Dec 13, 2009)

Coat all the ends of the log with Anchor Seal or latex paint now. Mill the logs as soon as possible. If you have to store the logs, get them off the ground and away any moisture. Sticker the boards as soon as they are cut. The length of time before they are dry enough to use depends on where you store them, air flow over them, ambient humidity and temperatures, sticker details, etc. Either buy or borrow a moisture meter to monitor the stack and see what happens. Typically I would say 6 months for 8/4 stock and probably a year for 12/4 but it depends on too many things to predict.


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## Catspaw (Dec 15, 2007)

1" = 1 year for passive air drying. Don't mill them at all. Cut them as your 8 or 4/4 rough lumber and dry them first. If you mill them now they will be subject to many changes. Then all your milling will be for naught.

There's no point in painting the ends if you're going to slab them up into lumber right away. Painting is only for storing the logs. Once they are slabbed up and you expose large surface area, painting the ends serves no purpose.


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## richgreer (Dec 25, 2009)

I've always heard you need to air dry 1 year plus 1 year per inch (i.e. 2 years for 4/4, 3 years for 8/4, etc.)


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## supervato (May 19, 2010)

ok that definitly helps i wanted to get them to rough slab for easier storage.


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## Catspaw (Dec 15, 2007)

Well, the 1 and 1 is general of course. It depends on the wood and the climate. Beech will take forever and poplar will dry fast. Arizona will dry fast, Alaska, well, maybe forever. ha! Hence the moisture meter to monitor its progress.

BTW, Kiln drying (maybe ask the sawyer) is not necessarily expensive and sure beats waiting a year or so to use your bounty. Remember, the price of your own lumber could/should be alot cheaper than paying at the big box store.


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## Nomad62 (Apr 20, 2010)

I've been reading several threads stating the 1" per year air dry thing is a wives tale, others swear by it; I tend to believe it has more to its drying environment than such a mechanical statement can justify. I recommend slicing the lumber as you wish to make it and Anchorsealing (or other product made for the use) the end grain as soon as possible. Catspaws last post seems the best advice of the above. Keep an eye for bug holes or activity, if you find any have the wood kiln dried asap to off the little boogers.


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## richardf (Nov 8, 2009)

I have a sawyer who mills logs for me and I sticker and airdry them for about 6 months before I use them. Of course Idaho summers are dry and hot and the logs that are sawn up have been siiting in my sawyer's yard for a couple of months (not exactly freshly green).

I say mill them to the thickness that you want but I wouldn't put any more work into your green boards other than stickering them level and sealing the ends. After they have mostly dried you will find your share of cracked and warped stock, but also some decent stock lumber. I would then put more effort into resizing your decent lumber into the dimensions you want. Also free craigslist latex paint will do for sealing the ends of the boards. I also take a few pictures of the boards in raw log form and pictures of the boards drying. I usually include these when I give the final projects made from the lumber to the new owner.


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## supervato (May 19, 2010)

thank you everybody


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## edwin111 (Sep 21, 2010)

Nice post.


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## PBthecat (Jan 18, 2010)

I'd wait for as long as it took me to purchase a moisture meter…

http://www.electrophysics.on.ca/e_index.htm


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## Sawmillnc (Jan 14, 2010)

I am here to tell you the 1" per year stuff is bunk and I wish this tale would just go away.

Dr Wengert at Madison will tell you otherwise as will the USDA documentation on air drying and kiln drying.

You can effectively air dry Red Oak or White Oak in average temps above 70 degrees in less than 4 months.

I dry thousands of BF of wood ( walnut, oak, cedar, pine etc) and none take that long.

8/4 stock can take upwards to a year or year and a half at most depending upon where you dry and stack.


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## millmgr (Nov 17, 2009)

It's not so much a time issue as moisture content . Depending on the intended usage, you may be able to make something like a table leg out of well air dried stock, but need kiln dried for furniture, cabinets, doors etc. that will be fastened to kiln dried stock or plywood. There should be some local woodshop or mill with a kiln that will put your boards in with a load that dries on the same schedule and then you don't have to worry about it.


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