Lumber Storage Question - Air Dried/Green

[sparetime]

I am in the process of starting the contruction of a wood and canvas canoe. I was able to locate some clear rough sawn northern white cedar to use in the construction. I will not be able to start the canoe for a few months and want to get some suggestions on how to store the lumber until then.

The lumber has not been kiln dried, it has been air drying and the weight of the pieces varies with most of them feeling light. I did not ask how long it had been since the lumber was cut, and I believe it was cut on different occasions, sorted for the clears and set aside.

I have stored the lumber in my unheated garage in a loft area. I placed stickers between each layer. Some of the boards do have splits in the end, I would say about 25% do. The splits are probably 3-5 inches in length, and that isn't really any different than the hardwood lumber I buy from a wholesale supplier. The hardwood is kiln dried however and stable.

Do I need to paint the ends? Is there a stacking arrangement I should follow? Should I purchase a moisture meter? Any hints on how to best preserve the lumber will be appreciated. It represents a significant investment, so I want to try and keep it as nice as possible. I realize that buying wholesale and rough cut that I will have more waste than if I purchased finished lumber, but there was a cost savings going to the rough also. Plus, it just feels better for some reason to start with rough sawn.

 

[Jan Bloom]

There a few different brands of Green Wood Sealer available. Try to find a wood turning club near by and see you can get some from one of the members. When I was doing the art fair circuit I went through gallons of the stuff rough turning bowls of "green" wood. Or you could just leave it be. Most of the end checking happens pretty early in the drying process and usually does not extend much farther 6-8 inches. Green wood sealers are a water soluble waxy like mix of ethylene glycol and other stuff. That is not antifreeze which is polyethylene glycol and is poisonous. Ethylene glycol is a non poisonous substance that is used in lots of things.

 

[Dave Wermuth]

hi and welcome

I bought 1100 bd feet a couple years ago. It was loaded onto my trailer by fork truck but I had to unload it by hand. I have stacked mine in the barn and stickered it the same way it was bundled, except that the top layer is now on bottom. I have not experienced any end checking that I know of with the exception of one board If i do find checks in the future I'll just work around them. I think you should be fine if you stickered your lumber. If you're going to build a canoe then you have about 100 bd ft? I don't have a moisture meter and don't feel the need for one. I think white cedar gives up its water pretty fast, perhaps someone who knows will post, but I'd guess one season if it's 4/4. I did not paint the ends.

Perhaps your loft got pretty warm and the moisture left the boards relatively quickly causing some checking? My boards are stacked on the floor of my barn. That's my guess, hope it's helpful.

 

[Andy Hutyera]

End sealer is available from Woodcraft and some wood turner's supply places. It must be painted on to seal the ends before drying while the wood is still green. I suspect that if you already have end checking, it's too late to make much difference. As Dave pointed out, possibly the wood dried too fast. Likely the only thing you can do at this point is just work around the checking when you cut your ribs and planking.

 

[sparetime]

I just picked the wood up yesterday, so I don't know much about the history of it. I will try to find some end sealer and give it a coat.

I think I may need to re-sticker the pile. I used whatever I had handy, and I'm seeing that maybe I should be using more and thicker stickers.

 

[msturd]

There a few different brands of Green Wood Sealer available. Try to find a wood turning club near by and see you can get some from one of the members. When I was doing the art fair circuit I went through gallons of the stuff rough turning bowls of "green" wood. Or you could just leave it be. Most of the end checking happens pretty early in the drying process and usually does not extend much farther 6-8 inches. Green wood sealers are a water soluble waxy like mix of ethylene glycol and other stuff. That is not antifreeze which is polyethylene glycol and is poisonous. Ethylene glycol is a non poisonous substance that is used in lots of things.

I think you have the two glycols reversed, Jan, the polyethelene glycol is the stuff to use. Ethylene glycol is antifreeze

 

[Tom Widney]

What are the stickers you all have mentioned?
Tom

 

[sparetime]

Stickers are wooden spacers used to seperate the layers of lumber and allow for air movement between the layers. I used scrap laying around the shop for stickers, but see that I should probably use 3/4" square and need to replace the smaller ones I have used.

 

[Dave Wermuth]

stickers

My stickers: Made of the same stock and 4/4" thick but scrap. By about 1 1/2" or two inches wide. There are five stickers along the 8 foot length of the boards. One in the middle one at each end and the rest evenly spaced. The sticks are 4' long and my wood was stickered every layer of boards. Also, I put stickers on the floor first, then the layers of cedar. That's how the sawyer did it so I figured I would copy that.

 

[Tom Widney]

In November of 2001 I was on a bicycle/handcycle trip tru the Germany/Swiss border country and saw several stacks of wood stacked w/ stickers under a little roof, much like a canoe rack, just sitting by the side of the road. They were unguarded and not protected from theft. I wondered at the time why in the world that who evers lumber that was, felt so secure that all or some of the lumber would not be stolen. Here in New Mexico those stacks of fine lumber would not last the first night with out being stolen.

Tom

 

[Dan Lindberg]

Here in Northern MN stacks of drying wood are also common,
but whether any is good or not is unknown,
as they are almost always rough sawn and well weathered,
and won't be planed or finished until dry.

Dan

 

[JClearwater]

I am an old

forestry school graduate. I checked my Forestry Handbook to refresh my memory. Stickers are supposed to be of the same species of wood as the wood you want to dry. The thought being to minimize staining. I expect this would be more of a problem with very fresh wet wood like Red Oak and Ash. Hardwoods and softwoods dry at different rates so they should not be in the same pile. The book was presuming outside drying, no mention of inside storage/drying. If outside a corrogated sheetmetal roof is often used, sides are left open. If the ends of the boards are already checking it's too late to seal the ends.

Good luck.

Jim C.

 

[Treewater]

get a moisture meter

Yes, get a moisture meter.
It not only tells you the moisture level of the suject board but you can check how wood dries under different conditions.
Tim

 

[Jan Bloom]

Cheap moisture meters do not work well and the expensive ones are an unneeded expense. Save the money and buy a good saw blade for resawing rib and plank stock

 

[David G Spencer]

Air drying

The main thing when air drying any lumber is to have a good airflow to carry off the moisture and for sure a sticker between each layer. sealing the ends won't help much I'm afraid.

David

 

[Max Peterson]

Get the lumber several inches off of the floor and place the stickers between each layer and vertically in line above each other.