Drying Wood

[nephilim]

What is a good method that drys wood quickly and efficiently?

I don't want to microwave it as it splits this way. Could I put it in the airing cupboard to speed things up?

 

[Harvestman]

The only way to avoid splits is to dry slowly. Any method of drying quickly increases the risk of splitting, at least in my experience.

 

[nephilim]

Yeah I figured. I thought if it goes in the airing cupboard where it is dry and warm it wouldn't split like it would as if in the oven or microwave.

 

[mountainm]

Try putting it in the top shelf of your fridge.

 

[Macaroon]

Try putting it in the top shelf of your fridge.

Yep, that's the hammer...............the only one that's split for me in the fridge has been Holly cut in Summer.

 

[Toddy]

My 93 year old Uncle was a joiner. He says that modern kiln dried timber is carp.
It's carp because they don't leach out the sap first before they dry it, so the timber attracts more diseases, etc, and doesn't dry as straight as it should do.
Timber used to be soaked in water for seasons. Then lifted and dried out a fair bit, sawn and stacked and dried out a lot more.
Now it's cut, debarked, sliced and oven baked.
It's quick, but it's not the best it could be.

Depending on what you want to do with it, it can be worthwhile partially shaping the timber and then drying it out someplace airy and cold to mitigate any cracking.
I know folks who'll half carve things and then put them in a paper bag to slowly dry out to avoid cracking too.

What timber you are trying to dry is kind of crucial to how best to do it.

M

 

[homesicksteve]

Sealing the end grain may help a little to avoid splits. Perhaps wax or oil ?

 

[nephilim]

I have maple and birch that I want to dry out. I am looking to make knife handles and such like out of them to replace the dodgy steak knife handles from a set we were given.

 

[Hammock Hamster]

As Toddy and Harvestman have said it really needs to be dried slowly. I have found it better kept out of doors in a shed or garage or just under cover off the ground as even the regular heat inside a house is enough to cause wood to check and split.

If you are using the wood for carving I would suggest carving a much as possible whilst its green and keeping the entire piece as uniform in thickness as possible, thick sections have more tendency to crack, and putting in a cardboard box or paper bag (even a plastic bag will work if a vent hole is left open, along with some wood shavings. This helps to prevent the moisture escaping too quickly which is essentially what causes the wood to split.

All the best, Hamster

 

[tiger stacker]

I always wondered, about the lochs of floating logs awaiting the lumber yards.

 

[petrochemicals]

There was a huge oak's remains lying in the open in a church yard in Church stretton, cut in the church yard. A fair few quids worth of timber, 8 slices of trunk about 6 foot wide, 12 foot high,and 4 inches thick, solid timber each one. One way of aging wood, probably set for a new church door, will break down the resin as toddy says, and dry it slowly.

 

[demographic]

Alcohol..
Not tried it myself but have heard of the technique.

 

[humdrum_hostage]

Quickest way for the end result is to find someone with the wood you want already seasoned/dried

 

[humdrum_hostage]

Alcohol..
Not tried it myself but have heard of the technique.

There is only so much you can consume while you wait lol.

 

[British Red]

I cut down some Ash this year and intended to season it for tool handles (well, the straight bits). Following some PM chats, I ripped some down on the table saw and left other pieces in the round. I sealed the ends of some and not of others.

The stuff left in the round split once bigger than 2" around - sealing the ends made no difference.

The stuff roughly shaped did not split much - and sealing helped.

Just one guys experience.

 

[ged]

Splitting wood when it dries is a fact of life I'm afraid. Even if it's dried very slowly you can't really avoid some splits.

If it's for knife scales you can split it yourself first, and then let it dry slowly. It will dry quicker, and at least you'll get a chance to decide where most of the splits start.

http://www.wood-database.com/wood-articles/drying-wood-at-home/

But you really can't rush it and you have to be prepared for some failures.

 

[petrochemicals]

I cut down some Ash this year and intended to season it for tool handles (well, the straight bits). Following some PM chats, I ripped some down on the table saw and left other pieces in the round. I sealed the ends of some and not of others.

The stuff left in the round split once bigger than 2" around - sealing the ends made no difference.

The stuff roughly shaped did not split much - and sealing helped.

Just one guys experience.

Seems opening the grain then is a start

 

[2trapper]

I think it's the best resource I found about the matter

http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Season-...416165201&sr=8-1&keywords=season+and+dry+wood