Storing kiln dried wood?

[myxpykalix]

I am having this wood you see kiln dried and afterwards I need to store it in my shop. However it gets very hot in there in the summer and based on the cost to cut the tree down, have it slabbed, and kiln dried I don't want to ruin it by storing it incorrectly.


Will it be a problem if it is stored in a shop that gets hot in the summer? Is there anything i can do to keep the extreme heat from doing any damage?

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[beacon14]

If it's properly kiln-dried it should be fairly stable. You shouldn't have to use stickers but I would consider doing so anyway to be safe. I'd also run some straps around the stack and cinch them down pretty tight to help keep the wood from warping.

[myxpykalix]

It has been stickered and strapped with the ends coated with anchorseal for about the last 6 months sitting out where it can air dry with metal covers over the top. It is getting ready to go into kiln and i wanted to be ready for it when it gets done.
I intend to sticker and strap it when i get it back. I have a covered overhang on side of shop that i could leave it outside (with plastic wrapped around the face of overhang to keep rain, snow off and it would be cooler outside but more exposed to humidity and moisture in air.
If you think the high heat won't affect it I will make room inside.

[joe]

Jack,

This is beautiful wood. If only I there was a mill like this where I live. The live edge is a bonus. Your so lucky.

The heat won't bother your lumber as long as it's stickered and kept out of direct sunlight. The kiln drying will kill the internal bugs but you should lay down a sheet of plastic on the concrete to keep out moisture. Even moisture is the ticket.

Joe

[blackhawk]

Jack - If you are going to have the lumber kiln dried, you should definitely store it inside your shop. Heat alone will not hurt the lumber at all or make it change dimension. Moisture is the enemy. If you kiln dry your lumber and then leave it outside you will have wasted your money on the kiln drying. The lumber will pick up the moisture in the outside air and go back up to around 12% moisture. Not all kiln drying is the same, be sure that the kiln will reach at least 130ºF during the drying process. This temperature will ensure that the bugs are killed.

[joe]

Brad is correct, however kiln drying reduces the sap down to crystal particals. These won't go back into solution or absorb moisture again but the wood itself can re-absorb.

What a good problem to have, storing such nice wood.

[blackhawk]

Jack - Also, if you kiln dry it and then stack it inside your shop, I would definitely dead stack the lumber (no stickers). No more drying will take place after the kiln, you will probably pick up a little moisture inside your shop. The dead stack takes up a lot less room plus the weight of the pile is distributed evenly instead of just on the stickers. Do lay some 2x2s or 2x4s cross ways under the stack. As Joe mentions, you don't want to pick up moisture from the concrete.

[pappybaynes]

Jack,
I second what Brad stated...the wood will take on its environment...we would store ours in one of our garages, (totally weather tight)...if was the winter we would bring the wood into the shop a few days prior to milling it...

[myxpykalix]

Thanks for all the suggestions and it does make sense to keep it indoors like you say, why kiln dry it if you are going to leave it where it can reabsorb moisture? Sometimes you need others to point out "the obvious" and thats why i depend on the experience and expertise from from all the "wise men" here!
I hated to cut the tree down but it was dying. It was over 120 yrs old and the bark was shedding one side. I actually was surprised by the color that was in it.

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[beacon14]

What species of tree is that?

Looks like some beautiful wood.

[myxpykalix]

Red Oak. Usually it just has a red tint to the wood but i was surprised by the spalting and the coloration of the rings. At its widest it was 39" wide. I had it cut in slabs from 3/4" to 2" thick. I plan to make some nice tables and other stuff with it.

[gc3]

Here is a good resource link
www.woodweb.com (http://www.woodweb.com) scroll down to the commercial kiln drying forum.

[dlcw]

The big killer to wood storage is large swings in humidity, not temperature. I live in northeastern WA about 60 miles from the Canadian border. We have little in the way of humidity up here, but we have major temperature swings (-20 in the winter, +90 in the summer). I've not had a problem with this effecting my wood storage.

However, when I lived in OH near Cincinnati, we had major humidity swings but fairly mild temperature swings and I had some wood go pretzel on me even though it was kiln dried and stacked with stickers. All my wood was stored in my climate controlled shop (HVAC).

Here in WA I dead stack all my wood on a large storage rack about 10' tall (photo) and have had no problems. The shop is about 60 in the winter and about 90 in the summer. I have radiant floor heating.

So, if you have large humidity swings, about the only way I've found to keep the wood fairly flat is to sticker stack it about every 12" (keeping the stickers lined up vertically) and use metal banding, in several places, to apply pressure around the stack to keep it flat.

That is some incredibly beautiful wood - I'm envious. I can see some incredible table tops in in there.

Good luck!

Don
Diamond Lake Custom Woodworks
Diamond Lake, WA
http://www.diamondlakewoodworks.com


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[joe]

Don,

Thanks for posting. I agree completely with your technique of storing.

Your workshop, listed on the website, is a beauty. I'd enjoy working in such a well laid out place, and it's neat as a pin.

I can't imagine what it would cost to set up a shop like that in todays economy. It would be hard for a new fellow to overcome the expense.

[dlcw]

I remembered (man I hate getting old and forgetful) something else I do with lumber. I saran wrap the stack leaving just the end grain open at both ends. In the past I would bring nice straight lumber home and within a day or two it starts to pretzel. When I use plastic wrap, it stays straight as an arrow. This has been especially successful on two 48" x 168" x 1" bubinga boards I purchased about 8 years ago. I unwrap it when I'm ready to use it.

Thank you for the kind remarks on the shop Joe. I set this up about 1 1/2 years ago when I relocated from OH to WA.

I have spent almost 15 years trying to figure out a "good" and efficient shop layout and I get a little closer with each shop. This is my third shop and even though it's closer, I don't think any woodworker ever says they have reached nirvana. My biggest challenge, as I think all woodworkers will contest, is efficiency in work flow and material handling.


Don
Diamond Lake Custom Woodworks, LLC
Diamond Lake, WA
http://www.diamondlakewoodworks.com

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[joe]

Don,

Have you ever had any spalting? I brought back some freshly cut Ponderossa Pine from Taos, NM a few years ago. And even though it was stickered up, some of the 12 quarted sticks spalted. They were very flat though. Some spalting wasn't very attractive. The color was dingy gray. I had to pick through it to get what I wanted.

I had them in racks about 12 rows high. They were drying out in the upper level of the shop. Perhaps there wasn't enough air circulation.

[myxpykalix]

You might try "anchorseal", a waxy mixture that you coat the ends of your boards. It helps even out the drying so as not to let your boards crack on the ends.

[dlcw]

Joe,

I've never had any spalting problems. It sounds like there might have been something still alive in the wood when you brought it back. Normally kiln drying kills anything in the wood thus preventing problems like spalting. The large pieces of bubinga that I saran wrapped were kiln dried thus there was nothing still living in the wood. My large bubinga boards are actually standing up, not laying down and they are as flat today as they were when I bought them.

Don

************************************************** *************

If you make something idiot proof, all they do is make a better idiot...:-(

[gc3]

Good resource info

www.uccoatings.co/home/products/ANCHORSEAL (http://www.uccoatings.co/home/products/ANCHORSEAL)
www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/comdry.pl (http://www.woodweb.com/cgi-bin/forums/comdry.pl)

[gc3]

ok the uc coatings din not work so here is the home page...

www.uccoatings.com (http://www.uccoatings.com)

link products to see anchorseal, also their glue release is an excellent product for clamp racks, bar clamps ect.