Who needs kiln dried...

[csservices]

I moisture tested an old broom handle that hadn't seen the light of day for years and it read 16% which says to me that timber resorts back to the amount of moisture in the atmosphere where its stacked, which makes no sense to me to kiln dry it down to 8% then stack in a barn etc where its around 16%. Technically I'm probably completely wrong and stand to be corrected.

I was thinking about this the other day reading one of the kiln drying threads, makes sense that there will be a base level moisture that timber will resort too.

 

Sent from my E5823 using Arbtalk mobile app

[richardwale]

I would think that if you buy kiln dried directly from the kiln, the only way you could store it and keep at kiln dried moisture content is in a working kiln or similar???

 

 

Thank you your honour...

[otter]

Thank you your honour...

 

At last, talking sense, always said this. Air humidity will always absorb back into the wood.

[Big J]

Once kiln dried, provided it is kept from being physically wetted, it won't absorb moisture very quickly. This is due to the molecular changes caused by drying timber beyond the point where all of the free water in the cell is expended. Beyond this point (typically 25-30%) you are removing the water from the cell walls. This takes longer than removing the free water, but on the flip side, it also takes longer for it to be reabsorbed.

 

The result is that kiln dried timber, placed into an environment where the equilibrium moisture content is higher than that of the kiln dried timber will reabsorb water, albeit at a rate that isn't quite as quick as you would think.

 

I still think kiln drying firewood is silly.

[richardwale]

So if i put a kiln dried log at 16% and and air dried log at 16% outside tonight in my wood store, would the kiln dried take in less moisture?

[Big J]

No, but typically kiln dried will be drier than 16% (at least on the outside).

[richardwale]

That's fine but the point is my log is 16% already, sure it won't last like that for long now the weather is turning, but it's air dried, never been covered and that reading on the split face

[Big J]

It shouldn't absorb moisture too quickly, as it's dried beyond the fibre saturation point. I wouldn't worry about it though - it's hard to get it below 20% here with the perpetually miserable weather!

[timjmac]

From experience over the years selling firewood ,a lot of customers burn wood because of its green credentials, if they knew the real cost of kiln drying logs and chips there would be an uproar!

[Acer Forestry]

I moisture tested an old broom handle that hadn't seen the light of day for years and it read 16% which says to me that timber resorts back to the amount of moisture in the atmosphere where its stacked, which makes no sense to me to kiln dry it down to 8% then stack in a barn etc where its around 16%. Technically I'm probably completely wrong and stand to be corrected.

 

Nope, technically that sounds pretty accurate to me