seasoning cherry - advice please

[L W Woodlands]

Hi I am currently felling some cherry and want to keep some for milling, I know cherry is notorious for splitting, so what is the best process to obtain some decent boards?

 

Do I just seal the ends of the logs, store them and mill in a year or so?

 

Do I mill now and stick and stack boards?

 

Do I mill and find a kiln to dry it?

 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated thanks.

[agg221]

Although I haven't done a lot of cherry, I've not noticed any particular problems with the bits I've done.

 

I tend to mill as quickly as possible anyway as it takes stresses out which stops the cracks starting. If I'm worried, I slap a coat of paint on the cut ends first, then mill (and air dry as I don't have a kiln). The paint stops the ends drying faster than the middle and causing stresses that way.

 

Alec

[nepia]

I only have experience with two short stems but given cherry's usual behaviour - it cracks as it comes off the tree doesn't it - I was surprised at how little the boards cracked. All down to direction of working the wood. In future I will paint the ends as after a couple of months a few small cracks did appear at the board ends. Otherwise no problems. Mine's air drying nicely in the shade, sticked, stacked and weighted down with some lerverly (not) lumps of crack willow given me another Arbtalker! Good to put them to a proper use.

[Big J]

I've dried quite a bit of cherry, usually from green in the kiln. I find it to be an easy and fairly well behaved timber. However, if there is inherent stress in the tree (ie it's growing with a lean, or there is a bend in the stem) it seems to open up more than with some other timbers. Not much that can be done about that though.

 

My best advice would be mill it in a couple of months. The best time of year to mill is undoubtedly November and December as you are introducing the vulnerable fresh sawn timber to a moist cold environment. It will have a very gentle start to drying, and will subsequently end check and shake far less.

 

I don't seal the ends of any of my timber as I rarely have issues with end checking. It will do no harm though.

 

Once milled, stick it well, with a sticker on the very ends of the board, and then at 18 inch spacings inbetweem. It's crucial to ensure that the stickers are perfectly lined up - any deviation results in crooked boards.

 

Air dry for about a year and then either take to a kiln or bring into a warmer environment to allow the final moisture to escape. If milling thicker than a couple of inches, you'll need to air dry a little longer. Additionally, where possible it's far better to air dry under cover. A barn is ideal, though never cover it with tarp or anything that isn't moisture permeable.

 

Do take some photos if you get the chance!

[L W Woodlands]

Great thanks for the replies guys. I'll sort out some of the larger straight lengths and see how I get on. I used to work on estate with a sawmill and spent a lot of time milling softwoods and oak for fencing and local building trade. I wish now that I had made better use of my time there and put some stuff away to dry somewhere! On my next visit to see my old mates i'll get some of this cherry planked up and find a corner in the shed.

I'll try and get some pics to post, from the tree to milled timber.

[agg221]

I think sealing the ends may be a matter of circumstance. It definitely takes time, effort, cost in paint, means you can't mill until it's dry etc. all of which are good reasons not to do it if you're milling commercially. Also, if the timber you are accessing is a good length then losing half an inch to an inch at the end of each board doesn't make much odds. If you're milling small quantities of random short stuff for yourself then sometimes you want every last scrap. For example, I got hold of the bottom end of a walnut which had fallen over and been chopped up by a farmer - 4ft1in length in total remaining. Sealing the ends gave me 4ft boards which have now seasoned perfectly without losing more than cleaning the ends straight. Commercially, really not worth it but for my own use, means I can make a nice chest of drawers

 

Alec