Seasoning question

[bofh]

Hi folks, I have a fallen Robinia in the garden, I've had a few large lumps off it since it dropped about a year ago and Im wondering how long it would normally take to season it.

 

I'm not looking to burn this wood, actually want to make some tables from it. Thinking about slicing a few 3" rounds off and sanding them back etc.

[woodyguy]

The rule for seasoning fully for turning, furniture etc is an inch per year.

So a 4x4 has centre wood 2 inches from the outside so two years.

If you take the bark off that will speed it up, so will having it cut in shorter pieces. If you have it in big pieces, I'd cut the rounds slightly bigger then leave them to dry for a few months before further processing. Nice wood by the way.

[bofh]

Thanks for the advice :-) I have some 2' chunks that I took off it last year so I might have a go at slicing one of them first :-)

[robbo 110]

robinia is really slow to dry i have found, id like to hear more views on this though!!

[hazelnut]

i had a large dying robinia once for firewood and ended up with over a ton or two of rubbish stem/cord wood.it dried to a very light wood like eucalyptus and wasnt too good for burning either..other people have said to me they thought it was ok but i wouldnt use it for firewood again.maybe for bulking out loads.it does have a lovely deep unusual colour and i think would be well worth milling or sanding down..

[brazenberg]

Robinia is one of the best firewood's IMO.

I season it for 18+ months, by then the moisture content is under 20%

Make sure you split it before it's seasoned too much because its very hard to split when seasoned

[bofh]

Just to show the colour of the wood as it was mentioned earlier.

 

[Ashes_Firewood]

Looks really nice