sawing and drying advice on various hardwoods and a few softwoods

[farmerjohn]

Hi All.

 

I am getting the following species of timber milled up at the weekend, probably at 1.5 - 4" thickness, not many will be at 4".

I have read a lot of posts on here, and also bought the books 'the conversion & seasoning of wood' and wood and 'how to dry it'

Can I please ask of peoples opinion / experiences.

 

I have already asked about oak and read a lot of posts on here and from advice plan to have anything 18" and under cut through and through, anything above this will be quarter sawn, this will be air dired 6 months (max thickness 2.5") before kilning, is this long enough? trees were all felled last feb in the frost.

 

other species are as follows, I have not really seen much info about them on here so advice about how long to air dry for before kilning and any cutting advice would be very much appreciated

 

sweet chestnut, about 20" diameter

Spalted beach, 30" diameter

Silver Birch, 18" diameter

Ash about 20" diameter

 

SOFTWOODS:

Yew,

Larch

 

Many thanks in advance, John

[Copford sawmill sussex]

Oak wants to be an inch per year at least, softwoods a lot less. My personal advice would be air dry as long as you can and only kiln when and what's needed. We kined some 2" boards after a year and they were ruined!

[farmerjohn]

Oak wants to be an inch per year at least, softwoods a lot less. My personal advice would be air dry as long as you can and only kiln when and what's needed. We kined some 2" boards after a year and they were ruined!

 

bluddy hell, what temperature was the kiln at? did they case harden or just open up massive shakes? or is that the same thing?

 

i wonder if i would be better with a lot smaller kiln setup and do as you say, maybe just 6m3 or simlar as i wont use my stock that quickly

[farmerjohn]

does anyone have photos / details of smaller scale kiln setups?

[agg221]

I would get the spalted beech as dry as possible as fast as possible, as spalting means rot is already initiated so it will be more vulnerable. I would also be inclined to treat it with Wykabor (borax) solution.

 

I would also keep the ash and silver birch covered over the top once milled as they will be more vulnerable to rotting.

 

The others would be fine stacked as they are - you might lose the sapwood, but that's not the end of the world (barely any there on the SC anyway).

 

Alec

[farmerjohn]

Hi agg,

can i ask, do you have a kiln? if so what sort of size is it?

i can get hold of roofing sheets, would it be best to sticker all timber and cover all with sheets? or would you get the ash and silver birch in a open building to prevent any water getting on it?

also, any tips on getting the beach dry quickly?

regards John.

PS off topic for this forum but if you PM me your email i can send you some photos of the insulated lime render we use, got some good photos of us using it if you are still interested.

Thanks again

[agg221]

Hi John, no I don't use a kiln - just air dry for extended periods including finishing off indoors if it's for interior use. If you've got an open building available I would stack the ash, birch and beech in there, and possibly the yew too if you want to keep the sapwood/heartwood contrast, although it will be more resilient. Everything else I would stack outside. with roofing sheets over the top, with a good overhang - probably stack build the stacks side by side with the sheets running across between them?

 

At this time of year you'll get less problem with fungal deterioration as it should soon get cold enough to slow growth, but it will keep drying. Fungicide (borax type) will help a lot and I would use thick sticks (maybe inch) to get good air circulation.

 

I'll PM you my email address.

 

Alec