I milled some walnut two years ago, it has finished air drying now and I want to use it. Problem is, all of it has some twist to the boards now. I sticker and stack it on my barn floor after cutting, and I was wondering if putting it on a floor that isn't flat might end up making all the pieces on it twist to follow the contour of the floor? Or could it just be something to do with the grain of the wood that made it all twist? I know my rails and setup were good to start with so that isn't it. Just want to k ow what happened so it doesn't happen again. Thanks.
black walnut twist
- Thread starter marti384
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Did you have a good straight log with symetrical growth rings in it to start with? I am not a miller but I am pretty certain that stressed logs make crooked lumber although a crooked floor can' help it any
betterbuilt
I build stuff from milled slabs
Without pictures its impossible for anyone to guess why this happened. Checking the twist to the floor would be a good start. I'd look at the positives, you have dry walnut to use. Now all you need to do is figure out how to work with the twist.
SDB777
I find unique timber and cut it up
Strapped?
Weighted?
A lot of things factor into this problem....photo's of the 'stack'?
Scott (120/4 will twist...nature makes them do it) B
Weighted?
A lot of things factor into this problem....photo's of the 'stack'?
Scott (120/4 will twist...nature makes them do it) B
betterbuilt
I build stuff from milled slabs
I want to see some 30 inch thick boards Scott. 
It was relatively straight log as I recall, but it was two years ago now.
No photos of the stack, its all unstacked and in my heated garage getting worked currently. Not strapped, but stickered and weighted.
I have a copy of a book "Understanding Wood" printed back in the 70's that explains a lot about warp and twist, don't know if it is still available or not. Things like reaction wood in a leaning tree are one of the many factors that I recall causing warp. Also recall that quartersawn wood seems to stay straight better
Is this what you're referring to?
http://www.amazon.com/Understanding-Wood-Craftsmans-Guide-Technology/dp/1561583588
If so, I may get a copy.
Understanding Wood by R Bruce Hoadley is the one I have. ISBN 0-918804-05-1 yep, it is the same book. About everything you ever wanted to know about the physical properties of wood as well as the properties of various species of wood. Think the guy taught woodworking technology
Tom The Sawyer
New Member
The foundation of your stack must be flat. It doesn't have to be level but it must be flat, front to back, end to end and diagonally. If on an uneven surface you could have shimmed it up to get it flat. You can mill flat boards but if the foundation of the air drying stack is uneven, the boards will conform to it over time. When milling logs with stress some of the boards might have issues that could be corrected with weight and spacing your stickers more closely but if stacking on an uneven foundation you'll just compound the problems.
Thanks for the opinion, that is kinda the direction that I was leaning towards as to where the twist was coming from. I'll chalk this up as a learning experience and shim the bottom one in the future as opposed to letting the boards follow the contour of a 150 year old wooden barn floor.
PheasantHunter
ArboristSite Member
I had a similar issue with 1000 plus bd ft of walnut that I had milled (3 large trees). I didn't think I needed to check the level of the concrete floor (40 plus years old). In hind sight, I should have known better. The twist isn't extreme but it does requiring jointing the face of every board (always a good idea). On wider boards, I use a sled to level the board and then send it through the planer. This gets one face flat, then you don't need the sled to plane the other side.
