How dry is dry enough

[pankaj patil]

thanx for sharing.........

 

[mat60]

How dry is dry enough. For me its 7 to 8% and no offence to anyone but I hate working with air dry lumber because most of the time it has allot more cup, twist, checks and dirt than KD lumber. Dirt destroys the jointer and plainer blades and you also cant get a board flat sometimes because you only have so much thickness to work with. I just had someone give me 75 bf of air dry oak and Im not sure what to make with it. It wont be cabinets or something Im getting paid for. It was very nice of the gift and I sure wouldn't say anything even if some ends up in the woodstove. As far as selling air dry lumber I would only tell them when you cut and stickered it. Just my opinion

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I owned/ran my own custom furniture/cabinet shop for many years...

I ran a lot of air dried lumber through it and it worked just fine for me, because there's air dried and then there's air dried!

It's all about how it was handled when it was stickered...

SR

 

[Beetlejuice]

And different cuts, different thicknesses, and different species will all dry different. Bottom line is, whoever is doing the drying must stay on top of it.

 

[Bmac]

Mat 60, not offended that you prefer working with kiln dried lumber, and I think you give an interesting perspective. But perhaps your recent gift wood and other air dried lumber you've worked with was not handled or processed well.

In regards to air dried being dirtier, it's not the process but rather the processing and those doing the processing. I also think most kiln dried stuff is done by those who do this stuff for a living and have the equipment, facilities and know how. More experience and knowledge means less dirt.

In regards to working with air dried, I think it is definitely better for bending, turning and retains more vibrant color. Some forms of chair making requires it also.

Kiln dried lumber may have less warping, again because it is likely processed by more experienced individuals, but I do think it can have more internal stresses built up within the wood.

And in reference to Sawyer Rob's comment above, careful and correctly monitored air dried wood isn't likely to be much different than kiln dried, except for moisture content.

 

[mat60]

Have you ever felt like you no something only to find out you don't. Im thinking I have never used air dried lumber that was processed by someone that new much more than I about how to do it. I agree that KD lumber can have some stress at times and find it interesting that air dried can have some nice color. Thank you guys for the comments and information.