Drying Pin Oak

[OZDOG]

Got a question; i got a pin oak off the local arborist, the trunk was 6m long and i cut it in half. i will cut the top half into boards, the other half i want to slab. can anyone tell me what is the best thickness to cut the slabs? i don't know anything about oak and how it dries. thought all you knowledgeable guys on this site could help me out.

 

[Adkpk]

It dries hard. Two inches is the going thickness for slabs. The top half for boards should be quartered then sliced into boards. Paint the ends with latex paint, stack and sticker it with one inch thick stickers eighteen inches off the ground and keep a lot of weight on it. Take pics and post'em.

 

[woodshop]

Unless it's creme de le creme quartersawn knot free top of the line stuff, I slice my oak (and most everything else) 1 1/8 to get 3/4 S4S. If it IS top of the line stuff, AND quartersawn or riftsawn which shrinks and twists less if dried right, I have gotten away with sawing it only 1 inch (4/4), and after drying, still got 3/4 S4S. Problem with slicing lumber too thin is it is difficult to air dry without twist and degrade.

Slabs... how thick depends on what you want to do with them. Rustic table top? Fireplace mantle? As was said in recent post... it is difficult to dry a slab more than 2-3 inches thick without significant cracking. This in not necessarily a negative thing though, depending on your application.

 

[OZDOG]

Thanks

Thanks for your knowledge Adrpk and Woodshop , sounds like it is very similar to our eucalyptus. I will get pics when i mill them. THANKS