White Oak Cureing

[guero]

I have two short 6' & 7' logs of WHITE OAK, 22" & 24" diameter. If I have them milled to 6" thick slabs, should get four slabs for mantels, how badly will they crack without putting them in a kiln dryer. I have treated the ends to minimise checking, and they are up off the ground in a very moist climate, near Houston, Texas. Any advise appreciated.

 

[Poindexter]

Haven't done it, have read about it. I have been tearing through library books lately, both the last two say white oak (Q.alba) shrinks quite a bit, something like 16-18% combined radial and tangential shrinkage.

That is almost as much shrinkage as American Beech, tough to do without checking.

What I am saying is listen very carefully to the folks who have done it successfully, follow their advice exactly.

 

[woodshop]

Most hardwood, any species, milled more than 12/4 and air dried will have some checking and cracking. I have never successfully air dried anything more than 3 inches thick without some cracks. It will eventually dry, and if it's a large slab you will most likely get some good stuff out of it, but... there will likely be some cracks here and there.

 

[trimmmed]

I think drying anything 6" thick is a dice roll, but a gamble well worth taking. I have installed quite a few "slab mantels" and every one was air dried, mostly because you will have a hard time finding a kiln operator that is drying on a 6" schedule. Chances are that to have it dried, your stuff would be the only thing in the kiln and that might be pricey. And there isn't any guarantee they would not crack anyhow.

Air dry and hope for the best, cracks in a timber that thick are to be expected and part of the look, imo.

 

[aquan8tor]

It sounds like you're doing just about all that can be done to minimzie checking, but that's all you're going to be able to do. Like everyone has said, thick wood doesn't dry quickly, and doesn't often dry without cracking a bit. As stated already, surface cracks along the grain; checks, are not that unappealing, and really are going to happen as a mantle piece over time anyway. The constant heating and cooling of a mantle, as well as seasonal humidity differences, ie. swelling and shrinking, are going to cause some cracks to occur naturally. I think this is part of a natural looking mantle, and highly desireable to a certain degree. People pay for things to look old and weathered. No matter what the end result, I'd make sure that they are out of the sun and rain. I'd cover them with other boards, or put spacers on top of them,and cover the lot of them with plywood.

 

[guero]

Thanks Guys,

Thanks for the good practical advise. I will have them milled to 16/4 instead of the 6" thick. The home builder that wants them said 16/4. I'll post some pics when they get milled, that is if I can figure out how to upload pics to the arborist site by then. I keep my pics on PICASA, and I still have not figured out what title it is under on my hard drive. I'm one of those "technologicaly challenged types". Anyway thanks again.

Guero