Air drying lumber

What is the species?

Fine Woodworking has repeatedly run articles on how to air-dry rough lumber. IIRC, they usually sticker the slabs spaced about 2'-3' apart in the pile. Usually recommend putting a tin "roof" over the top if outside. They seal the ends with tar or shellac to keep end checks down. Air-dying has become a bit easier now that cheap moisture meters are available, HF has one that would probably do. If you can add some air movement via a fan, if indoors, it'd probably dry things a little faster. With the lumber we get these days, it'll be a wonder if it doesn't pretzel on you.

As far as sticker material, most guys rip their own from short ends of

If your lumber is from a big-box, I've run into some supposedly "Kiln- Dried" 2x stuff that's either taken a dunk in a river while getting transported or is no such thing. I've shopped elsewhere after that.

Stan

JJ wrote: ...

...

You do NOT want to dry it! It's kiln dried and the moisture is just on the surface. When it dries, it is going to warp, twist, bow, and deform in dimensions that you can't imagine.

What you want to do is use it, as soon as possible. Building it into a structure is the only way to keep it straight.

Oh, wait ... you're not talking about pressure treated, are you? It's always wet - it's been saturated with preservative.

Bob

They keep them wet at the store so they don't warp _before_ you buy them.

Premium, spotted-owl-safe, old-growth SPF.

-- Make up your mind to act decidedly and take the consequences. No good is ever done in this world by hesitation. -- Thomas H. Huxley

For 1-inch (real 1 inch, not 3/4 inch planed) 2 feet will do. 3 feet is fine for 2 inch. So 2 at the ends and two even spaced in the middle will be fine for stickering an 8-foot long pile of 1-1/2 inch planed. What you need and probably don't have is sufficient weight on the top of the stack to pin it in place on each of those 4 points. You can either use actual weight, or you can drop anchors in a concrete slab and use threaded rod to wind down on crosspieces.

The bottom sticker (term for the crossways piece of separating wood) holding it up off the concrete floor should be fairly large, or the damp from the concrete floor affects things too much - 2x4 on edge or 4x4 to allow good air circulation under the stack. A regular sticker (3/4x1 inch or so - set on the 3/4 face) goes on top so that you don't have the wide top of that on the board. Lath and yardstick are better than nothing, but really too thin even for between the boards stickers, which should be about an inch thick.

Best bet - go find the nearest real lumberyard that's still in business, and return the crap to the box store - all the box stores sell is crap lumber. While the lumber at the real lumberyards is nothing like it was

Heck, they keep them in bondage so they don't warp. Cut the bonds, watch them warp.

Now if they would *only* take that pallet of material and give it time to dry out in the parking lot, sheltered from rain for a few months, it would be pretty good stuff.

Wes

I bring 2 x 4s home from the yard, sticker them, and cover them with a tarp for at least six months before using them. I always have a supply of dry or near-dry ones on hand.

I usually brush the ends with molten paraffin before stickering them up, unless they're already well covered. I wouldn't do this if I were using them to frame a house; I'd try to get them nailed up and sheathed before they warp out of shape.

I bring 2 x 4s home from the yard, sticker them, and cover them with a tarp for at least six months before using them. I always have a supply of dry or near-dry ones on hand.

I usually brush the ends with molten paraffin before stickering them up, unless they're already well covered. I wouldn't do this if I were using them to frame a house; I'd try to get them nailed up and sheathed before they warp out of shape.

Quite a few portable bandsaw mills operate in my area who will trade labor for logs at a 50/50 split 2x4 and larger rough cut--hit a nail, buy a blade....

--Anyways, usual procedure for green doug is paint the ends, sticker every other row, and cinch tight with nylon strap or banding once every few lineal feet..store inside else under tarp.