From log to workbench journal

[Von]

On 11/1/2024 at 5:36 PM, Von said:

I did notice that a board shifted and was pushed up right against its neighbor and some nasty mold spawned where they touched. Not clear to me yet if I need to do anything about this or if now that I've fixed the circulation problem, it will just take care of itself as it dries out. 

Per https://www.lumberupdate.com/episode-22-mold-fluorescence-and-sapwood-strength/, question from John at 20:38, not a big deal. Spray with a 1-to-4 water-to-bleach solution and use a brush to remove it.

[Von]

In this week's episode of "As the lumber dries..."

I picked up some more straps plus a battery-powered shop fan, and made up some bleach solution for the mold. I notice as soon as I got out of the car, I could smell the lumber, which I take as a good thing since it means air is flowing through the storage unit. It was a very windy day, which no doubt helped. I put on two more straps (I've not found any guidance as to how many I should have so I'm guessing) and sprayed down the mold with bleach (the wet boards towards the bottom), though it looked like it was already drying up .

I also brought this little thermometer/humidostat dookickey from home. It tracks highs and lows for the last (I think) 24 hours, so it will help me understand if the storage unit is getting really humid. I figure as long as the humidity in the unit isn't markedly higher that the outside air, I'm getting decent air movement. Today, besides the aroma, it didn't feel different in the unit. I ran the fan for a while, mostly to make sure it worked - it was so windy I didn't really need it.

A photo of the lumber ends so I can compare later for cupping. One thing I realized I should have done is stacked a scrap piece on top of my pile, or at least put my worst piece on top, so my top piece doesn't dry irregularly. I guess I could get a 2x12 and stack it on top. Or piece together some other lumber from my shop.

 

 

[roughsawn]

Von, I put stickers at about 6" from the ends, and every 2' in the stack. I run a strap along side the stickers. Make the straps TIGHT...twang tight. About every week or two, you will be tightening the straps a little, as the stack dries. Cinch them up "twang" tight again. At least, that's the way my piles dry outside.

[Von]

On 11/4/2024 at 11:28 PM, roughsawn said:

Von, I put stickers at about 6" from the ends, and every 2' in the stack. I run a strap along side the stickers. Make the straps TIGHT...twang tight. About every week or two, you will be tightening the straps a little, as the stack dries. Cinch them up "twang" tight again. At least, that's the way my piles dry outside.

Thanks! I'm spaced differently compared to your practice - I've got five stickers spaced evenly at about 16". Your spacing makes sense to prevent droop at the ends. Seems pretty challenging to redistribute at this point so I will try to sneak in another set of stickers and straps at both ends.

[roughsawn]

I think you can space the stickers wherever you want. My point was, I run the straps along side each sticker so that they cinch the wood tight right where the stickers are...instead of between them...to prevent any extra warping. Kinda like this.

 

[Von]

Added another column of stickers and a strap to one end, and a scrap 2x12 to the top. My stickers weren't symmetrical and the far side looked well supported already, hence only one added column. The scrap 2x12 is probably unnecessary but I didn't think to put one of the junkier boards on top and I figure it will keep the top piece from drying out quicker than the rest. Stickers went in with either zero effort or light persuasion with a mallet.

Moisture readings are still all over the place from the high teens to middle 30s. I'm not considering them reliable yet, just building a baseline. The wood is still fragrant but much less so than it was for the first couple of weeks.

I am surprised how little movement, checking, etc. I see. Famous last words I expect. 

And, as I expect will surprise no one, having space leads to buying more lumber. I picked up this slab of cherry I expect to use for the chop. I should moisture check it but understand it's already been drying for a couple years. It has a cup to it I hope to work around.

[Von]

Unsurprisingly, the wood continues to dry. Early problems with mildew/mold seem to have been dealt with.

One observation I'll share is that my moisture readings are greatly impacted by the ambient humidity. Two weeks ago on a rainy day with % humidity in the 90s, boards read a third higher in terms of % moisture than they did yesterday, a cold dry day with % humidity in the 50s.  Boards that read in the mid-20s then now are in the high teens (and I've seen that jump the other way). This swing includes my piece of already air-dried cherry, which I'm seeing jump around between 9 and 13% as the weather changes.

The pins on my moisture reader don't go that deep, so I'm guessing this is all superficial changes with the outsides of the boards absorbing and releasing water from the air. It is making me think I should have kept a scrap that I could cut into to take readings each time and get a better idea of what is going on inside the boards. I'm careful now to record ambient humidity so I keep my readings in context over time.

 

 

[Chestnut]

http://www.csgnetwork.com/emctablecalc.html

This should get you in the ball park of a number to shoot for.

Pin meters don't measure very deep so the surface jump is expected. I have a pin less meter and it gives a more consistent number as it supposedly reads 1.25" deep. Even once you pin meter reads close to EMC let the lumber dry a bit longer as the core is probably still wet.

But from your numbers you can see the whole 1 year per inch fallacy is just that a fallacy. Your on track to have dry lumber by fall as summer is the best time to drop moisture. Timing wise your looking good too as oak drying too fast can lead to major stability issues down the road. Yes you can AIR dry oak too quickly.

[Von]

Visited my lumber this morning and noticed the stack is noticeably leaning. Looking back at previous photos, I don't have many that directly show the side to tell when this started, but I see one from November where the stack is clearly much straighter. My straps were also all a couple clicks loose, which leads me to believe there has been some compression/shrinkage.

My best guess is that I have all the straps tightened on that left side and they are applying pressure unevenly. I made the stickers from scraps from the same tree as the lumber so they were also wet and may be shrinking unevenly. Could also be uneven air flow given that side of the wood isn't as close to a wall.

I moved the "tighteners" for the straps to the top of the lumber to try to balance things and will keep an eye on it. If it gets worse or doesn't correct, I may resort to rebuilding the stack to re-balance things. I welcome other thoughts.

BTW, I've decided to force myself to be patient and not start using the lumber until next year. It's only been ~6 months and moisture readings are still high teens/low 20s with a pin meter and I'm guessing much wetter inside.

 

[Coop]

When I air dried my walnut and cherry planks a couple years, occasionally I selected random boards to test with my pin meter. I went to the center, length and width and drilled two very small holes to half way thru the thickness. These holes were positioned to the distance of the pins on my meter. I then inserted small finishing nails to bottom out into the holes and touched the pins to the nail heads. I’ve never heard of this being done before and not sure how accurate this is but it worked for me. 
 

[Mark J]

I've heard of that technique, too, @Coop .  So I think it's a thing.  Do you give your nails a tap, or just place them in the holes?

[Coop]

Just pushed them down.

[Tom King]

Do you guys not seal the ends with anything?  I've used melted candle stubs because my Mom never threw anything away, canning wax, and leftover paint.

[Coop]

I used leftover latex paint.

[Von]

On 4/19/2025 at 6:59 PM, Tom King said:

Do you guys not seal the ends with anything?  I've used melted candle stubs because my Mom never threw anything away, canning wax, and leftover paint.

On 4/19/2025 at 8:52 PM, Coop said:

I used leftover latex paint.

This is something I neglected to do and am getting back to. A few of my boards where too rough on the end to paint so I've been cleaning them up with a handsaw. Now that is done, I just need to get myself, the paint and the board co-located.

[roughsawn]

On 4/18/2025 at 10:38 AM, Von said:

Visited my lumber this morning and noticed the stack is noticeably leaning. Looking back at previous photos, I don't have many that directly show the side to tell when this started.

My best guess is that I have all the straps tightened on that left side and they are applying pressure unevenly. 

 

That is what is happening. You have to switch sides that the ratchet is on to compress the stack evenly.

[Von]

Newbie adventures in lumber drying continues. Beautiful morning and I took the opportunity to re-stack my lumber in order to get both ends of the board painted and hopefully even out the stack from my previous asymmetric strapping. A few notes:

1. A couple boards, which have a fair amount of sap wood, are showing signs of mildew. I sprayed them with bleach and moved them to the top where I can keep an eye on them more easily (and they might get a little more air flow).
2. The stack without straps is unstable. I think my bottom board is cupping a little so the whole thing is pivoting on it. With the straps on it's solid but it made me a little nervous until then. When I deconstruct it I'm going to find a helper to make sure it doesn't fall over.
3. Even after it's dropped a little water weight, a 2" x 11.5" x 8' oak board is all the weight I'm interested in lifting.

 

[Chet]

On 5/9/2025 at 10:49 AM, Von said:

I sprayed them with bleach and moved them to the top where I can keep an eye on them more easily (and they might get a little more air flow).

Next time try hydrogen peroxide instead of beach.  Spray the hydrogen peroxide let it sit a minute or two then scrub it with a stiff bristle brush.  Spray it again and wipe it away with a rag.

[Von]

I checked in on my lumber yesterday and the good news is that the stack is staying straight, so moving the straps to the top seems to have worked to even the pressure. I am still seeing some mildew on the sap wood and frankly I'm starting to not worry too much about it - it's going to get ripped off and trashed in any case.

Changes in the moisture readings have slowed. I think any measuring of drying at this point is getting lost in changes due to the ambient humidity. I plan to do what coop suggested earlier in this thread and do some drilling to measure deeper in the boards. I know there is still moisture to be lost since boards measure higher (~18%) than the slab of cherry I bought (~12%). My plan is shaping up that I'm let the wood dry until next Spring (9 more months).

 

[curlyoak]

I've never dried green lumber. I do remember being told by a reliable source years ago. Properly stacked the rule of thumb is a year to the inch plus one year. A modestly cupped board with a wide jointer and good thickness planer should easily clean up.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

@Von looks like everything is moving in the right direction! 

So the big question is

What are you going to to do with all that oak? Any plans, or just have a massive stockpile on hand for whatever comes up?

[Von]

On 6/24/2025 at 12:22 PM, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

What are you going to to do with all that oak? Any plans, or just have a massive stockpile on hand for whatever comes up?

Plan is to build a new workbench to replace my ~25 year old 2x4 and plywood bench. It's going to be split-top Rubio loosely based on the TWW design with lots TBD. I'm planning to build in the Spring and collect the various bits of hardware I'll need between now and then.

On 6/24/2025 at 9:11 AM, curlyoak said:

I've never dried green lumber. I do remember being told by a reliable source years ago. Properly stacked the rule of thumb is a year to the inch plus one year. A modestly cupped board with a wide jointer and good thickness planer should easily clean up.

Spring of 2026 will be about 18 months. I'm being impatient but I've also read from Schwarz that using slightly wet wood in a bench isn't the end of the world, they can tolerate movement and are designed to be flattened. Like all good plans, it can adjust. I'll pull a board come Spring and cut it up. If the center drips when I cut into it, I'll wait another year.

[Ron Swanson Jr.]

When you get to planning stages, if you want some unsolicited opinions/advice, hit me up. I've been using my roubo for about a year now. While I'm mostly happy with it, there's definitely things I'd do differently if i were to do it again. 

 

 

[Von]

On 6/24/2025 at 2:10 PM, Ron Swanson Jr. said:

When you get to planning stages, if you want some unsolicited opinions/advice, hit me up. I've been using my roubo for about a year now. While I'm mostly happy with it, there's definitely things I'd do differently if i were to do it again. 

I'm there, just going slowly, and and am all ears. Please let me know the best way to pick your brain.

[Von]

Got around to putting my moisture readings into a spreadsheet. The dark blue line is ambient humidity and the light blue line is a slab of already dried cherry I'm storing with my drying lumber. Everything else clumped in the middle are my 11 oak boards.