How to Kiln-Dry Lumber
The total amount of water in a given piece of wood is represented as a ratio.This ratio is called its moisture content (MC). The MC of wood is based on the ratio of the weight of the water to the weight of the wood. Green wood has a much higher MC than dry wood. The problem is that wood shrinks as it loses moisture and gets bigger as it gains moisture. This means that improperly dried would will shrink or expand. This can cause a huge array of problems, from creaky stairs to sagging decks, wobbly chairs to warped tables, tilting homes to lopsided structures of all kinds. The key to avoiding these problems is to dry your wood so that it’s in balance with its end-use environment. Air drying can help, but it takes forever, and even then, its MC will still be too high for most indoor use. Your best bet is to kiln-dry your lumber.
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Instructions
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Cut the wood. Each piece should be the same size for uniform drying times. Make sure the wood is short enough to fit in the kiln without touching the sides of the kiln.
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Stack the wood in the kiln. Start by putting down a single layer of boards. Make sure each board is separated by at least an inch.
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3
Place the stickers on top of the wood. Stickers are small, uniform-sized boards that allow spaces for air to move across the wood surfaces. They also help to distribute the weight of the lumber. Place a sticker at the end of each board. To avoid warping your wood, place additional stickers every 18 inches for soft woods and every 24 inches for hard woods.
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Add another layer. Place a layer of boards on top of the stickers. Make sure they align with the first layer. Continue alternating layers of stickers and boards until you’ve loaded all of your wood onto the pile. Do not put stickers on top of the last layer of boards.
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Store your dried wood appropriately. Once your wood has reached your desired level of dryness, remove it from the kiln. Your wood will continue to absorb or evaporate moisture depending on the ambient environment, so make sure you store it in an environment that has the same temperature and humidity as your end-use environment.
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Tips & Warnings
There is no set sticker size, but the same size sticker should be used throughout your wood stack.
If the spaces between the boards are not equal, air will flow more slowly through the larger spaces. Moisture on wood surfaces near the larger spaces will evaporate at a slower rate, and the lumber will dry more slowly.
