How to Cure Lumber From a Saw Mill
You may use lumber from a saw mill for building, woodworking or miscellaneous craft projects. Sometimes saw mills are equipped to cure (dry) lumber for you prior to purchase, but buying "green" or uncured lumber is not problematic if you know how to cure it yourself. The simplest way to do this is to let the lumber air dry over a long period of time so that the moisture in the wood disperses gradually. Professionals sometimes prefer this method because slow air-dry curing makes it less likely that the wood will crack and warp. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Clear a level, flat surface on which to put the lumber. The surface may be indoors or outdoors, but must have access to ventilation and be free from excess moisture.
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Lay out four support logs in a shape that follows the dimensions of your lumber (i.e., rectangle or square). The logs need to be the same species as the lumber you are curing to prevent staining your wood. They should be high enough off the ground or floor to allow air to circulate under the wood you are curing.
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Lay down the first piece of wood from your lumber supply on the logs.
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Place stickers (dunnage) on top of the first piece of lumber. These are small pieces of wood that separate each piece of your lumber and allow for proper ventilation and drying. Put one sticker on each end as close to the edge as possible and an additional sticker between the ends about every 1.5 to 2 feet. The extra support is needed to prevent warping during the drying process. Use the same kind of wood for the stickers as you have for your lumber to prevent staining.
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Place the next piece of lumber on top of the stickers you've laid out and continue to build your stack up, placing stickers between each piece of lumber you have.
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Cover the stack of wood with a mesh cloth if you are curing outside. The mesh keeps rain off the stack but still allows air to pass.
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Monitor the wood with a moisture meter. Different species of wood must cure to different moisture content levels, so make sure you know what is recommended for the wood you have. Keep in mind that the climate in which you are living may make it impossible to cure to a certain percentage unless you cure indoors or use a kiln.
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Leave the wood in the stack. Allow around one year of drying for every inch of thickness. (This is a general rule of thumb, so consider the wood type you have.)
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Bring the wood into a kiln or into your shop when you are ready to use it. A kiln basically is like a ventilated, big oven that removes more moisture from the wood. Kilns sometimes are needed to get the moisture content down to where the wood may be used for indoor building. This can be called "final" curing. Simply bringing the wood into the shop also will remove extra moisture in the same way, since indoor heating and cooling systems result in a dryer environment. You don't need to do this if wood cured outside is intended for outdoor building.
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Tips & Warnings
Remember that ventilation and time is the key to proper curing. An indoor spot may not be as ideal as curing outside if the indoor spot has stagnant air and is so dry that the wood loses moisture so fast that it cracks.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit lumber image by jimcox40 from Fotolia.com
