Air Drying Lumber

The traditional rule of thumb for air drying lumber is to allow one year of drying time per inch of wood thickness to properly air dry lumber.

Air drying lumber.

If you use hand planes chisels carving tools or other hand tools to any extent you will notice the difference right away. It shears easier and fights back less than case hardened kiln dried lumber. Lumber defects occur when drying is too rapid which leads to surface checks and end splits or when drying is too slow which results in sticker stains and discoloration from fungal growth because air drying is at the mercy of the weather drying rates are difficult to control. Allowing lumber to passively sit at a given humidity level in order to obtain a desired emc air drying may be the simplest and least expensive method of seasoning wood but it is also the very slowest.

Woodworking when wood is used as a construction material whether as a structural support in a building. The thicker the wood the longer the drying time. There are two main reasons for drying wood. The most common method used to air dry lumber is to lay narrow sticks perpendicular to the layers of lumber to create an air space between each layer so the moisture can escape.

But doing it yourself does require time effort know how and the room for stacking and storing. When the drying is done in a kiln the product is known as kiln dried timber or lumber whereas air drying is the more traditional method. In situations where green wood is to be processed into usable boards especially in the case of thicker lumber a kiln is frequently used to control the drying process. Wood will reach an equilibrium air dry mc or emc at that rate but it will continue to lose moisture and shrink when brought indoors.

Air drying your own stock can save you at least 50 percent over kiln dried boards from your lumber retailer. See monitoring the stack page 51 air dried wood contains no internal stress. Drying times can vary significantly depending upon wood species initial moisture level lumber thickness density ambient conditions and processing techniques. A good foundation is critical to successfully drying wood.

Wood drying also seasoning lumber or wood seasoning reduces the moisture content of wood before its use. Air drying lumber over time can help reduce stress in boards. I am not a full blown snob about this because i can appreciate kiln dried lumber as well but air. First i will make a mention here that this is a very simple easy way and only applies to drying lumber for the 1 man sawmill or homeowner sawmill it will not include all the formula s etc just the basics for you the water or moisture content mc in lumber or logs is significant and can be 100 in the lumber or log.