Drying wood

[Ken_J]

This is a great success story. Thanks for sharing the exp.

[Grapenuts]

cut green all the time.cherry.maple...thundercloud plum etc....cut leight one inch longer then I need, spin green to round abit oversize. then nuke it on 30 for 10 to 15 minutes or till dry.Never a split on the leight but may get a hairline crack on the end but that's why it's cut longer just for this reason.

[jeffthechef]

yeah scott, on a much smaller scale. i cut down and removed my neighbors dead plum tree for him this spring to "help" him out (maybe some alterior motive)....i broke down the trunk into workable sized pieces and dried it as others recommended. i had some splitting. i weighed it periodically and when it stopped losing weight (dehumidified basement) i figured it was ready.... last night, as a matter of fact, i turned my first plum wood needle! nice wood IMO. i cannot wait to show my neighbor what his tree became!

[ed morini]

Salty,

I have done considerable drying over the years and recommend it highly. I have given up on wooden stickers and use 3/4" pvc pipe with a hole drilled for a 10d nail to prevent rolling, this prevents sticker stain caused by the transfer back and forth between the sticker an the green stock. These stains may not affect your product but they did mine. I also position my stock with the ends facing north to south to take advantage of our prevailing winds. I haven't much of a problem with end checks in pine but I do take note of when the hardwoods are cut, winter cutting is the best as most if not alll the water is out of the bole. I don't have the link handy but the Forest Products Laboratory has information on drying. They also publish the Wood Manual 7th ed.

Ed

[Raven]

i really like apple