clarionflyer

I "inherited" quite a bit of wild cherry. The gentleman who had this roughed from his land, cut it in 1-1/2" lengths. It's been dried in a barn for about 2-1/2 years.

Now when I got it, it was pretty cupped and twisted. I jointed, sawed, planed, etc,... and they came out square and beautiful! I lost a bit, because of the twists. But I found some beautiful tiny worm holes and grain.

I jointed and glued a nice little candle table top (11 inches square), and left for 5 days. I came home and found it cupped down on all corners. I had to go right back out, so I simply flipped it over. When I got back again (3 days) it was cupped the other direction!

Finally my question: I don't own a moisture meter, but wouldn't ya think 2-1/2 years of barn drying at 1-1/2" thick would be enough?
I'm new to cherry and perplexed. I know - buy a meter. But is it normal for cherry to dry so slow? And if so, recs to help (besides a kiln)?

Julian the woodnut

I'd check the mc. Try the oven dry method


Take a small piece from the center of one of the thickest boards.

1. Weigh the section on a balance that has precision of 0.5 percent of the weight of the section and that reads in grams Triple beam or top loading pan balances are suitable for this

2. Microwave the wood, short times low/med heat, just get it hot untill barely any steam (not too hot,, it can catch fire).
Let it cool.

3. Repeat untill the wood looses no more weight.

4. Weigh the wood again

it should take about 15-30 min total

5. (Original weight—Ovendry weight) ) / (Ovendry weight)) x 100
will be your mc.


This was quoted from a quick search. I have tried this before and it works great.

GeorgeC

???????

Julian, what is an "mc?"

Where is the average Joe to get use of weight measuring equipment like you describe?

After you do all of this what have you learned?

G

mdlbldrmatt135

MC = Moisture Content

the beam balances and scales are pretty common

Julian the woodnut

I use a food scale that weighs to .1 gram. The difference of the wood as is to the difference of the wood completely dry is what you need to measure. This method will give you great accuracy in finding the Moisture Content, and will answer your problem. If lumber has poor airflow and isn't stickered properly it might not be dry enough to use yet.

dirtclod

1-1/2" lengths? Do you mean 1-1/2" thick? 1-1/2" would also be known as 6/4. And yes, if it was properly stickered, 6/4 will get as dry as it will get in 2-1/2 years of air drying in a barn. But air dry in an Ohio barn will get you maybe 11-13%. That's not good enough. The way to handle this is to skip plane the boards then put them back on stickers in a conditioned area for (considering it's still over 1" thick) 3-6 months. This should get it down to 7-8%.

Be wary of tiny holes. They could be powder post beetles. Watch for little sawdust piles. If you see any then either burn it before the infestation spreads to other furniture/structure/wood or get it to a kiln a.s.a.p.

clarionflyer

Wow Dirtclod,

I certainly meant 1-1/2" thick, I mistyped. Thank you for the help.
I never would have figured that info!
I guess the candle stand will have to hold for a few months. (I have it clamped to a flat piece of steel, now ).
I hate to plead more info, but how long would you let rough cherry lay in a barn roof for furniture?

dirtclod

There are many variables as to how long. But bear in mind that air drying will only get you to the Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) of the environment you air dry it in. A barn, while relatively dry, is not as dry as a house using supplimental heat in winter. The barn might get the lumber to 10-13% (drier in desert locations/wetter in subtropical locations) but a house or shop with air conditioning or supplimental heat might get it 5-8%. So taking it from a barn and processing it in an air conditioned/heated shop will usually result in additional drying and movement. That's why you need to allways treat wood that's transferred from air drying in a barn to your shop as if it needs additional drying - because it does. Now transferring it from an attic is a different story - attics can get the wood down to 5-7%.

Thickness, species and ambient heat are the variables that dictate drying time. Most have heard of the 1 year per 1" thickness rule. But that rule is overkill. 1" ERC can be ready in as little as 6 weeks in warn seasons and in dry climates. On the other hand, a heavy/dense species like white oak may take 3-4 years to reach EMC on a 8/4 (2") board. So much for the 1" per year rule.

You have cherry and cherry is easy to dry both in speed terms and in low drying defect terms. If it were 4/4 (1") thick and you started drying it in a barn in April, it might reach EMC by October. Being winter months are much colder, if you started in October it might not reach EMC until early August the following year.

Also note that the relationship between drying time and thickness is not perfectly linear. That same cherry in 8/4 might take 1-1/2 years if started in April, and 2 years if started in October.

There are other variables as well. Some logs, even within the same specie, have more moisture than others. Then there's elevation of the stack off the ground for good air flow, valley -vs- hilltop locations, etc. Best to use a miosture meter or oven dry weight test method so there's no guesswork.

In your case it simply came down to the EMC it could reach in the barn is higher than the EMC it can reach in your shop/house.

clarionflyer

Thank you, Dirtclod,

I owe you big.

Dave