drying wood?

K

Keith Willis

Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
812
I have some walnut that i sawed up into 3/4'' boards about 5 months ago,the log was not fully green when i cut it up,but the boards are not yet dry.Will it work to cut it into smaller pieces and put it into the oven at low temp to help it dry?
Thanks,Keith
 
I've dried a lot of green cut Bow wood. A bit picker than scale material. I wouldn't put it in the oven that always seams to make things warp and twist. The 3 driest places I have learned to dry my good wood is rafters of the barn/garage Attic, and under the bed.
You could make a drying box with a fan and a light bulb. It doesn't take much to to raise the temp a few degrees.
 
try the microwave, low power for a few minutes in a plastic bag with a few holes

or in the oven at 175 for a day

helps to have an accurate scale and weigh the wood, when it stops changing weight it's dry
 
You can use a cardboard box or make a box out of wood and make a rack out of anything the the air can circulate between, pvc works well. Place a 40w light bulb below the rack and the heat will dry the wood with little to no warping. I would leave the wood as in larger pieces that you want the finished piece to be incase you have cracks near the ends when it dries. This should take around 30 days depending on how much wood you plan to dry, also it helps to rotate the wood once a week on the rack if you have several pieces to dry.
 
Paint the end grain of the boards with some latex paint, as that is where the moisture wil leave fastest. It will cut down the end splits while it is drying.
 
Time is your friend with handle wood. If you dry it fast, it is never stable. Dry it slowly for a year or two and it will be good wood. Rush it and it may come back to bite you in the butt. Things worth doing right are worth waiting for. When the moisture content is around 7-9% send it to WSSI and have it stabilized.
Stacy
 
I've been told by a woodworking friend of mine that it takes roughly a year per inch of wood, if you are air drying it. (We've been trying to make guitars but are too cheap to pay for hardwood)
 
The microwave trick has worked for me. I've done 4" X 3" X 6" Blocks of burlwood at 70% for 1 minute bursts, wiping the excess moisture off with a paper towl. weighing and then repeating until no change in weight. Slow drying is the best as been said.
 
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