wood drying time

[JoshRG]

I have the opportunity to pick up a few slabs of box elder but have some concerns. The wood is still sitting at mid 20's in terms of moisture content. I live in southern California with fairly dry weather and am wondering how long I will have to wait before the wood is ready for stabilizing. I have processed buckeye burl with fairly good success and am wondering if box elder should be approached in any different ways. I apologize if this is a rather redundant question. Thank you in advance for any and all advice.

Blessings,
Joshua

 

[Stacy E. Apelt - Bladesmith]

Box elder burl is really good looking when dyed. I do a lot in red (the best for BEB, IMHO), brown, and black. It has to be good and dry before stabilizing, as it warps if not. I would take it down to 7%. If you don't have a good moisture meter, get it as dry as you can over about six months and send it to K&G for dying and stabilizing (along with a note to check the moisture content). They will test it and call you with the results. They will dry it more if needed. I'll try and post a photo tonight of a piece I just had done in red.

 

[JoshRG]

Sounds good, thank you very much for the info Stacy. I agree on dying box elder, it is one of my favorite woods because of that. At what point would you suggest I start ripping the slab to oversized blocks? Thank you again.

Blessings,
Joshua

 

[A.McPherson]

Hey Josh, if you can't come up with a moisture meter, one sure fire way to ensure that you have it as dry as it will get in your climate is to weigh it. Get your initial weight shortly after cutting, then weigh it every couple days. Once it stops loosing weight for a week or so, then you've got it as dry as it will get without artificially heating or lowering the ambient humidity.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk