How to store kiln dried wood? Or just buy what you need at the time?

[lshah72414]

The topic about hitting the mother load got me to thinking.

As the title suggests, should I buy wood for only my immediate needs? or buy a lot when I can find it cheap?

I have an unheated garage to store it in, so snow or rain won't get it, but , I live in Michigan and its extremely cold now, and it gets very hot and humid mid summer. What does every body else do?

I have a moisture gauge and the oak which I bought kiln dried about 18 months ago, which at the time had a moisture content of 6-8% , now reads 13 or 14%. Do you have to redry the wood before you use it?

Thanks  for your help

 

[ForumMFG]

The topic about hitting the mother load got me to thinking.

As the title suggests, should I buy wood for only my immediate needs? or buy a lot when I can find it cheap?

I have an unheated garage to store it in, so snow or rain won't get it, but , I live in Michigan and its extremely cold now, and it gets very hot and humid mid summer. What does every body else do?

I have a moisture gauge and the oak which I bought kiln dried about 18 months ago, which at the time had a moisture content of 6-8% , now reads 13 or 14%. Do you have to redry the wood before you use it?

Thanks  for your help

Check out the “I hit the motherload” thread in building materials, some points and information regarding your topic in there worth reading.

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[Michael Kellough]

However wood is stored, when it comes time to work it, you need to thoroughly acclimate it to the environment it will be in going forward. Roughly 3 weeks per inch for previously dried wood. The longer the better.

The most important goal is to get all the stock to the same moisture content prior to working. The meter is good to have. If the m.c. is higher than the long term climate will be you have to be more careful how joints are engineered, particularly where the parts of a joint have grain that is perpendicular to one another.

 

[junk731]

If the material was dried properly to begin with then the cells have collapsed enough to remain relatively stable. You run into trouble when wood has been improperly dried 6 to 8 percent. You are reading transient moisture that will normally fluctuate year round unless keep in a stable environment. The depth the moisture reading was taken is also important. Inexpensive surface check meters are next to useless. Find yourself an EMC chart to compare readings taken from different temperature and different Relative Humidy.

 

[lshah72414]

If the material was dried properly to begin with then the cells have collapsed enough to remain relatively stable.

I have read that kiln dried wood will reabsorb moisture from the surrounding environment. That is my conundrum. I search for kiln dried wood from local sources, sometimes I will see it cheap and I don't get it because I can't/ don't have a stable /environmentally controlled area to store it in.
About 8-10 months ago, I built an all oak storage cabinet from wood I had purchased from a local supplier. Planed it, joined it with dominoes, made raised cabinet panels, all that. I was going to put it in an upstairs bedroom. I was fabricating in my basement(I am trying to move into a garage, because of the dust). The first hint of problems was when I was assembling my piece. The doors had to be sanded extensively to fit into the box. It was measured/cut properly, and I expected some sanding but not like what I had to do. Any way, after putting doors on and standing the piece up after a couple of weeks I noticed more space when doors were closed in areas I had to sand. I also put magnets on door, and base of cabinet to keep it closed, and in summertime it stays closed and in winter time at times it pops open(overpowering the magnet). Obviously, I am getting wood movement and this cabinet is now still in my basement as I am embarassed to put it up stairs.
Did I improperly choose the wood I used? Should I just buy from a commercial retailer?

 

[ForumMFG]

If the material was dried properly to begin with then the cells have collapsed enough to remain relatively stable. You run into trouble when wood has been improperly dried 6 to 8 percent. You are reading transient moisture that will normally fluctuate year round unless keep in a stable environment. The depth the moisture reading was taken is also important. Inexpensive surface check meters are next to useless. Find yourself an EMC chart to compare readings taken from different temperature and different Relative Humidy.

Whats a good meter for a hobbyist to purchase thats not stupid expensive.  Im assuming they are expensive.

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[lshah72414]

I bought a "General" off of Amazon. Relatively inexpensive. Not sure if it is a good one, but it was rated good by reviewers.

 

[zapdafish]

I always buy a board or two more than I think I'll need so I naturally accumulate wood over time. You will also always have leftovers that are too big to throw away but too small to do anything with.

I go the solder storage method. easy to look through everything and get what I want. This isnt a pic of my storage but what I wish it was like, lol.

[attachimg=1]

 

[Michael Kellough]

The tightly bundled soldier orientation is good as long as you’re maintaining the moisture content. If you need to change the m.c. you need to allow air to circulate.

 

[ForumMFG]

I just bought a ligno mini moisture meter. 

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[sancho57]

[member=6558]ForumMFG[/member]

Because I have a small shop I buy what I need as I go. I also have to plan for minimal waste and scrap. If I dont Ill be stepping on the scrap knocking ii down have to pick it up and set up again...
When I get to much scrap I just cut it up and toss it.

The joys of a small shop.

 

[ForumMFG]

[member=6558]ForumMFG[/member]

Because I have a small shop I buy what I need as I go. I also have to plan for minimal waste and scrap. If I dont Ill be stepping on the scrap knocking ii down have to pick it up and set up again...
When I get to much scrap I just cut it up and toss it.

The joys of a small shop.

I understand. I work in a big shop and it is disgusting how much scrap we toss.  But what are you gonna do? You can’t keep it all, it takes up valuable real-estate and that costs money.  Not to mention costs to pay someone to constantly move it.

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[Cheese]

The depth the moisture reading was taken is also important. Inexpensive surface check meters are next to useless. Find yourself an EMC chart to compare readings taken from different temperature and different Relative Humidy.

Well thanks to [member=4907]kcufstoidi[/member] I looked for an EMC chart that was relevant to the Minnesota climate. I stumbled upon this study by North Carolina State University of EMC values on a monthly basis from 252 locations in the US.
https://research.cnr.ncsu.edu/blogs...isture-Content-of-Exterior-Wood-in-the-US.pdf

 

[Michael Kellough]

Thanks for posting this [member=44099]Cheese[/member]

Surprised to see how narrow and relatively stable the East Coast EMC range is.

Funny to see El Paso and Galveston right next to each other in the table and how different the climates are, as reflected in the EMC calculations.