Lumber

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have a question about lumber. Is it better to buy kiln or air dried lumber? I found a few places to buy some lumber at a good price if I pick up. Some of them say air dried 3 yrs., 5 yrs., up to 20 yrs. Others say kiln dried to anywhere from 4% to 10%. Generally I buy from my local lumber yard but want to get some rough lumber which I found is a lot cheaper to buy especially if you can plane and joint yourself. Being new to this any info on buying rough lumber would be appreciated. Anything a person needs to watch out for, etc.

I am also guessing that when they say S4S that it wouldn't need much planing if any or only to get it to the thickness you want. There ads says S4S, straight and ready to cut for your project. I did buy 7 pieces of 1" walnut off ebay which turned out to be some quite nice lumber for what I thought was a good price compared to my local lumber yard. It said light S2S. These boards will need some planing and jointing but I think will turn out to be a nice clock when I get it done.

Bernie

[Lee Schierer]

You will find numerous opinions on this. There are as many pros as cons to each method of wood drying. Air dried lumber will sometimes be good and sometimes it is not, regardless of how many years the wood has dried. It depends on the moisture of the space where it was stored and how it was stickered. Woos stored out side even if covered will have a higher moisture content than lumber stored inside a dry building. Improper air drying can result in stresses in the wood that will cause it to warp, twist, cup or all three when you surface it. If you are buying lumber that is air dried, a moisture meter is a good investment. Generally you will find air dried lumber at 8-10% MC.

Kiln dried lumber can be very good or very bad. Improper kiln drying can result in stresses in the wood that will cause it to warp, twist, cup or all three when you surface it. Good kiln dried lumber should be 7-8% MC

S4S means surfaced on four sides
S2S means surfaced on two sides
Rough lumber will need to be planed. This means you need a planer and adequate time to run it all through before you make something. The Lunch box planers are probably not going to last long planing hundreds of feet of rough lumber to thickness.

Once you have your lumber home you want to let it accilimate to your shop before using it for a week or more. If you plane the surface, take equal amounts off both faces or wait a few days before using the thinned piece after planing. Your MC will change in your own shop depending on how dry your shop is.

Best thing I've found is to buy some lumber from a source and see how it turns out. If you have lots of problems, try a different source. If you get good results, keep buying from that source. Price is relative to the quality of the product. Its worth paying a bit more if you get wood that works with little waste. My local lumber source sell only cabinet grade material. Completely free of knots, splits or checks, but their price is higher. I have to buy little more than the lineal feet I actually need to make a project. the board I buy to day are the same thick ness as the ones I purchase a year ago.

Lee

[Earl Reid]

Hi, Bernie,
I get most of my lumber from local mills that is kiln dried and have them plane it, generally, to 7/8"
At one mill I get kiln dried shorts that are 3-5' lenths and runs up to 2" thick, they do not do any planing which is fine with me. Another mill only has air dried lumber and no planing. I put all lumber in the loft in my ( heated)shop, usually for at least 6 months before using. I' havent had any any problems
with any of the lumber. I don't use a moisture meter. I try to keep 2-5 hundred bd ft on hand, also no stickers.
The last time I got the shorts the cost was $.70 bd ft.
Good luck
Earl

[lou sansone]

hi bernie

I used all air dried lumber, but it is also all hard wood. From what I have read, pine should be kiln dired to "set the pitch" or else it tends to stay liquid.


But I don't work with pine at all so it is not a problem.


Lee provided some very good advise, almost all of which I agree wtih. But with all due respect, I have to take exception with Lee's statement that the equalized MC of air dried lumber in the mid atlantic states to be in the range of 8-10%. I really do not believe that you will ever find EMC @ 8%

Maybe in Arizona you could get down to an EMC @ 8% but no way in PA. You will have to being the material inside a heated building or a dehumidified building to lower it past a nominal 12%

Again, I agree with lee that a moisture meter is a very useful tool, IMHO.

respectfully lou

[Jeff Sudmeier]

You have received some good advice. Just wanted to share that I have used all air dried lumber. I have found it to be great for me.

[Arnie Grammon]

In addition to all the good stuff mentioned above, there are three other considerations in the "What's better, air or kiln drying?" equation.

Bugs can be a problem with air drying......particularly the post beetle types that love to chew through solid wood. Kiln drying minimizes critters.

Different species can act differently to air vs. kiln drying. Some species like juniper do not do so well when air dried. On the other hand, black walnut seems to be a very stable, somewhat easy wood to air dry.

Speaking of BW, kiln dried walnut is generally steamed and then KD to blend the sapwood with heartwood. This alters the heartwood, and the purple hues tend to drop out. Some folks love the steamed look. I don't. Personal preference.

Personally, I use and like air dried lumber....only because that is what I have on hand. However, there is nothing wrong with kiln dried wood.

Good luck

Arnie

[Keith Ratliff]

I sell lumber and most of the times it is spoken for green but sometimes buyer want it kilned up nd thats not bad but for my personal use i like air dried. I can't say air dried is better then kiln dried but I think my planer yeilds better cuts on a board that has set in the barn for a year or two......

[lou sansone]

Arnie brought out another plus for kiln drying and this is powder post beetle problems. I have not had that be a problem yet, but it can be.

[Ian Abraham]

2 other plusses for air dried.

The smell of many woods is still there, cedar and cypress have a scent because of the aromatic oils still in the timber. Kiln drying will drive those out quickly.

Bending - It's much easier to bend 15% mc air dried timber than 8% kiln dried stuff.

Apart from that it would be hard to tell properly air dried wood from properly kiln dried stuff in most cases.

I use air dried as I have a mill and not a kiln. Plus our climate means 12-14% air dried is fine for inside use.

Cheers

Ian

[Bernie Weishapl]

Thanks to one and all who answered. I have some great info now and feel I can make a informed decision. I want to buy some Curly Maple for a clock I am designing. Thanks again. I appreciate it greatly.

Bernie

[Tom Sontag]

Arnie brought out another plus for kiln drying and this is powder post beetle problems. I have not had that be a problem yet, but it can be.

Yes kiln drying kills PPBs and any eggs, but beetles can still find their way into a stack of already dry (kiln or air) lumber. So the kiln eliminates any bug problem already in the wood, but is no assurance they cannot get in later.

Except for 1 - setting pitch in pine, 2 - killing off any bugs in the wood, and 3 - the actual MC% of the wood in question, I feel that the differences to a buyer between KD and AD lumber are minimal. Too much gets made of it.

In both methods you can have drying defects (stain, checking, casehardening) from improper or careless drying. But if done right, there is little difference in the wood itself except those 3 points above.