Question about rough sawn lumber

[Scott Brandstetter]

Went to the sawmill today and ran into a great load of poplar at a fantastic price that just came out of the kiln while I was there. Picked up as much as I could haul, most boards over 10 inches wide and perfect, no knots, nothing. Anyhow, I was wondering about storage. Should I go ahead and run them through the jointer planer, or should I store them rough until I need them. I have them all on my storage rack horizontal with no spacers between the boards. Any help would be appreciated.

[Willem Martins]

I keep my lumber in the rough, until I plan to use it. Depending on the type of build, I mostly do my cut list in the rough as well, then joint and plane.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Store as rough lumber.

But - you need stickers between the boards, so they will acclimatize evenly. 16" O.C. is typical, to keep them flat -- and be sure that each layer of stickers lines up with the layer below it.

[Charles Lent]

Even though "fresh from the kiln" the moisture content will not be stabilized. If you cut and plane it immediately it will bend and warp considerably on you. Leave it rough and, like others have said, store it horizontally in your shop with stickers so it can stabilize in moisture content with your shop. I wouldn't use it for at least a month, but more would be better. Cut and plane it to size only as you need it. Sometimes it helps to just cut it and rough plane it, then do the final planing and cutting just before you need to use it. You will find that you will have straighter, flatter lumber for your projects if you don't rush this process.

Charley

[Tom Deutsch]

+1 on all of the above. Plus, keeping it rough helps avoid marring the surface when/if you bump into it. And congrats on the score! - having a load of good poplar you got cheaply will enable you to use it for whatever you want. Very versatile wood.

[Scott Brandstetter]

Thanks for the great info everyone. I am upset with myself that I didn't think to put spacers in between the boards. I am now out of town until Thursday. Will the damage be done at that point.

[Prashun Patel]

You'll be fine. You can sticker it when you get back. In fact, if the wood is already dried, some experienced people recommend NOT stickering it, but in fact storing it in a stack.

[Kent A Bathurst]

Thanks for the great info everyone. I am upset with myself that I didn't think to put spacers in between the boards. I am now out of town until Thursday. Will the damage be done at that point.

Yes. It is ruined.

I'll do you a favor and take it off your hands, if you want.

Nahh - no big deal. Address it when you get back.

.....if the wood is already dried, some experienced people recommend NOT stickering it, but in fact storing it in a stack.

I have some great stock in various species that has been here for 3 - 5 years. A lot of that older stock is not stickered - not that I wouldn't if I could, but I can't - too much stuff, too little storage space, and the stickers take up room.

I don't do that with more current material, though.........

[Peter Aeschliman]

I don't mill any stock until I have a project in mind for it. This way you can cut the rough lumber into shorter lengths before jointing and planing, which reduces waste. If a board is bowed evenly over it's 8' length, you're going to have to take a whole lot of material off to make that whole thing flat/straight/square. But if you cut it into shorter segments, the bow will be less severe over its length and thus you won't have to remove as much material.

[Jim Andrew]

You don't have to sticker dry lumber.

[Ole Anderson]

Armstrong Millworks does not sticker their RS stock.

[Jeff Duncan]

The supplier I buy from doesn't seem to find a need to sticker the lumber in the racks, so I don't either. Some people sticker, some don't….but the wood probably doesn't care all that much what you do to it

Now if your drying the lumber…..well that's a whole nuther story!

JeffD

[Scott T Smith]

It's not a bad idea to sticker freshly dried lumber. Similar to people, each tree grows differently - in different soil and environmental conditions. Because of this, they dry a bit differently as well. Depending upon the kiln operator, species, and type of kiln, it is not uncommon to see a 1 - 2% delta in MC% between boards from the same load, as well as in-between the core and shell MC% of boards within the same load.

Kiln operators do their best to equalize the load, but it is not possible to get every board perfect. Stickering post drying helps the lumber to acclimate. Yes, technically it is not needed, but it's not a bad idea to sticker kiln-fresh lumber for 30 - 60 days. It will acclimate faster than if it is dry stacked (and KD lumber will acclimate over time in a dry stack but sometimes it can take a few months).

After a month or two almost all of the boards will have acclimated and dry stacking is fine.

Typically when you buy lumber from a lumber yard it is not fresh from the kiln, so it is relatively acclimated even in it's dry stacks.

When you buy KD lumber to use for a near term project, it's always a good idea to sticker it in your shop. If it will be in mid to long term storage (and it's not fresh from the kiln), then go ahead and dry stack it.