drying hardwood slabs??

[ontario026]

I should be getting an alaskan mill soon,  I plan on making some slabs of either sugar maple or oak to make a bar top for a buddy's new house, maybe a few coffee tables, etc etc... 

I plan on making several slabs, probably 20" wide, 2" thick, and probaby 8 feet long....  What would the proper method of drying the slabs be?  How long would it take before such a slab would be usable for items such as bar tops etc??

Thanks
Matthew

[Back40x2]

Ontario, 

    First thing you need to do is make SURE you treat the ends of your slabs with either Anchorseal, or some cheap oil based paint to prevent checking.   Second thing is to stick it with DRY hardwood stickers.  Do not use green cut stickers for they WILL stain the sugar maple and the oak.  I cut a lot of both upto 30" wide, and they will stain! >:( >:( >:(

Third, get them stickerd, stacked and weighted asap.  Do not wait for days to do it.  a lot of people thick, because they are that big, they will not check, warp and etc.,  not true ;)  I usually dry mine down to about 14% air dry.  then right into my solar kiln.  In there they take about 2 1/2 weeks to get to 6%.  While air drying I cover mine with SHADE-DRI cloth.  Make sure to cover the tops of your stacks to prevent moisture from getting through the top.  Make sure your ends are also covered and out of the direct sunlight. 

As far as a time limit, that depends on the conditions of what type of drying you are doing.  In Maine, summer is obviously the best time to air dry.  I have found it to take about 5 months to get it around 16-14%mc. 

Hope this helps you out ;)