Setting Pitch on Doug Fir 12x12

[TheTall]

I work at a reclaimed lumber yard, so the wood we have is for the most part dry. However, we received a shipment of 12x12 new growth Doug Fir that is pitchy as hell. It bleeds from the ends.

We will be selling a few of these and they will be cut down by the customer. Our fear is the pieces not bleeding on the ends may bleed once shortened.

Since we have a kiln, the thought was to set the pitch by way of the Kiln. I know it will need to hit 140-160 in the center of the 12x12, but I was wondering if someone else has done it, and if they so, could they give me an idea of the time frame?

[Gary_C]

We will be selling a few of these and they will be cut down by the customer. Our fear is the pieces not bleeding on the ends may bleed once shortened.

I'm not sure why you fear having pitch bleed out of softwoods while sawing green cants. It is a normal process but messy sometimes. There are many more problems you can create by drying and setting pitch before sawing and doubt you will be completely successful in eliminating the pitch from 12x12 cants.

I would not advise trying to set the pitch first.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

Setting the pitch on such a large piece is very difficult, if even possible.  The inside will likely still have some pitch that will run at room temperature.  Note that we basically remove or evaporate the pitch that would be runny at room temperature; we never remove all the pitch.

Setting prior to sawing is likely not a good idea.