Does anyone saw sweet gum?

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Any idea how long to leave it "under wraps"? I am going to store it in my attic over the garage.

I would not do that. 

[Kipper]

Dry warm air circulating around it with no threat of rain... What am I missing? ???

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Dry warm air circulating around it with no threat of rain... What am I missing? ???

It may mold on you from not having enough ventilation. When mold starts and goes through the board.....it's over. 

To be honest....I've not seen your attic. But most attics don't have enough ventilation.

[Kipper]

Yuck !! Good point.. Time to rethink... >:(

[WDH]

I agree with the Old Geezer.  Not enough air flow. 

Like Bear Claw said in Jeremiah Johnson,....."Didn't put enough dirt down.  I saw it right off."   .

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

 smiley_old_guy    Besides....if you put it in the attic, the concrete truck wouldn't fit.  ;D

[WDH]

You would have to tear out the gable end to get the truck in there. 

[Rockn H]

Dry warm air circulating around it with no threat of rain... What am I missing? ???

It may mold on you from not having enough ventilation. When mold starts and goes through the board.....it's over. 

To be honest....I've not seen your attic. But most attics don't have enough ventilation.

If you really want to store it in the attic, buy a couple $15 box fans and they should keep the air moving enough to prevent mold.

[dboyt]

How much sweetgum?  It may not seem like much when you carry it up one board at a time, but figure 5 pounds per bd ft (green).  500 bd ft=2,500 pounds.  Stickers spaced 20" apart for 1" thick boards, with 4" under the bottom for circulation should be about right.

[scsmith42]

Generally speaking an Attic is a good place to store dried or partially dried hardwood lumber, but not green lumber unless it is 1) in the winter when the temps are cooler and 2) has some gentle air flow.

Once the lumber has dried below 35% MC, you should be ok with stacking and stickering in the attic, but it will dry faster with some air flow.

[mesquite buckeye]

How much sweetgum?  It may not seem like much when you carry it up one board at a time, but figure 5 pounds per bd ft (green).  500 bd ft=2,500 pounds.  Stickers spaced 20" apart for 1" thick boards, with 4" under the bottom for circulation should be about right.

Don't forget that is a lot of weight that the attic is not designed for. :-\

[MSSawmill]

For the record, we cut up a big sweetgum that had been down for about a year. Milled it into a bunch of 1" stuff, stacked it, and let it finish drying in the barn. Didn't have a single one twist on us. Used it for lathing on the roof of the barn, and going to use it to build some shutters for a friend's house.

[Magicman]

Yes, the bigger the tree the better your chances are of getting more stable lumber.  A 30"+ log is much different from a 12" log, and the heartwood colors will be much more dramatic. 

[dboyt]

Here's another, earlier thread about sweetgum that might interest you.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,67556.20.html

Good luck with it!

[mesquite buckeye]

I'm thinking that this could be one of those logs that do better if you let them lose moisture in the log before you mill it. This helps with other crazy grained woods. The trick is knowing when it has dried enough to be more stable, but hasn't started to crack or degrade. ;D

[LaneC]

Thanks everyon for the input.

[Kipper]

Heres an update to one of the slabs from this post early on. I put some pipe legs under it this weekend and it seems to work pretty good as a bench.

[Kipper]

 

  

  

  

 

Sorry, here are the pics...

[blade69001]

Nice looking wood there Kipper. I had no Idea, Now I am itching to go cut down a buddies tree he wants down so I can saw it up for him.
Sean P.

[Okrafarmer]

What is wrong with you characters? I love sweetgum! Once you understand its perameters, it is very easy to mill, dry, and work with. We were building benches out of it this weekend. I have more trouble with cherry, persimmon, and sycamore. The biggest secret I know? Don't bother milling any sweetgum logs that are smaller than say, 14" on the small end. Get rid of all bark and pith. Enjoy the rest.