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making weights for top of stacks

Started by ozarkgem, September 09, 2014, 06:34:56 AM

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Seaman

Good addition to this thread, thanks. My banding idea never got off the ground good, I came across some blocks, so just do it your way. hanks.
Frank
Lucas dedicated slabber
Woodmizer LT40HD
John Deere 5310 W/ FEL
Semper Fi

YellowHammer

I've been sawing more slabs myself, lately, as I've always had drying issues with thick stuff.  I've been a lot more selective of where I take my slabs from the logs, and have been getting much more stable and flat results. 
Air drying boards, I still like to stack high and heavy. 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

logboy

Quote from: Seaman on November 14, 2015, 02:47:05 AM
Good addition to this thread, thanks. My banding idea never got off the ground good, I came across some blocks, so just do it your way. hanks.
Frank

Don't band, it's a waste of time. Not only do they never stay tight, but remember, you are only trying to apply force in the downward direction to keep them flat. Banding squeezes them in all directions which is completely unnecessary. I've seen photos of other people's operations where they prided themselves on how careful they were about stacking and banding their walnut slabs to keep them flat. You could actually see the bands hanging loose on the stacks, not doing anything.
I like Lucas Mills and big wood.  www.logboy.com

GeneWengert-WoodDoc

Banding, especially if the bands are tightened every day, does indeed help in at least two ways.  It keeps the loose slabs on the top of the pile from falling off the pile, especially in high winds or in a kiln with monster fans.  Plus, I have never seen any elephants in a yard where the bands are used, so I think bands also repel elephants.

When I first started in this sawmill industry 50 plus years ago, a slab at the sawmill referred to the first piece cut from a log...flat on one side and rounded on the other.  It was never used to make lumber, but it was trash and usually burned.  It seems that only recently, with the high popularity of the small sawmill, that a thick piece of lumber and a thick piece of wood that has been not edged has been called a slab within the sawmill industry.  Years ago, a partially processed piece of wood at the mill was called a flitch or a cant...such pieces needed further processing to make lumber.

So, what does a person today mean when calling a piece of wood a "slab?"
Gene - Author of articles in Sawmill & Woodlot and books: Drying Hardwood Lumber; VA Tech Solar Kiln; Sawing Edging & Trimming Hardwood Lumber. And more

xlogger

I've been in the forestry business for over 40 plus years now also, just 10 short of Gene (just a kid here Gene) and I know what he talking about with the slabs. When people call and want a slab I have to ask if they want a live edge for woodwork or a slab off the first cut of a log to burn.
Timberking 2000, Turbo slabber Mill, 584 Case, Bobcat 773, solar kiln, Nyle L-53 DH kiln

YellowHammer

Quote from: GeneWengert-WoodDoc on November 15, 2015, 08:13:18 AM
When I first started in this sawmill industry 50 plus years ago, a slab at the sawmill referred to the first piece cut from a log...flat on one side and rounded on the other.  It was never used to make lumber, but it was trash and usually burned.  It seems that only recently, with the high popularity of the small sawmill, that a thick piece of lumber and a thick piece of wood that has been not edged has been called a slab within the sawmill industry.  Years ago, a partially processed piece of wood at the mill was called a flitch or a cant...such pieces needed further processing to make lumber.

So, what does a person today mean when calling a piece of wood a "slab?"

The slabs off the logs that go into the burn pile are "slabs" spoken with a grunting caused by the exertion of taking them off the mill and throwing them away.  

The other slabs are pronounced with special cash money emphasis on the ends of the word, spoken as "slab$$" and some of the best examples I know are from FF members @POSTONLT40HD, and @WDH, et al) who have cracked the code on them.
New experiment for me. in General Woodworking
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

PA_Walnut

I would like to revive this old thread to get some ideas of how you all put weight...REAL weight on top of air drying stacks. I've noted a recurring them from Yellow about this and how to keep boards true and straight, so need to re-focus on this on my end.

Any tips of pics of what it looks like on top your piles, would be great! Thanks!
I own my own small piece of the world on an 8 acre plot on the side of a mountain with walnut, hickory, ash and spruce.
LT40HD Wide 35HP Diesel
Peterson Dedicated Wide Slabber
Kubota M62 Tractor/Backhoe
WoodMizer KD250 Kiln
Northland 800 Kiln

WDH

Mostly I use other stacks as weights.  I put the most recently sawn stacks on the bottom of the drying pads and stack other stacks, that have mostly air dried, on top for weight.  I also have one pallet with a single layer of cement blocks that I use to top the stacks that go into the kiln. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

scsmith42

Similar to Danny I'll use other stacks as weights, or concrete slabs.

Years ago I scored some 4" thick concrete slab sections from a sidewalks that was being removed.  They work great forked on top of the stacks.
Peterson 10" WPF with 65' of track
Smith - Gallagher dedicated slabber
Tom's 3638D Baker band mill
and a mix of log handling heavy equipment.

YellowHammer

Weight on top of stacks help save money and wood.  Other stacks of wood, concrete, septic tank lids, marble, bricks, block whatever will make a significant improvement, especially in the top few layers of drying stacks.    

For thick slabs, it's a little more complicated.  The slabs should be stacked with their major predicted cup opposite the one below or above it on the stack, or they will all try to cup the same direction and if there is flexibility in the stickers they will all try to conform to the same cup.  So I stack the cup contrary to each other, so they fight each other, and will reach a neutral flat common plane.

The meaner and thicker the slabs, the stronger and less flexible the stickers I use, and the fewer layers of slabs on each pallet.  The runners on the pallets are very stiff and will provide some physical isolation between packs of slabs.

My weight stacks generally weigh from 3 to 5 thousand pound, and every load that goes into the kiln gets one.  These weights also significantly reduce "stack bow" in air dried wood.  I also like to keep some sort of weight on the stacks as they cool down.  Personally, my favorite weights are waste marble countertops loaded on full bodied pallets.  Marble is very dense and keeps the weight stacks shorter, so as not to lose much kiln capacity. 
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

WDH

Remember, wood cups toward the bark, not the pith.  This is counter-intuitive.
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

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