2 Questions

[Wade]

 Hey Everyone,
 I'm going to mill some white oak logs this weekend,
and I'm short stickers. Would it be ok if I milled some
 from these logs and used them green? I plan on milling a bunch to dry but in the mean time I will have to use something. Also, I'm running out of room outside to store lumber and I have some space inside my barn (it's the bottom floor of my shop, uninsulated, maybe 50 degrees) that I could stack it. Is this going to dry too slow where it might stain or mold? Should I use a fan? Or will it dry too fast and check,so no fan? Temps in the 50's today. Supposed to drop tonite. Thanks Wade

[Tom]

Wade,
I've used green stickers but it isn't recommended.  You could cut some from plywood or other preferably kiln dried scraps.

When you put Green on Green you are encouraging sticker stain/mold.

Putting a fan on drying wood won't hurt a thing. It's difficult to move air through the layers and stickers.  A fan will help where you don't have a natural flow of air.

Stacking under cover is a good thing.  keep the stack clear of walls, other stacks or anything that would inhibit the flow of air.

Cold air should slow down any mold or algae growth even though heat is prefered.  50 degrees isn't too cold.  

If the room is enclosed then you might have trouble gettin rid of the moisture that is drawn from the wood.  Watch that carefully.  It's not that the wood won't dry fast enough but that your shop doesn't become saturated. (You need some way of getting rid of the moist air)

Oh, keep a good air space between the floor and the wood (4-9 inches) so that it doesn't wick from underneath.

[Bibbyman]

You didn't say what you were planning to use the lumber for or how long you expected to keep it on sticks.  We will sometimes put oak lumber on green sticks when it's only going to be use for rough farm construction – and then we don't want to keep it there too long – like maybe a couple of weeks in the summer and a couple of months in the winter (in Missouri).  

In short,  use green stickers and you'll probably get at the minimum sticker stain.  In some cases,  that's no big deal.  But most people don't want striped wood in their coffee table.

[ARKANSAWYER]

Wade
  I would find some dry stickers for white oak.  The sap wood will stain pretty quick.  The fan would be good and as Tom said make sure the air can get all around the stack.
  Here is a large commercial kiln and they give away their broken stickers.  You may look around and see if there is one near you.
ARKANSAWYER

[sawmill_john]

Wade,
 I'd put down a vapor barrier on the floor.  I haven't dried any oak, just maple and soft wood, I used a dehumidifing kiln, a small Ebac unit.  You might look around in thrift shops for room dehumidifers, that would help, they don't use that much energy to operate.  I did air dry some redwood and used some green stickers, it did stain, but most of it was planed off so it didn't effect the look of the wood.

John