Drying stickers

[shawn55]

Has anybody cut 1" pvc pipe in half like a u shape and used those for stickers when drying lumber in kiln?

[moodnacreek]

Suggestion, saw 1x1" spruce or hemlock type wood with a saw that has some teeth bent out to make very rough boards. Try to imitate a gear rack.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

Shawn,
Yes this has been done, but the problem is that all the weight is on the very small edges where the pipe is cut or where the curve is.  So much weight will compress and dent the lumber and if the lumber is used for cabinets, furniture, flooring, etc., the dents will go deep enough to create a bump after the wood is put in use and the humidity increases...the compressed wood will spring back.

This would not be an issue with 2x4s, 2x6s, etc.

[doc henderson]

It may not be perfect, but when I cut a log, i usually have some outer slabs as I develop the cant, that I know will not be great for anything.  I often sticker a single log putting boards from the lowes junk pile from strapped palletized stuff as the first course.  It would be better if it was dry, but i cut a section of the board for length based om the width of the boards, then rip on the table saw dropping them into a bucket, to go outside and sticker.  One board will get me enough stickers to do a log.




 

[shawn55]

Thanks just heard that the other day and I thought the same thing but just wanted to get some other ideas on the pvc idea. Would 1x2's from menards bee best already dry?

[doc henderson]

I have been told that hardwood is best, but I almost always use wood from the same log.  I would think buying 1 x 2s costs a lot for a tiny bit of wood, esp if you own a saw mill.  somehow just one board the same width and length of the log I am stickering, is almost always enough to do the rest of the log.  I save stickers and the bottom pieces to reuse on the next cant of the same width.

[Southside]

Those are some nice looking stacks there Doc. You want a job?  :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Those are some nice looking stacks there Doc. You want a job?  :D

I think I said this before Doc but it must be nice to have something to fall back on in case that 'physician thing' doesn't work out. Now you have an bona fide offer to go with it. Ah, job security.

[moodnacreek]

Planed stickers are not the best. I once had quite a few but have been burning them as they come off. They will cause much more stain than rough. [if that matters] 

[doc henderson]

thanks SS and OG.  this has worked for me.  that was to air dry some walnut, maple and oak.  the square pieces are in my shop and is dry stock waiting to be legs on benches.  that way the tenons do not shrink more than the bench top.  I will let my current employer know that I have options and he better fly right!   :D  . good to know about rough stickers.  I use mine rough sawn.  I want to try nylon strapping so it can be re-tensioned as things dry.  I can move a stack to my container storage with the dehumidifier, or slide it into the wood shop.  I can move a stack with  a 2 wheel cart inside.  I also put several stack on a pallet and can move in mass.

[alan gage]

I tried buying 1x2 from the lumber yard but quickly had to go back to making my own when I realized how many stickers I'd need. It's nuts.

Alan

[Crusarius]

When I drop a tree I start cutting to length from the top down. anything under 8" is cut to 16" length for firewood, then I cut to 42" length for stickers till I get to nice sawlog size then I start cutting saw logs.

This gives me quite a nice stock of stickers. Since I now have a stock I am able to cut the stickers and put them in a stack to dry then cut the rest. so the next time I cut anything I already have stickers ready to go. I never realized how many stickers I would need. Nuts does not describe it.

[Ljohnsaw]

I picked up a lot of drying racks from a ceramic place.  They would dunk the pieces in glaze and put them on shelves made from 42" long 2x2's.  I pulled a LOT of them apart and ended up with this:


 
Something north of 500 sticks.  In the front is some 1x2 stock/stickers.  I then ran the 2x2s past my shaper making them H shaped.  I blew through those pretty fast.  I've since made another 500 or so 1x2's from side wood (pine).  They would be dry in a couple days ready to use.  When I broke down a lot of my stacks, I filled four 55 gallon drums with them.


 

 
These have all come down to be flat stacked on pallets.  They have been replaced with more stacks that are MUCH taller, mostly 1x material.

[alan gage]

When I drop a tree I start cutting to length from the top down.......I cut to 42" length for stickers till I get to nice sawlog size then I start cutting saw logs.

For stickers I prefer a log that doesn't quite make the length requirement for 8'+trim. The log is easier to handle and saw and then, once cut into stickers, I lay them out in bunches and cut them in half with a chainsaw. 
It would be a good deal more difficult for me to cut a 42" long log on my mill. But I do have some short fat cottonwood logs that might find that as their fate if I get bored someday. 
Alan

[Don P]

On the swing blade I make stickers as I go. If there is taper I might get one or two as I find the straight edge on each side and then depending on the width of the face and boards I'm cutting, finish out with a sticker or two. If we need a bunch I'll cut 6 1x6's then stand them up in the 90 degree pocket in the log and start dropping 1" increments. Cutting framing I've been scoring brownie points by making 2x2x8' mater stakes out of those same edgings.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

One of the best stickers is a dry pine or spruce 1x2 from a box store.  Actual size is 3/4 x 1.5".

Another good source are broken stickers from an operation that uses long stickers...6 or 8 foot long can be made into good 4 and 5 footers.

[moodnacreek]

Using 3/4' wide x 1' high very rough spruce sticks, I have air dried hard white maple with no sticker shadow. This done without restickering the pile.

[Bruno of NH]

I have some ash sticks ,clear hemlock and spruce