I saw some beautiful white pine in N. Minnesota. It's nice and clear and gorgeous looking wood, fresh sawn. Problem is, as it dries many of the boards get a blackened area. I assume this is a mold or fungus that invades the fresh sawn wood and stains it black. I've even put the fresh sawn wood into a shed to keep the elements off of it but it still gets that stain. It goes quite a ways into the wood, tough to plane it out. Can someone shed some light onto this problem and specifically how I can prevent it ? Was wondering about spraying some diluted bleach solution onto the green wood ? Thanks much.
When I worked at Grizzly tools we got in a bunch of tool crates that
got the black fungus. We sprayed the crates down with bleach and
all the black went away...
Is the wood just dead stacked, it needs to be stickerd for air flow. Especially with Pine.
Absolutely, the lumber needs air circulation until it is down to around 15% mc!
Keeping the elements off is a good thing but that cut down on the airflow for drying. Keep it away from walls, open all the windows and doors and keep a fan on it until it dries down below fiber saturation, when you make a fresh cut and don't see moisture inside. Alternatively outside in a breezy area, well off the ground, facing so the prevailing wind goes though the pile with well weighted tin on top to shed rain will work. If you are staining you're drying too slow, if the wood is checking you're going too fast, drive right down the middle between those two ditches.
Here in NC, I have cut green pine and stacked and stickered under an open shelter, only to come back a week later and see that most of the lumber had turned green. It is hard to keep pine from molding, even when it is stacked with good air flow. Hardwood is doesn't mold nearly as bad.
You can try spraying a fungicide and an anti-stain agent on the lumber when you stack and sticker. You can use something like AntiBlu XP64. I have never used it personally, but know a guy that uses it in a dip tank and it works well for him.
Sell it as naturally stained wood. Its organic too. 8)
I find it nearly impossible to keep the sap wood from molding on white pine. I've put boards that had dried for a year up on the exterior of a shed and the sap wood will still turn dark over time.
It will help when you're stickering your Pine if you keep the stacks narrow, like only three or four boards wide!
Just make it easy for the air to circulate through the stack!
Quote from: Chuck White on February 08, 2018, 07:37:48 AM
It will help when you're stickering your Pine if you keep the stacks narrow, like only three or four boards wide!
Just make it easy for the air to circulate through the stack!
This for sure. Bleach helps too! One cup to one gallon works for me. Another thing that helps is scrapping all saw dust off the boards with a sheetrock knife. Air flow and more air flow is the best.
Sticker the wood and put barrel fans on it. Lots of forced air. Scrape the sawdust off. The fans will dry the wood in a couple weeks to where they won't stain. Narrow stickers also help, or profiled in the shape of an "H".
Try a salt (1 cup)and pool chlorine (1 cup) solution mix in water (5 gallons). The chlorine will bleach but evaporate the salt will stay in the wood and inhibit new mold from forming. As stated good stickering and air flow are a must.
I just try to get lumber ahead before Aug. For me, that's the only time of the year I have trouble.
As far as putting stuff on the pine to stop it, I don't, What happens when a customer runs the lumber in a saw or planer. The dust with the stuff in it gets on or in my customer.
He or she gets sick or a rash from the stuff I put on the lumber. It might come back on me.
All lumber here is 100% natural.
Yes, I do sticker the lumber, use 3/4" by 3/4" stickers. Most dries outside, just put some sheets of tin on top of it. I do stack the piles pretty close together so that would certainly limit the amount of wind that gets at the pile. Maybe I'll try spacing the piles out so more air can blow thru it. Think I might experiment a little with some of the "spray on" ideas. At least I'm not the only one experiencing this issue. Thanks for all the feedback.
Bleach/water solution can help. Not more than 5% bleach. I've read studies that 2% is just as effective as 5%, and more than 5% bleach is of no additional benefit.
Quote from: Brad_bb on February 12, 2018, 11:01:51 PM
Bleach/water solution can help. Not more than 5% bleach. I've read studies that 2% is just as effective as 5%, and more than 5% bleach is of no additional benefit.
This is true Brad....from experience.
Seems I read too that too much bleach can break down the wood and cause the fibers to 'fuzz' up.
Bleach, and salt, both pulp the wood. They aren't particularly good for it, or for applying finishes to that surface later. I could say about the same thing for mold too though. Salt also corrodes fasteners, that would be the meat house floor I rode to the ground when I stepped inside. The nails were all rusted away and the bottom ends of the studs was just loose fibers. I brought a piece of that wood home and mice seemed to enjoy cribbing on it for the mineral. That was many years worth of salt.
I've read a lot of comments and it seems like the 1 cup of bleach per gallon of water will slow down the mold issue. When you stack your fresh cut boards do you recommend spraying the boards at that time with the mixture? I've been stacking mine in a three sided building with the front wide open for air movement. Should i still put fans in the back for more air flow