Air Drying Western Red Cedar

Ruffneck · May 30, 2014, 11:22:41 PM

I'm going to start stacking and stickering my WRC tomorrow. I remember getting a sticker stain/fade doing this before. What is the best way to dry it? Can I use green cedar stickers? Wish I could remember the exact details leading to the problem.
Milled some cedar for a neighbor a little over a week ago. I started using some dry pine but ran out fast and started to make more from the same log. Any worries about it sticker staining/fading.
I ran it through the planer and it went away ;D

Ianab · May 31, 2014, 12:33:23 AM

Most common reason for sticker stain is green stickers. Best way to avoid it is dry stickers ;) :D Got any more dry "junk" wood that you can make stickers from?

I do use green stickers on the local cypress and cedar, and seem get away with it. But with more stain prone species you do need that dry wood.

Ian

WDH · May 31, 2014, 07:38:45 AM

Good air flow will also help the wood dry well without sticker stain. This presupposes that you are using dry stickers like Ian indicated.

Ruffneck · May 31, 2014, 12:52:10 PM

Thank you for the quick replies. I have some dry pine I'll rip down to stickers for today's delivery.
How long could it take for the 1x1 cedar stickers take to dry out enough to use? The cedar I've dried in the past seemed to dry in a short time. I'm just happy I don't have to deal with the humidity here in the Pacific NW.
I can remember driving by a portable sawyer's place when I was younger, He had his boards drying standing up leaning against some sort of rack. I can't picture how he could do that without them falling over like dominoes.
I have decided I need to build a kiln. This milling thing gets more and more involved everyday ;D

Ianab · May 31, 2014, 03:50:59 PM

The vertical drying is actually a valid method, but what you need to do is move the boards regularly so they don't bow from leaning one way all the time. This is labour intensive, so it's not popular, but it's not totally crazy either.

Ian

GeneWengert-WoodDoc · May 31, 2014, 07:28:53 PM

I have seen vertical stacking. It is neat because you do not need stickers IF THE WOOD IS NOT PRONE TO WARPING. Many tropical species have very straight grain, so I have seen such stacking methods in tropical countries. It achieved rapid drying so that the wood could be shipped without risk of staining.

I have seen it only once in the U.S and that was a Colonial Williamsburg.

Basically, there is a platform for the ends of the lumber to rest on and a horizontal pole or beam running about 8' to 12' above the platform, full length. It was held up with posts. Lumber was then stacked alternating side to side so that the weight did not push the post or beam over to one side. The stack looks somewhat like a letter "A" and in fact it is called A-Frame piling or stacking.

GeneWengert-WoodDoc · May 31, 2014, 07:47:35 PM

End racking or A-Frame piling

GeneWengert-WoodDoc · May 31, 2014, 07:59:52 PM

Ruffneck · June 01, 2014, 12:44:38 AM

Is WRC prone to warping? I thought I had plenty of my dry planed pine :D They go fast!
Got my first weeks' share of the bounty. I got the eight footer stacked for drying but ran out of light and just stickered the sixteen footers back on the trailer for now.