Drying reclaimed floor joists. Help needed

[greenpoint]

Hello,

This is my first post and I am quite a noob when it comes to woodworking.

I salvaged about 17 old growth floor joists (4"x7"x4ft) from a near by renovation.
I live in Brooklyn NY and I have a tiny yard which is where I stored the wood since I got it. I would like to make some furniture from the joists, just for fun - I am by no means an expert or craftsman. For my first project, I want to make a simple desk for myself, using the joists for both the legs and the top. I will probably use two to three pieces. I had a bit of rain last week and now some of them have mold. My questions are as follows:

1. Should I remove the mold with some bleach and water?
2. Do I need to dry the wood?
3. If I do need to dry it - how can I do it without too much of a hassle? (sun drying it?)
4. After the wood is ready to be worked on - what steps do I need to take to get it from where it is, to the point when I can use it? any tutorial for this will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[beenthere]

Welcome to the forum.

1.  The bleach solution should do well getting rid of the mold
2. Then you should dry the wood, and protect it from more rain. Stickers (strips of wood) between the wood blocks should allow for air circulation and keeping the pieces dry.
3. Sun drying should be fine, but a cover to keep rain off is needed.
4. You may or may not want to surface the pieces for whatever furniture you have in mind. Additional woodworking will give you new surfaces that may not be what you want. All depends.

A pic of the blocks and where/how they are stored may lead to some better help/suggestions for you.
What woodworking tools do you have available, and/or space for to work up these blocks?


Look forward to your project.

[red]

what kind of wood

[greenpoint]

Beenthere,

Thank you for the info.

Here are some pictures of the wood:
[img width=600 --Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--.com/albums/hh270/ubgone/1public/IMAG0592.jpg[/img]
[img width=600 --Photos MUST be in the Forestry Forum gallery!!!!!--.com/albums/hh270/ubgone/1public/IMAG0588.jpg[/img]

I will get a cover.
I have a circular saw and impact driver. I can cut and set up my intended table without much trouble. BUT: I am unsure how I need to treat/surface/finish/I don't even know how it's called, it... I want it to be nice and smooth. I am a student so I will mostly study on my desk...

Red,
I have zero clue about the wood type.

[beenthere]

Work on getting the mold cleaned up and the wood placed where it can stay dry, with good air circulation around all faces and edges.


Then, look into how to upload the pics you have.  They need to go into your own gallery first, which is not tough to do.
First Set up your own album on the forum to put your pics.
You do that by going into your profile.
Second, read the tutor thread in "Behind the Forum" found on the Home page to get additional information on posting pics as well as a short video on how to post pics.

Third Follow the Upload Java Uploader (found below this posting window).

We might be able to see some of the wood grain on the ends of some of the pieces if there is a clean sawcut and a good close-up pic.
Might make a difference how you go about making tables if this is a softwood such as pine, or a hardwood such as oak.

Circular saw? What size blade, and is it portable or a table saw? 

Maybe we can help get you a table or two put together.  8)