The Forestry Forum

say I started sawing oak timbers for a room addition, I stored them in the dry, how long before I should work them? Im sure it will take me a couple months to get all I need. Would they dry out too much?

I wouldn't want to go much longer. Last summer I worked white oak that had been sawn for about a year. Broke two chisels, two mallet handles and wore out three sets of rawhides and both of my shoulders. :D

That's gonna be quite a room.

You can cut them dry.  Just takes a little more effort.  It parrs a little nicer green, but you can still do it dry.  If you're using power tools for cutting and hogging material, it won't make a huge difference.  The flip side advantage is that if they are dry to start with, you won't have the shrinkage you'd have with green.

In many traditions, the wood is seasoned before cutting joinery. I often mention this when discussing Swiss building, that our tradition is to store the wood under cover for at least 2 or 3 years before using it. 5 years if you can.
This would include oak.