The Forestry Forum
General Forestry => Sawmills and Milling => Topic started by: stumpy on September 19, 2004, 06:18:34 PM
A customer of mine asked me to saw some logs he has left over from a log home kit. All I know is they are pine and have been sitting outside loosly covered in Northern Wisconsin. I don't know when they were milled or if they were dried.
MY QUESTION:
What should I have him do with them after sawing?
Stack and sticker?
Air dry or Kiln?
Any other thoughts?
Depends..... what does the customer want to do with the final product.? :P what size diamentional lumber, beams or boards? :P what kind of Pine? :P Depends ;D
I think you need to work out how dry they are now then decide what to do.
If you cut one open and get a sample then you can determine how dry it is, either with a moisture meter or drying a sample in a microwave and using accurate scales. If the moisture is over 15 - 20% then it will need to be stickered to let it dry some more. If you aren't sure, sticker them, it wont hurt if they are already air dry. Kiln or air drying depends on what he intends to use it for. If it's inside the house it should be kiln dried, if he wants to make a fence or a shed, air dried will probably do.
All depends... :D , but work out how dry they are, that will help you decide what you need to do next.
Ian