I am sawing apple lumber, not familiar with the best way to dry it, opinions??

[NESL_Supply]

I shouldn;t say i am not familiar with the best way to dry it being that air drying is usually the best on this wood, I am more wondering if anyone has had success kiln drying this material, most kiln operators have told me it will check up too bad if it is kiln dried, what do you guys think?? Or would it be best to put it in a climate controlled, heated, storage area, thereby speading up the drying process. I have had luck bringing the moisture in lumber down quickly by this manor before. Shoot some ideas at me, i have 3000 BF of apple to saw and need to get some usuable stuff out of it, lots of spalting and some figure, rare stuff so i want to get maximum yield, Thanks

[slowzuki]

I have no experience drying any lumber but I do know the apple firewood I cut has funny grain and it gets really strange splits and checks just air drying in the shed.

[Back40x2]

Apple is a Pain in the @#$  I get to the point where I hate to cut it.  Whether you air dry it or not,  if that tree is not perfectly straight with no stresses, you can count on checking.  The lumber I have had success with, I air dry down to about 14% then it goes into my solar kiln and seems to be fine.  I have cut quite a bit of this stuff.  I have an old grown up orchard on my property, and I am always looking for the straight stuff.  I have to be carefull to leave to good ones for my Natural Deer Bait ;D :D ;)

Good luck, I hope this helps

[Curlywoods]

Apple is a Pain in the @#$  I get to the point where I hate to cut it.  Whether you air dry it or not,  if that tree is not perfectly straight with no stresses, you can count on checking.  The lumber I have had success with, I air dry down to about 14% then it goes into my solar kiln and seems to be fine.  I have cut quite a bit of this stuff.  I have an old grown up orchard on my property, and I am always looking for the straight stuff.  I have to be carefull to leave to good ones for my Natural Deer Bait ;D :D ;)

Good luck, I hope this helps

Fruit woods are notorously nasty woods to dry without defects such as checking and cracking.  I refuse to even mess with them anymore as I wind up losing in the end.  Never seen any of it make it cut lumber to dry lumber with enough left to sell.  I would rather beat myself in the head with a mallet than ever mess with any fruit woods again!

[Larry]

Mike, I guess that means your not gonna be interested in the fabulous bradford pear I have drying now? ;D :D :D ;D

Yeap...I've not had much luck with fruit wood either.  The only good thing is most of it is intended for small projects.

[Curlywoods]

Well Bradford Pear does not have any fruit, so it might be just fine Larry.  What I really want to see from you is some Bradford Pear crotches  8) .  Actually any crotch wood for that matter  :D  :D  :D 

[NESL_Supply]

Fruit woods are notorously nasty woods to dry without defects such as checking and cracking.  I refuse to even mess with them anymore as I wind up losing in the end.  Never seen any of it make it cut lumber to dry lumber with enough left to sell.  I would rather beat myself in the head with a mallet than ever mess with any fruit woods again!

Thanks for the info mike, and those who agreed, I have a small order, and a lot of good straight logs, he wants green, so i figure as long as it looks good when i saw it I have done my job right  :

He will be the one to dry it, already told him to air dry, Thanks  8)

[Engineer]

I cut a couple hundred BF of apple three years ago with a Logosol mill, and stacked it in the backyard to air-dry with stickers at 24" o.c. Most of it split at the heart or cupped pretty badly, but I can get some decent smaller pieces (6" wide x 5' long) out of what isn't split bad.

Apple trees are common as dirt around here, but the old gnarly ones are mostly gone - cut and burned by orchard owners making way for dwarf and pick-your-own trees.  I gotta find a couple orchards that would be willing to let me harvest a few trees for more lumber.

[NESL_Supply]

I cut a couple hundred BF of apple three years ago with a Logosol mill, and stacked it in the backyard to air-dry with stickers at 24" o.c. Most of it split at the heart or cupped pretty badly, but I can get some decent smaller pieces (6" wide x 5' long) out of what isn't split bad.

Apple trees are common as dirt around here, but the old gnarly ones are mostly gone - cut and burned by orchard owners making way for dwarf and pick-your-own trees.  I gotta find a couple orchards that would be willing to let me harvest a few trees for more lumber.

I searched for a while to find an orchard which had some good sized trees, they are in the process of converting to the new generation of trees, 6 incjes is good in my experience, once you cut out all the sap and the defects, I have never been able to buy more then 6 inches wide, usually it is 3 inches or so to get good red color, The stuff i have is spalted, much of it anyways, i opened a couple up with a chainsaw, very nice color, I am hopinf for the best, Joe

[bberry]

Old apple may be a pain in the butt but some of that old stuff is about the nicest stuff that I have ever used for small projects. It can have birdseye, striping, lacy effect, and burls. I use some for smoking and firewood. I salvage all I can get my hands on for the sawmill. You might say it is the apple of my eye. :D :D :D

[Back40x2]

bberry,      You are right about the BBQ. ;) ;)  We use it all the time for our pig roasts.  I have a DR chipper, and  I will take a bunch of small apple wood and branches, chip them up and soak in water for about 2 days.  Once the fire is lit and the coals are glowing,  I will add about 5-7 handfuls fulls of the chips over the coals once an hour until done.  AWESOME. 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)
It really does not get any better,  although cherry does quite well too! ;) ;) ;)

[woodhound]

I have about a hundred logs of apple from 20 to 30 inches 3 to 7 feet long is there any market for turning stock, haven't cut any yet? how thick would you cut it? thanks paul

[bberry]

    It makes fabulous turning and handle stock. Many years ago one of the major hand saw manufacturers used apple wood for only thier very best models. The color of cherry but more figure. You should advertise it for small projects and turnings. There are a wide range of thicknesses and widths needed. It appears to heavier and harder than cherry but maybe that is only the old wild, stuff that I get. Check with your local high school shop teacher. His students could probably use some. I made some small jewelry chests with musical movements out of apple many years ago and they still catch my eye.The beauty of the wood is an everlasting monument to Johnny Appleseed!!!! 8) 8)