Pitch Won't Set

[bestillcody]

I have been setting pitch in our local Los Angeles softwoods for a couple of years now with good results. Suddenly I have been having trouble. I have an Italian Stone Pine slab that I cannot get to stop running. Ran it at 160 for a week, pulled it out, still runny, put it in again for another week. Still having trouble with the pitch.

Anyone have any suggestions? I am at a loss. 

[Southside]

What's the MC?

[Sawmill Man]

Did you give it a chance to cool off?

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

You need to go to 180 F.  As mentioned, the pitch is only set for room temperatures, where any remaining pitch will be hard.

[chandler]

How do you get to that high of a temp (180) to set the pitch? I'm new to this, but have a lot of eastern white pine that I plan to saw into 1x and dry for interior work. Have started shopping for a kiln and see that the smaller dehumidification kilns top out at 120 degrees. Is that enough to "set" the pitch in pine?

[K-Guy]

The DH kilns have a max temp of 120°F for drying. On the Nyle kilns you can raise the temp as high as 160°F if the compressor is turned off.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

Many small operations have a separate heating chamber for this.

[Stephen1]

Many small operations have a separate heating chamber for this.

How long do I have to hold  4/4 EWP @ 180F?

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

I would say that 12 hours at 180 would be sufficient.