Walnut -- to kiln dry or not to?

[OlJarhead]

Howdy ;)  Been a while.

I happen to have a walnut being cut down tomorrow that I'm getting :D  Should be some good wood in it and it's free to me (except gas and a trailer to drive the 300 miles to get it).

What I'm wondering is whether it would be best to try to Kiln dry it once milled or if it would be fin air dried -- mostly use would be for making tables and such.

Thanks

[gersus]

I was hoping someone would've chimed in by now. 
My understanding is your wood would have to be kiln dried to be suitable for items such as a table. I'm new so I'm hoping someone clarifies. Especially walnut, it seems even more difficult to dry. 

[Crusarius]

my biggest concern is bugs. Air dried does not kill them.

[tule peak timber]

Bugs are a big issue for sure . For joinery or interior use I recommend kilning prior to fabrication. Rob

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

If you air dry, you will get down to around 12-15% MC.  Inside a house during the heating season, your wood will dry to 6-7% MC and that means about 2% shrinkage and sometimes warp.  So, after air drying, you need to dry the wood further...heated room, kiln, attic, etc.

Drying for a day or so at 150 F will kill any existing bugs and their eggs.

[OlJarhead]

I've only recently heard about using an attic but must admit that without air movement I'm skeptical.  We have a hot one!  But would it be worth it?

I have a guy with a kiln willing to do some drying.  Not sure what he would charge me yet but he's suggesting the drying can take 3 months for 8/4 - 10/4 slabs.

[Ianab]

Attic is an old school method. It's generally the warmest and driest part of the house, so any wood you stash in there is going to dry down to "inside" moisture levels over time.  You would want the wood "air dried" to 12-14%,. then just sticker it up there for a few months. Fans aren't really needed at that stage of the drying, it's only the last little bit of moisture to be lost. It will dry up there the same as if you build a piece of furniture and put it on your living room. Just you want that final drying done before you build nice furniture. 

Any bug prone woods I saw and dry I dip in a bath (or spray) with borate as it's drying. Any bugs that might be in green wood generally can't survive in dry wood. The dry wood ones come along later, and hopefully get a mouthful of borate when the grub first hatches. 

[YellowHammer]

Attics work fine as long as you don't over load them.  They are a ready made solar kiln.  

Hard to load with a forklift, though. :D

[firefighter ontheside]

It is said that walnut has better color when air dried than when kiln dried. I have not noticed it.  Many table designs will allow for a little wood movement.  You could build it with 12% moisture and then it can dry  and the small amount of shrinkage will be allowed for.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

If the grain is at an angle or varies slightly from spot to spot, then shrinkage results in warp as well as a size change.

The bug issue is important as well. 

[K-Guy]

If you have someone who will put it in his kiln. I would recommend air-drying it down as best you can and then putting it in the kiln. It will save you money and his kiln time. That way you can get a bug kill done. ;D

[OlJarhead]

That was the plan ;)  Air dry for a while and try to get the moisture down.

I have to think about how to do that in Moses Lake mind you as it is sunny a LOT, dry and get's pretty hot.  I don't want to leave it out in the sun but have a spot that does see more shade and could cover the top with plywood or something.

Normally I air dry at our property where it is a little less dry and much easier to shade the piles at least part of the time so they aren't just cooking in the sun on hot days.  Though admittedly I tend to mill in the wetter seasons and dry during them too and avoid milling for myself in July or August due to the heat and dry air.

[scsmith42]

It is said that walnut has better color when air dried than when kiln dried. I have not noticed it.  Many table designs will allow for a little wood movement.  You could build it with 12% moisture and then it can dry  and the small amount of shrinkage will be allowed for.

I heard that too so as an experiment I cut a foot off of a 4/4 black walnut board that was part of a green load in the Nyle DH kiln. I stuck the cutoff portion up in the rafters of a shed to dry.
A year later I compared the adjacent pieces. They were indistinguishable from one another. Next I planed them - also no visible difference.
It is well known that black walnut treated with wet steam in a conventional kiln will change colors. I have not noted any color changes in DH or solar kiln dried walnut.

[farmfromkansas]

If you have a steel building on your property, on a hot sunny day, it will probably get hot enough to kill ppb.  I put infected boards in an old galvanized grain bin, and it cleans them up. Helps if it is 100 degrees outside.

[OlJarhead]

What kind of bugs are these anyway?  I meant to ask before as I've only worked with pine and fir for myself (milled plenty of Walnut for others though) and am wondering.

My walnut is air drying in a stack now and has dropped about 7-10% so far.

 
Some of the thick stuff registered just over 40% at the end grain!!!  It's getting into the low 30's and high 20's now.