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NeoGaloot Steve O. asks:

[SNIP Happens]
> He had them hauled to a near by
> sawmill, had the trees milled and dropped off in front of his
> barn door.  So when he asked me if I would like to help him haul his
lumber
> up to the second floor of the barn in exchange for some of the wood, I
said
> sure.  There is lots of beech and ash and some oak and a little cherry and
> maybe other which I can't recall at the moment.The wood was piled and
stickered
> and has been drying for about a year and a half now, but some of it may be
> 8/4 or more.

> Should it be sufficiently dry at this point, or should it be left for a
while
> yet?  At this point I am in no hurry to use the wood yet, but was just
> wondering what your opinion is.

I will again state that I'm no expert at drying wood, but I've done a couple
hundred board feet, and I've read about lots more...

Seems to me that if it's been lying "in front of his barn door", it's not
going to be too evenly dry yet. Subject to all kinds of changes in moisture
content (MC) based on relative humidity (RH), which in the doorway of a
barn, will change drastically day to day, week to week...

In my experience, it's best to bring it into your garage (or other similarly
weather-resistant shelter) for something like 6 months, then bring it into
your shop/basement/area that is closer to the actual RH of where the piece
will be for a few more months.

Then it will be more uniformly dried, the bound water will have a chance to
get out. It will most likely develop some checking, etc. through this
process, but if you do it in stages as described, it should help...

----------------------------
Bill Taggart
On the road in Atlanta, GA
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