Mill sawn timber - a few questions

[flintandsteel]

Just picked up some timber from the local mill.
I have Ash, Beech and Sycamore.
The previous lot I stored in an old well ventilated greenhouse and it dried out nicely.
Just a few questions
1) I'm aiming to trim off the edges to make stacking tidier and maybe speed drying a fraction. No point in drying out the scrap edges.
2) Would it be sensible to cut down to anticipate near final width board at this stage? I'm thinking not but would appreciate an understanding of why to or not to do that.
3) Can I treat the timber in any way to inhibit mould growth? Last time the Sycamore was a bit of a problem and some of it marked right into the timber.
4) Is it sensible to run it through a planer at this stage or would be about 18-20% moisture be too much to handle and be detrimental to the planer in any way?

My thanks
Jon

PS. I see the forum shows a "has thanked" x times in my profile. How do I do that or is it something that's not used much?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

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Paint the ends of your boards with something. You may find a greenhouse isn't the best, as there's too much variation in humidity and temperature - but if you've done it before, it may be OK. Probably best not machine it yet - there'll be more movement and maybe even more waste.

 

[Penny]

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[AndyT]

I'm no expert on seasoning but if I offer a few answers it will bump your question up into the New Posts listing.

Afaik, normal practice is to leave the bark on - it will delay loss of moisture through the edges. You want the boards to dry out steadily and evenly through the surfaces. A bit like leaving the crust on a slice of bread. As Phil has said, you should paint the ends so as to delay rapid loss of moisture through the ends which would lead to cracking. Any old leftover paint will do.

Don't cut anything down in width yet - when you know exactly what you are making you can lay out your components to work around any flaws and minimise wastage. There is no point wasting wood now cutting to standardised sizes which you will need to reduce again later.

No treatments at all. Minimise mould growth by maximising fresh air around the wood. Timber drying sheds for air drying are normally open to the sides, so prop your greenhouse door and windows open.

I would not attempt to put wet wood through a planer. You would gum it up with a sticky, resinous mess.

 

[Sheffield Tony]

I agree with Andy - although 18-2% is not very wet (presumably it is part seasoned already ?) it may well move some more as it dries - planing at this stage may be wasting your time and reducing the thickness of the boards you eventually get out of it.

Taking the bark off will speed drying a lot, increasing chance of splitting. I'd leave it on. The possible exception being those woods (eg elm ?) that are prone to woodboring insect attack - a lot of these will only lay eggs in the bark, so stripping it off will reduce risk.

I think Sycamore is difficult to dry without staining because of the sugars in it (think maple syrup !).

 

[custard]

To stand a chance of getting the snow white Sycamore that we all want, the tree has to be felled in the winter when the sap's down, lifted up off the soil within a few hours, and dried "end reared" (standing up on end so it doesn't stain where it's been in-stick). A spring or summer felled Sycamore will always go an amber/yellow colour and be prone to discolouring bug attacks. Even so Sycamore's a breeze compared to Holly, my Holly stocks (for inlay and stringing) are running very low and I've been searching for two years now for good quality replacements but without any luck.

 

[heimlaga]

If theese boards are air dried aldready they were probably felled in winter and sawn in early spring whickh is the correct way of doing it.

18-20 percent means that your wood is air dried already. As dry as you can get it in an unheated environment. Then an old well ventilated greenhouse will be a pretty good storage space provided that you can stop moisture from rising from below. If I was regularly using a greenhouse for wood storage I think I would schovel out some soil and put in some plastic as a moisture barrier and put some gravel on top of that.

I have found it to be very important to have thoroughly dry stickers between the boards. Pine (scots pine) is not very good for stickers in my experience. Spruce (norway spruce) is way better. I also remove all bark (except on some birch) to keep the woodworms away. In my oppinion most of the cracks that develop because I remove the bark will end up in the waney edges that are removed anyway when the board is used.

The reasons for not planing nor edging boards to near their finished dimensions at this stage are to waste as little useful timber as possible.
If you for instance plane boards straight and to an even thickness before drying them down a bit more you will have to plane away the newly developed additional cup before using them. Planing a board straight and flat in two steps wastes slightly more wood.
All boards will get a bit dirty and dinged and dented in storage. When you make the boards flat before use you also remove all dirt and dings and dents.
If you plane a cupped wide board flat it will end up thinner than if you cut it down to near finished width before planing.
Live edge boards are usually a bit tapered. When you know what exact parts you want to get out of every board you may take the wider parts from the wider end of the board and the narrower parts from the narrower end and get less waste. For certain uses (wide panels for instance) you may even make the individual parts taper in width to make maximal use of your tapered boards. That was how the oldtimers did all the time.

 

[flintandsteel]

Thanks gents
It's more or less what I was thinking but interesting to know more about Winter felled Sycamore. For my work the Ivory tinged Sycamore isn't really a problem. I guess I'm also fairly lucky living only 15 miles from a traditional sawmill and I can to a degree pick through a stack. Yes these are air dried timbers but outside stored. No under cover stock. They move a lot of timber so more than likely felled within the last 2 years.
This mill only carries Ash, Elm, Oak and Sycamore.

The greenhouse is dry and stood on a solid concrete base so no moisture access. 4 low level vents wide open, 2 roof vents and door open.
I'll leave the edges on till dryer. Mine doesn't have to be a precise art and I can work within reason with what the board will give me. I certainly wouldn't cut to actual size till the stock is ready.

 

[flintandsteel]

One more thought.
I finish timber with a coat of linseed oil.
I feel it may help slow down any further evaporation of moisture when transferred into a home environment.
Finished timber is usually in the 8-12% moisture range. Sometimes a little less.
Anyone have any more informed viewpoint on that?