Oak Planks

[plug]

I have some 1" * 6" green oak planks I have had in my workshop for just over 1 year, also some 3/4" Junkers oak flooring ofcuts which have been stored for the same time. They have been rough cut to lenght and brought in my hallway to use on a couple of projects.

My question is how long should I leave them inside before I start using them and should I bring them back into the house every evening when building the pieces.

The workshop is dry but with no heating at the moment.

Cheers Paul

 

[9fingers]

There is no black & white answer to this and if we say "as long as possible" then that does not help either.
So I would say a few weeks in the house stacked in stick would be good.
It is humidity changes rather than temperature that makes the difference.

If you are a weekend woodworker then I would bring your results back into the house on Sunday evening for the week but not worry about leaving them in the shop over night.
Try and thickness symmetrically from both faces if you can. glue up any thin strips as soon after cutting as possible as they will move the most/fastest.

hth

Bob

PS Dont do as I did once and stack all my precut oak parts on my table saw overnight. I came into the workshop to find a rusty outline all over the table the next morning GRR!

 

[plug]

Thanks for the help, I am a site carpenter during the week and only really use the workshop at weekends and the odd evening, the timber has been indoors for just over a week so I think I will leave it abit longer before I start work on the projects.

 

[OPJ]

Whenever I bring air or kiln-dried timber indoors to acclimatise, I leave the boards long enough until I can see signs of 'movement' before I start machining. Things like wide boards cupping and splitting at the ends, I'm sure you know what I mean. I'll still try and leave it another couple of weeks and will always bring it indoors overnight. I find it's a fairly decent way to "guesstimate" the wood when you don't have a moisture meter. :wink:

Normally, people recommend about one year for every inch of thickness on 'green' timber. Sounds like you're not far off being ready to go with this one!