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Seasoning timbers #1613 04/24/05 05:23 AM
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Woodchuckle Offline OP
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I will be building a timber frame home in about 10 years from now. Since I have some time I want to cut my timbers now and let them dry so I can have more stable timbers and tighter fitting joints when I do build. I've read that debarking the log and letting it season for a year before milling will give you a more stable timber. Would it help to wait longer than a year? Should these logs be protected from rain and sun during this seasoning process? I will be end sealing the logs.

Re: Seasoning timbers #1614 04/24/05 07:10 PM
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Emmett Greenleaf Offline
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Woodchuckle,
There are many bits here on the website about drying logs/timbers prior to milling. Use the search enging for details.
The fairly constant thread:
Fell your trees when they are dormant (mid winter)to avoid a lot of sap runs.
Endseal.
Protect from bug infestation.
Stack with stickers to allow airflow.
Protect from the sun and the weather.
Over a long period of time (depending on ambient temperature, humidity and wood species) the moisture content will slowly diminish from the high 20's % to around 15%. You will experience some checking and some twist or longitudinal warping. When you mill for timber you will have to carefully choose each log to best meet the needs of a specific location in your frame.
The driest wood is made by using the radio frequeny enhanced vacuum kiln. The creates a furniture looking finish on species like doug fir.
As the wood gets drier it requires the joinery to be cut quite carefully for a good fit as the shrinkage you would experience in green does not occur anywhere near as much. Using RFKD material there is essentially no apparent shrinkage over time if you endseal as you go.
Only you can fill the equation of cost versus time versus quality of result.
deralte (aka Emmett)

Re: Seasoning timbers #1615 04/25/05 10:15 AM
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Will Truax Offline
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A couple thoughts…

I would not attempt to store logs, too hard to create air flow, too slow to season.
Bring in a portable sawmill and mill oversize cants, no thought as to final dimension just square them up.

The wintercut advice from Deralte is good stuff, you start with a lower moisture content
And there are fewer sugars and other attractants to invite in molds and borers and other beasties.

Sun & rain, I would only do this if I had one of two things. A large open shed I could devote to it for the duration, or an ample supply of heavy guage galvanized steel decking. Anything else becomes a maintenance headache, tarps and beetleskins pool water and don’t hold up to UV and will require regular replacement and if not replaced when they begin leaking they will do more harm than good. Metal roofing blows off, though if this is long term perhaps you could screw it down. Rather than regularly chaseing the metal and picking up the thousand stones yet again

Rip up and use 1 ½” PT stickers, greater air flow, you can visually inspect to keep the rodent nests to a minimum, and they will help minimize sticker rot.

Bunk these lifts of timbers up only over a barren soil in which next to nothing will grow.

You’ll find that your planned frame will evolve over the years. All the same if you have the means to fit your long range vision , it’s well worth the doing. And something of a luxury few of us have opportunity for

Be your best


"We build too many walls and not enough bridges" - Isaac Newton

http://bridgewright.wordpress.com/

Re: Seasoning timbers #1616 04/26/05 08:10 PM
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Mark Davidson Offline
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Just to play the devil's advocate, why not leave the timbers in the forest where they stay in good shape with no effort from you, and wait till one year before you build to cut them? The joinery would be easier to cut..... one problem with cutting oversize and waiting ten years is that the wood on the outside of the cants will check and lower the quality of the boards by quite a bit... Is this hardwood or softwood?

Re: Seasoning timbers #1617 05/02/05 01:15 AM
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Woodchuckle Offline OP
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I will be using red oak. I need to cut a number of trees just to make room for the house. I plan to harvest most of these logs in the winter. I plan to stack and sticker them with 1 inch stickers and leave about an inch between each timber horizontally. Then top the pile with another row of stickers topped with two 4X4's running length wise, covered by boards that give a 12 inch overhang, and cover the boards with a plastic tarp. Then place a couple of boards running length wise down the pile covered with a few concrete blocks to keep the top in place. I've put roofers felt under and around the pile to keep anything from growing into it as well as control ground moisture. My main question is how long to leave a debarked log season before milling. I've read any where from a couple months to a year.


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