# Stickers



## SweetBJ (Dec 3, 2011)

Sorry to flood the forum with newbie questions, but this is pretty much a hole in the bucket issue: I need dry stickers to stack, but not sure how to dry the stickers!

I do have several shorter logs sawn to 4/4 that I was practicing with, and was thinking about cutting them on the table saw to 3" strips at 32" long, then drying them by the woodstove on a palette under the firewood logs. I assume they will check and warp a bit, but would that matter for stickers?

Just seems nuts to buy stickers when I have a saw handy. :blink:


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## qbilder (Dec 19, 2010)

I buy cheap lumber if i'm in a pinch for stickers. I either buy 1x2's or stakes, whichever is cheapest at the time. Last time I needed to stack lumber but didn't have dry available stickers, I bought a bunch of stakes for around $10 & was able to stack about 500bf. of walnut with them. One of these days I will saw a junk log completely into stickers & dry them so I have a load on hand. 

I usually quarter saw maple into 4/4 and once dry I rip into 1"x1"x32" squares for pool cue shafts. I'll cut the entire tree that way but only maybe 25% are good enough, so the rest become stickers. So most times I have 1"sq. QS hard maple stickers. But not every time.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

+1 qbilder. I use landscape stakes. Their cheap at the home store and you can cut them to the size you need.


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## MTL (Jan 21, 2012)

Aren't landscape stakes pressure treated? I thought that would be a bad idea to place against hardwood.


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## Dominick (May 2, 2011)

MTL said:


> Aren't landscape stakes pressure treated? I thought that would be a bad idea to place against hardwood.


Not the ones I got. Their only used for temporary applications.


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## Brian T. (Dec 19, 2012)

We can buy bundles (20?) of 1x2x8' for $16.00 or so. Junque wood but kiln dried. Lots of places sell bundles of "surveyor's stakes".

In the long term, I suggest that restacking to move the stickers is a good idea = sometimes there's an interaction between the stickers and the slabs that can make a "shadow" 1/4" into the slabs.

This MAY BE a load of horse puckey. I am tring to track down specific examples and I need to see the photographs of the facts.

Better safe than sorry.


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## ETWW (Mar 27, 2011)

You can just air dry the stickers. Anything at or <20% moisture content is fine. I sawed an entire 10" x 8' SYP log into stickers a couple of weeks ago and expect them to be plenty dry enough to use when I get back home in a few days. The narrow sticks dry out quickly.

I've also sawn lots of them on the tablesaw...mostly Pine but a few Cedar and even some ERC. Oak stickers will last longer but for a one-man operation, I find that Pine is fine. I cut mine 3/4" x 3/4" x 42".

Wet stickers will definitely result in sticker stain, especially on light colored woods. The stain can go deep enough as to render that portion of the lumber unusable for woodworking projects.


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## Allen Tomaszek (Dec 11, 2010)

I just use 1x2. They're cheap and consistent dimension.


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## Tennessee Tim (Dec 15, 2010)

I'm with Allen, I purchase 1x2 white wood (fir/spruce) (no stain transfer and pine ???) and lately has been alot of stickers. Consistency in most cases has been the same BUT the last few bundles from the home stores have sized down to 5/8 - 11/16"(everybody trying to gain a board!!!). I'm aware of this and as long as I use the same thickness sticker on all the same layer it stays flat....go to mixing thicknesses and 3 layers up you'll get warped boards.

My calculations just don't justify truely saving in sticker costs by cutting myself....maybe I value my time higher than others per hour BUT by the time I saw, stack, dry, cull, plane or resaw for thickness consistency....I can can cut several $$$$ of slabs in that time frame...which in turn overrides my buying costs from home store...maybe I calculate differ but $$$ per hr is what I look for in PROFITS.

* NOTE* I 95% of the time cut live edge so I don't have the scrap to rip either.

Have a Blessed and Prosperous day in Jesus's Awesome Love,
Tim


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## Logger (Nov 26, 2009)

If you have a cabinet shop in your area see if you can get the scrap from there rip saw, where I got mine anything under a 11/2" went to the dumpster. The thickness was always 13/16ths because they were ripping mostly for face frames and most times hardwood, pine stickers suck up moister to fast imho and need to ne replaced or staining or mold will be a problem.


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## SweetBJ (Dec 3, 2011)

Thanks for all the info! I've cut one of the oak logs down for the purpose (it was 22", but only about 40" long), and have stacked them in the old fireplace. The stickers for the stickers are of course green, but since they're just stickers I wont worry about stains. I may end up doing the same to the rest of the log, but cut them a bit thinner. 

I guess I'll know they're "done" when they don't weigh a ton and the basement stops smelling like tannin?

Some of the ash I've milled up has borer damage to the wood (not the emerald borer, just the plain old ones), so might do the same with that.


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## harrymontana (Dec 26, 2012)

what do you need to dry?

for AD drying we use stuckers 8mm x whatever width and length 3 ft (according to the pallet)
for KD drying we use stuckers 1" x whatever width

if your wood is volatile (not stable) then we recommend to strap the pallets. Please read for more on acclimating wood for AD drying and storage the link. This is how to place the stickers, sunlight, wind etc.


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