# Newbie question: letting wood dry



## dyland123 (Jan 26, 2016)

So I have a connection with a tree service and I've got a piece of walnut, cut down with a chainsaw to approximately 4x4 size. 

My question is for this, or any other wood I get in the future, is how long do I have to let it dry before I can use it? 

Thanks 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## Jig_saw (May 17, 2015)

One inch thickness per year.


----------



## aardvark (Sep 29, 2011)

If you don't have a moisture meter, you can get a cheap one at Lowes for ~$40.oo.
Usable moisture is less than 10% and some want it down to 6%.
The moisture needs to be measured internally which means nipping off the end and checking it.
You'll have to do that during the drying phase.
When I get most woods down to 25% or less, I'll consider kiln drying it.
In this section (milling) there is a cheap kiln that I posted. You might want to look at that posting.


----------



## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

If it were cut into lumber the general rule is 1" per year thickness. This could vary depending on the climate where you live. In a very humid climate it would take longer. For a log not cut into lumber the timeframe would be closer to double that. A lot of members here that turn wood from logs will roughly turn the log leaving additional wood to be turned off later to shorten the drying time. The ends of the wood are coated with something like Anchorseal to prevent checking.


----------



## del schisler (Nov 5, 2009)

Jig_saw said:


> One inch thickness per year.


not so , i sure know that is what most say but that isn't true, it depends on the wood, not all wood dry the same some will be dry down in 6 mo. and some will take lot's longer , also depends in what part of the country you live in , their are lot's of ways to check drying and how to do it small pieces , if you have a digital scale weigh it now and than later a couple month weigh again see what it's doing , also get a moister meter would help also , you can make a small kiln also , lot's of ways to do this , good luck


----------



## aardvark (Sep 29, 2011)

Kiss the wood.
When spending time in the Michigan woods and needing to get a fire going, we would kiss the end of the cut logs to see how dry the wood was.
If you felt moisture on your lips, throw it aside and find another piece for fire starter.
Likewise I've used the method to get a general idea of how moist a log is.

Point being, even GOD gave us a free moisture meter. You definitely can sense the moisture. 
Fire was necessary.
But the reason for bringing this up is you don't know how long a tree has been down unless you cut it green yourself.

The one inch per year is a general rule and does work...but it's an average and depends on (as said) many factors. 

Get a moisture meter, cut and end and punch it.


----------



## thewalnutguy (Oct 31, 2010)

When I mill a log, I typically stack the material with stickers between layers on racks in a pole barn with cement floor and turbines on the roof to help pull air through the building. I'm in east central Minnesota, and I've found that the one inch thick material will very seldom drop below 16% moisture, normally closer to 18%, even after several years. I've tried stacking some of the "seasoned" material indoors, and found that it will take a year or so to get down to 10% (the house has central air conditioning). Before using material that's been stored in the pole barn for a year or more I'll run it through my kiln to bring it down to 8 to 9%.


----------



## MidGAOutdoor (Apr 7, 2011)

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/f26/cheap-kiln-setup-128793/


----------



## aardvark (Sep 29, 2011)

Thanks MidGa.


----------

