# Letting lumber acclimate!



## lateralus819 (Jul 22, 2012)

So i've recent purchased about 27 BDFT of sapele for my future kitchen table. It was a 15FT board and a 13FT board, had them cut them down to 4 FT lengths and kept the off cuts. 

This was monday, i came home, and immediately stickered all the pieces. 

I've been reading to leave it sitting for a week to two weeks. I'm not in a rush here, I just spent $270 in lumber and don't want to make things worse than they have to be. 

I checked them for flatness with a square and a lot of the pieces are great, some have a about a 1/16th cup which im not sure how bad that is, or if it can be remedied with a planer or not?

Also, the ends on 1 board cracked/checked, is that a sign of being too dry?

Also, since they were cut down to 4 feet, this has obviously introduced a new face to obsorb moisture. The pieces are anywhere from 10" wide down to 8". I'm going to try and keep them as wide as possible. Should i rip them close to my final dimension and let them sit before cutting to actual width/length? 

Any help is greatly appreciated! Rather not see this beautiful wood go to waste, oh and my hard earned $$ :thumbsup:


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## beaner5463 (Mar 13, 2013)

Checking and splitting is pretty normal, at least it has been every time we take stuff to the kiln and when we get it back it has a few checks and splits. 

A good simple wood moisture tester would work out great for you, most woods should be between 5 to 10% moisture by the time you start using it. 

Don't do too much cutting on the pieces until you know for sure that they are dry enough, otherwise you might influence some bowing, etc. That has been the experience that I have seen.


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