Back in June 2013 I updated you on how the air-drying process was progressing. At that point I learned the location of my stack was impeding the drying process, and outlined some steps I took to counter those challenges. What I don’t think I mentioned in that update was that I took the top layer of my stack and moved half into my wood storage shed, which has no climate control, and half to my shop, which has heat and a dehumidifier, but no air conditioning.

Here’s an update on the boards that went from the drying stack to the shop. As previously reported, they went into the shop on June 1st with a 10.5% surface moisture content and 13.5% at the core. On August 24th the surface reading was unchanged. Come December 15th the surface moisture had decreased to 7% (I failed to record the core reading). On January 4th the surface is still 7% and the core is 9.5%.

While there is still a small disparity between the surface and core moisture content, I’m going to use these boards now. Because they’re quarter-sawn, which will confine movement perpendicular to the face, and because I will remove equal amounts of material from each face during the milling process, this disparity is not enough to cause any problems – with a couple caveats.  The caveats are this, first as I mentioned earlier as I mill I need to remove equal amounts of material from each face; and second I will do a rough mill, then sticker the wood for a  day or two, before doing the final milling.

In summary, that’s 18 months sawyer to tablesaw. I’ve put this lumber into the pull for a dresser I’m starting soon.

Book-matched 5/4 swamp oak and the air-dried QSWO for a dresser build.