How to Keep Wood From Twisting and When is it Dry

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

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[@timothymallon]

4:05 Collie Pottin Blend! Brilliant, James!

[@criswilson1140]

I've never heard of cutting off a small piece of wood to use as a dry reference before this video. That is a great idea. Thank you.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

thanks. wish I was the one that came up with it.

[@scottswineford6714]

In the mid 70s what is referred to as white wood was marketed as " herfir" and vastly cheaper than Douglas fir. However you'd swear it was milled on the truck on the way to be delivered. A 20' 2x6 would drag on the ground when you tried to carry it on your shoulder. You'd get splashed sinking a nail and if you broke into a fresh unjt and didn't use it all you'd better reband it at the end of the day or you'd have a bunch of propellers the next morning. Saw some twist more than 90 degrees overnight in the desert. What happened to a pergola over a weekend without gussets and stickers bracings was like an fantasy. Good times.

[@proto57]

Very funny... thanks... "... you'd have a bunch of propellers the next morning" (!!!).

[@karl_alan]

Stickers are such a great way to dry things. Every time I get a new log cut up that I need to dry, I pick up a pack of landscaping stakes at the home center for a couple bucks & i generally have enough evenly sized stickers to do the entire project.

[@MCsCreations]

Fantastic tips, James! Thanks a lot! 😃 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@Panther_heart]

Wow thank you for this great video ! I'm learning woodworking and "the moisture of the wood" is almost more complicated to understand than craft something with lol...

[@GraemePayne1967Marine]

I am fortunate in having my shop building cooled and heated (a heat pump through the wall.) I also have a dehumidifier, because I prefer the %RH to be around 40% for my comfort. I have found that wood dries reasonably well in that environment. Of course, the intent was to create a comfortable environment for myself. Controlled wood drying is a good stroke of serendipity. Thanks for mentioning weighing the wood. I hadn't thought of that. Now I will go by having both moisture meter AND weight stabilizing at some value.

[@thewoodlesworkshop.157]

Hi James! Thank you very much for the advice supported by practice. I ran into everything you talked about today. Take care of yourself and your family. Bye Bye!

[@g1mpster]

Just restacked my lumber pile this weekend with stickers between the layers because it’s a real problem in my shop (pole barn) and I had a bunch of bowed hard maple, walnut, etc. Should be good as gold in a week or two. 👍

[@HeartagramBamCky]

Ordered the shirt as soon as I got the email!

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

thanks man!

[@jonathanlillpopp2869]

Very helpful! Thank you, James!

[@hassanal-mosawi6049]

Thanks for sharing that!

[@MacXimus2009]

Coly Potton blend! lol!

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

LOL only the best!

[@dougwatson2691]

MacXimus2009 All natural Potton!

[@FredMcIntyre]

Thanks for the info James! 😃👍🏻👊🏻

[@drawlele]

So "dry wood" is kind of like a "long way"; a completely relative term that varies from person to person. Like when walking and I ask how far is it to whatever and they say it's a long way because its 2 miles, and to me 2 miles nothing because I've walked 495 miles on trip before. Or when I'm in Florida and people are complaining that it freezing outside and the temperature is 40° but I grew up in Indiana and 40° is still shorts and a hoodie weather. I love relative terms, they make everything so darn aggravating.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

LOL something like that.

[@jimhyslop]

I just acquired some pine 2x6 x 12' that had been sitting out in the rain and snow for the last week. How far apart should I place the stickers?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

About every 2 ft.

[@GraemePayne1967Marine]

Any thoughts on building a solar kiln? Something like a greenhouse but controlled to higher temperature and lower humidity ...

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I have not but I have a few friends with one.

[@MrMNRichardWright]

What’s your opinion on painting the ends on fresh cut logs and rough cut lumber

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

yes that is best. the end grain will dry much faster then the main body of the wood so it will shrink. and that leads to checking. sealing the end grain will slow that water loss and alow it to dry more like the rest of the board.

[@ricos1497]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo What do you paint it with? I normally use an exterior stain/varnish of sorts, but is there something better? Or does it not really matter?

[@humancorrector-473]

@@ricos1497 you can use usual PVA glue for that without any problems, that will work 100%

[@ryanallthewiser]

💥 boom. Nice

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Woot woot. and he has another first!

[@ikust007]

Brilliant one ...again!!!Thank you very much. such a real issue...:(

[@woodpecker6910]

I was thinking of using the loft area in my detached garage as a drying area, my concern is here in PA our humidity levels reach 99%, would this be ok or should I look into a different solution??

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

It works it is just slower and some times that is a good thing.

[@joshwalker5605]

When you mill green wood, do you put wax on the end grain or no?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I usually use anchor seal if I have it and if I don't then I use a latex paint with a couple coats. Paste wax washes out and breathe too much. I do know some people who will actually dip the ends in wax or paint hot wax on and that will also work well.

[@joshwalker5605]

Wood By Wright How 2 ok cool. I was told to do the hot wax thing but i’ve always wondered about it. Appreciate the response (and all the videos of course)

[@Keithmwalton]

I normally just stand the boards on end across my tool well with space between them

[@Keithmwalton]

Inch per year then into the kiln to finalize

[@MatthewBuntyn]

How's the repeatability of the new Dr. Meter?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I have been loving it. I have used one of their other ones for a few years and you can't beat it for the price. I just got the new one and so far it is spot on. Usually within one percent of previous tests day after day.

[@MatthewBuntyn]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo That's good to know. Thanks

[@iakkatz128]

Hi James. While you do work in an air-conditioned space does't the humidity vary between summer and winter and does that not effect your wood. Sorry but one of my past hats was an HVAC one. For ease of calculations lets say you keep your thermostat at 65 deg. While your furnace/air-conditioner will keep the temp. within 5-10 deg. of that the humidity in summer would be around 70% or higher and 30-35% in winter even with a humidifier. Will that not effect the wood.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

the humidity int he shop goes down to around 40% in the winter and up to around 60% in the summer, but that is not enough to make a measurable change in the shop and it is slow enough that it does not cause a problem. The big problem is when the moisture swings 50+% in a single day like it would in a garage.

[@LegoMan-cz4mn]

I really wonder what causes twist?! I have a couple of guesses but I am still a little confused 1. The board has runout, when it cups, it will cup off axis and so two corners will stick out more than the other two. 2. Some kind of impurity, inclusion or knot throws everything off The reason I'm still confused is because I have a beautifull clear straigt grainded piece of quartersawn beech. But it's twisted Any idea?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

that is probably because the tree it came from was twisted and the fibers run out the face grain. even though t is straight quartersawn. that is the difference between quartersawn and riven lumber. also if it came from a part of the tree that had any pressure on it that pressure can release over time.

[@LegoMan-cz4mn]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo right, I see.. twisted tree is a very good posebility But are you trying to say that the twist in a tree straigtens out? That's cool

[@markkoons7488]

I bought some carefully stickered curly walnut in Fort Bragg, on California's foggy northern coast. The lumber had been air dried, stored in an unheated garage for more than 10 years . Its moisture content was 14% which lends perspective to the local preference for working highly figured wood with hand tools. When that purchase made it back to hot, dry summertime Wyoming, some of the 1" cracks had run to 6". Jim Krenov, founder of the fine woodworking program at College of the Redwoods, a few blocks from where the walnut had dried, was asked to air freight a small blanket-wrapped piece to a famous gallery on Long Island. The gallerist said when the piece arrived in New York that same day the door had split from the extreme dryness of the cargo hold at high altitude. Regardless whether a woodworker thinks moisture content is a practical rather than theoretical concern, it is.

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

so true. it is amazing what a fast change can do to wood. especially anything with figure.

[@scottroy6195]

Now... where the heck am I going to store all this wood for months??? Oh honey.... I need a bigger shop!

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

that is the answer for most problems!

[@rhys5567]

Maybe too niche. But off the affiliate links won't ship to gods land. Any chance of aussie friendly links?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

I would love to but I would not know where to look sorry.

[@malcolmsmith5903]

Scotland + garage = unfamiliar with this term 'dry' 🤪

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

LOL that sounds like all kinds of fun!

[@myrawright282]

🤣😂🤣😂

[@maciej9280]

same here Midlands in the basement :) if they dry enough, is enough :)

[@lotharerkens8154]

Lay he board flat. Next raise one end by about an inch. If no water runs off anymore, it is dry... I grew up in north western Germany, so close to the Channel, we had overcast weather almost every day.

[@mypony891]

Every inch is one year of air drying..... So if I milled a slab that was 12" by 144" I have to wait 144 years.....? I'm misunderstanding this right?

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

Every inch of thickness is a year. Or at least that is the rule of thumb. So if it is. 4/4" X 12" X 144" that would be one year

[@mypony891]

@@WoodByWrightHowTo ah, thank you. Sorry I missed that part. I think my slab is 2 to 3 inches so I guess that would take roughly 2 to 3 years. Still a long time but I suppose there isn't any use complaining as the complaint won't make it dry any quicker lol

[@myrawright282]

I'm here and watching, "this particular" channel! 🥰🤣😂

[@WoodByWrightHowTo]

LOL that is the way I roll!

[@brooklynpaul4003]

Comment down below.

[@kennethnielsen3864]

43rd.