Seasoning Cedar

[MJBee]

Thanks for this section Admin, I,m surprised it's not full already

A query (made for Hivemaker) I got my hands on some 25mm thick cedar planks, they seemed heavier than usual and when I put them through my thicknesser after one pass I found them to be wet through. I don't know if they are saturated or just new green wood. I have stacked them under cover with spacers and am wondering how much volume I will lose when they dry out.
Regards Mike

 

[Hivemaker.]

Hi Mike
Cedar tree's are just like giant sponges,they hold a huge ammount of water. Often when milling it is like a tap has been turned on the planks.I cut to 25 mm and sticker and air dry some,and kiln dry most. sticker your stack well and weight on top as well,cover,but ensure a good airfow through the stickered planks,depending on the RH it takes three or 4 months from green. Kiln dry is 16 to 25 days with the kiln i use,12 days for scots pine. I dry it down to around 10% moisture content,mainly so it will machine properly,then it will go up in moisture content in use, to the equilibrium moisture content of the area you are in. You need to keep it out of direct sun while drying,cedar is very prone to colapse,because of the large moisture content,and you drying it out from the cells,like a plastic bag of water that you stick a pin in,but with the timber you want it to keep its shape. also thicker boards say 3" or so are prone to honey combing if dried too fast.it does not have to much shrinkage,if dried slow.With a kiln you can regulate this moisture loss to a certain % per day. I f you get lots of timber there are some good plans on the net for solar kilns,which are very effective,cheap to build and run. Also don't use the outer sapwood,its not durable,so will rot unless treated,and i have noticed a large manufacturer, with pics of hive parts that have white sapwood on them,this is not good.

 

[MJBee]

Thanks for that Hivemaker. 3-4 months sort of snookers my plans to make some brood boxes this winter
Just have to be patient and try and source some seasoned timber.
Regards Mike

 

[Hivemaker.]

If you have a spare small room and dehumidifier,that would speed things up a bit,and not hurt the timber,but don't cook it with heat.

 

[mikethebee]

hi hivemaker what do you know about under water sea ships?
you can try giving me the answer as a PM "that if you cant sleep?"
all the best mike

 

[Hivemaker.]

No don't know much about underwater sea ships Mike,have a good party,don't get to like it too much out there,you got all these hundreds of nuc's back here to sort out.