Thread: How should I process this cherry

I can't claim to be an expert but if it was my timber for my use I would cut it into the size planks I needed now. The thinner the wood is the quicker it will dry. If you cut on a vertical bandsaw you should be able to get a high degree of accuracy and then at the dressing stage there will be less waste. You also need to allow for shrinkage as it drys but one may offset the other. After it has been recut it needs the usual process of drying (sticking and weights) in an area where it gets a fair amount of breeze and is dry. I have no idea of the drying time for cherry wood. One idea I heard about is to place a short length in the pack where you can get access to it. Weigh it and then check its progressive loss of weight to determine the amount of moisture lost in the whole stack.
Whitewood

Mate if you expect 'em to ever 'dry' - you'll have to cut 'em up. Rule of thumb for air dryin is 1" of thickness per year. Your blocks look to be around 1' thick or more so you're looking at 12+ years to air dry at that thickness and then after 12 years, if you cut them down, even just in half, they won't be dry in the middle.

So, if you want 1" boards later, cut them at 1.5" then as Whitewood said, stack 'em sticker 'em and weight 'em

If you lack a big enough band saw, I'd suggest you split them first with a splitting maul or even just a wedge of harder wood than the cherry. Once you get them to a manageable size, then you can saw them to what you need. But you need to saw them now.

I would definitely NOT saw them to exact size now, the wood will shrink and if it warps even a little you will have to re-joint it and it will be thinner than you require. Always allow at least 1/4" more than the actual size you need.
If you don't know what sizes you want don't saw them all too thin or you will be disappointed you didn't leave some thicker for coffee table legs or whatever. I would saw about 1/2 of the pieces into 1" thick, 1/3 into 2" thick and leave the remaining 1/6 as 4" or as is. That way you are covered. Cheery is also relatively soft so resawing is no big deal.

Get those ends sealed straight away or you will get splitting.

Thanks for all the input!

Yeah, my idea was not to saw them yet, let them dry first, maybe with a rigged-up solar kiln...

I'm looking to get 2" stock in the end...

I will paint the ends!

A question for you all... I've just bought a decent bandsaw and want to resaw. My question is do I need a moisture metre or is weighing better in your opinions?

Buzz

Originally Posted by Buzzard

A question for you all... I've just bought a decent bandsaw and want to resaw. My question is do I need a moisture metre or is weighing better in your opinions?

Buzz

If you can afford a decent moisture then it takes the guess work out ot the equation. If not then weighing is the cheap solution. I suppose the better the scales the more accurate the result.
Whitewood

With the moisture meter, what is the "correct" level of moisture? Is it different for different species of timber? Should this level be the same for say 6X6s as to 4X2s?

Mully

Originally Posted by Mully

With the moisture meter, what is the "correct" level of moisture? Is it different for different species of timber? Should this level be the same for say 6X6s as to 4X2s?

Mully

The final working MC should be the same irrespective of most species and size.
It depends more on where you live, eg 12% for coastal, 14% tropical and 8% desert)

Using weight is easy.

• Cut your self 2 short (6" long) reference pieces of 4x2 and 6x6.
• Put them in the oven until they weigh a constant weight.
• Divide the weights bey the volume of each and you now know the bone dry or zero density - these should be the same. The reason I suggest 2 pieces is as a check.
• Select a couple of testing pieces from the 4x2 and 6x6, these should be longer than they are thick/wide
• Every now and measure the density of the test pieces (weigh the test pieces and divide by the volume).
• When the test piece densities are within 12% of the reference piece density you are good to go