Drying Wood
From RiceFamily Wiki
Freshly cut wood is full of moisture, and is unsuitable for woodworking. The wood must be dried to 12%-16% before anything can be done with it (other than Green Turning).
Having a log sliced into slabs or lumber can aid in the drying process, but the ends need to be sealed with something like AnchorSeal.
Once the logs are sliced up, the wood can be placed into a "kiln" to speed the drying process. If the wood is dried too fast it will damage the structure of the wood, leaving voids where the fibers have been pulled apart as part of the wood dries faster than the others.
Kilns
- Drying Wood with Dehumidifier Wood Kiln - How to Dry Wood
- https://www.pubs.ext.vt.edu/420/420-030/420-030.html - Design and Operation of a Solar-Heated Dry Kiln
- Woodworker's Dream: Handmade Kiln for Perfectly Dried Wood
- The Solar Kiln: Operations, Capacity, and the Effects of Building with Green Lumber Ep17
Pests
- From https://www.woodweb.com/knowledge_base/Heating_Old_Wood_to_Kill_Bugs.html --
- From Professor Gene Wengert, Sawing and Drying Forum technical advisor
- I would question whether you can fumigate white oak without using special procedures that would be very expensive. The property that keeps water (wine or whiskey) in a white oak barrel will also keep the fumigation gas out. Therefore, use heat. You only need to get the wood up to 130 throughout for 30 minutes to do the trick. The 160 F quote you have is likely for softwoods for setting the pitch.
