Wood Question

L

LGerber

Guest
Hello brethren, I have a question that hopefully someone will be able to answer. I have a friend that works at a hardwood mill. They basically take the hardwoods and after drying them plane them down for trim that you use in the house. He told me that the wood is kiln dried but I am not certain exactly how they dry it. I do know that the would has a great look to it, but here in lies the question. The friend told me that he can get me large hunks of this wood whenever I want and he even brought some home for me to check out. I have a hunk of cherry that is probably 4"x6"x4' long and there are 3 or 4 pieces of oak that are the same size. I would really love to be able to use this wood as its already dried and ready to go, but I dont want to run the risk of getting into something that might make people sick.
Any insight into this situation would be greatly appreciated.
 
Google is your friend...

KILN DRIED VS AIR DRIED (MOISTURE CONTENT)

Dried wood falls into 2 categories: air dried and kiln dried. Quality, air dried wood has
a moisture content between 12% and 20%, on average. This is wood which has been
dried by exposure to air out of doors, or in an unheated shed for some length of time.
Kiln dried wood has been dried with artificial heat in a strictly controlled chamber.
Finish grades of kiln dried wood have a moisture content of 6% to 12%. Kiln dried wood
tends to be softer than air because the kiln process stops the hardening process. Air
dried wood gets harder and harder the longer it is dried in the air. This is why furniture
makers prefer air dried wood has been drying for many years.

Carvers prefer kiln dried wood but thick wood dried in a kiln has some built-in problems.
Defects such as honeycombing, splitting and checking can occur. It is better to use glued
up wood for larger projects. By using glued up wood, which is at least 2 layers laminated
together with an adhesive so that all the grains are running essentially parallel, can
greatly reduce the occurrence of such defects. An addition benefit of laminated wood is
improved strength and stability.

Hope it helps to answer your question...:biggrin:
 
Use it, as long as it has not been treated with any chemicals. Free wood is a good thing. Kinda like reaching into your coat and finding a $20.:-D
 
I say what others have already said. As long as it is not treated with chemicals its good to go.
 
I think kiln dried is the worst wood you can use. Heck, it probably doesn't have the fresh steam you can get from non-dried wood. So, have him pack it all up and I'll schedule a time to come up there and get it. You need to properly dispose of it and I happen to be a licenced kiln dried wood disposer. :-D

Really, kiln dried is just a method of getting moister out of wood. And as everyone has said, if there's no chemicals on it, then it's fine. I use scraps from my wood working hobby in the pit all the time.
 
Thanks for the input brothers, I was kinda thinking it would be alright but in todays world you cant be too safe. I may even throw a few pieces in the old grill and see it if smells funky or not.

Thanks again
 
I wonder if the fact that air dried wood is harder also means that it is more dense? If so, do y'all think that means you would get better burn times from air dried wood? I guess burn time doesn't matter in your case since you're only using the chunks for flavor but I was just wondering...
 
Just as long as you stay away from the Chinese wood. It might have lead or anti-freeze in it...
 
Weel from my understanding of this operation is they get it the cut trees and then rip them down to a standard size then kiln dry them. From there they then plane them down into trim for the home.....door casing, cove molding and the such. I have seen some of the trim they produce and it looks very raw and untouched to me. It actually does look really nice with the bare oak...lol

I think when I get the chance I will pick the brain of my neighbor a little more and see if he can she some light on the subject.....thanks again everyone
 
Az has good point. kiln dried might burn hotter and faster with less moisture in the pit. So you might have to adjust accordingly.
 
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