38 - Ring Boxes, страница 26

LUMBERYARD

Air-Drying

Lumber

It was a two-person job to lift the heavy slabs of lumber as they were sliced off the logs by the sawmill. And the rough sawn surfaces felt wet to the touch.

That's because as much as half the weight of the boards was water. So before Ted could use the lumber to build a project, most of this water had to be removed.

Fortunately, he had the perfect place to air-dry his lumber — a screened porch on the side of his garage, see photo above.

shelter. Besides sheltering the wood from rain and snow, the porch shielded it from direct sun. This prevented the boards from drying too rapidly which would cause them to check (crack).

air circulation. The porch also allowed air to circulate which

17o provide a solid foundation for the stack of lumber, start by laying out a row of 4x4 posts.

3 A row of stickers will let air circulate between the plywood and the bottom layer of lumber.

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needed a solid foundation. So Ted started by laying out a row of 4x4 posts that were spaced about 18" apart, see Step 1 below.

He also made it a point to check that the top surface of all the posts were even. If one post was lower, the boards above it would sag like an old horse. So to ensure that the boards dried flat, Ted laid a long, straight board across the posts and used shims ^^ to get everything nice and even.

moisture barrier. With the posts in place, he laid down a sheet of ³/4" plywood, see Step 2. The plywood stops dampness from wicking into the stack and damaging the boards at the bottom.

stickers. At this point, Ted disappeared for a few minutes. When he came back, he was carrying an armload of narrow wood strips (stickers).

Laying out a row of these stickers on the plywood allowed air to circulate under the bottom layer of boards, see Step 3. The rest of the stickers were used later to separate the individual layers of lumber.

One thing about these stickers is they weren't just any old scraps that Ted picked up around the shop. To keep the stickers from staining the boards, he^^ made them from clean, dry "two-by" material. Note: Hardwood stickers would also work.

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would carry off the moisture produced by the drying lumber.

STACKING LUMBER

But in order to accomplish that, the air had to move freely around every surface of each board. That required stacking the lumber in a careful manner.

foundation. Just like a well-built house, the lumber stack

2 Now lay down plywood to keep moisture from damaging the lumber at the bottom of the stack.

4 After setting the first layer of boards in place, just repeat the process as you build up the stack.

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