Air Dried v Kiln Dried

[Sawyer]

This is a very interesting thread. There is lots of folklore on the subject and non-woodworkers speak almost reverentially about 'seasoning' without any real notion of what it means.

As woodworkers, what we need is the hard science behind this subject. Thanks for the pointers already in this thread and I'd really like to know more. Anybody able to recommend any books or other sources which really get down to the scientific nitty-gritty?

 

[yetloh]

Welcome to the forum.

Undertanding Wood by Bruce Hoadley is the standard work on the science of wood for woodworkers and is quoted a number of times in this thread. It is American so some of the terminology is slightly different from what is generally used over here, but you won't find a better, more approachable book on the subject.

Jim

 

[AndyT]

You can read quite a lot of Hoadley's book here:

http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=...understanding wood&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

[Sawyer]

Jim, Andy,

thanks for that, Hoadley sounds just the job. I'll take a look.

 

[Sawyer]

Thanks again for the recommendation; whereupon I went on Amazon and bought Understanding Wood , which arrived yesterday. It looks excellent and I think I'm going to benefit greatly from reading it.

Great forum too, by the way. Also of much benefit to me and no doubt everybody else who participates.

 

[Mr T]

I have recently joined the forum and have yet to explore it thoroughly. I am teaching myself wood bending, steam bending, and hot pipe bending. For this I need air dried timber, ideally. Can forum members suggest suppliers to get air dried wood from, particularly in the north of Enngland?

You could try Nidd Valley Sawmills near Summerbridge. You could call in and see me in Blubberhouses on the way if you do.

I tend to use KD exclusively, mainly for economic reasons eg lack of space for storage, concerns about getting AD down to correct MC in time for the job etc. However I do have some walnut drying in my garden, I end sealed the boards and have had almost no end shakes.

Chris