Beech wood processing

[shaneo]

So, the saga continues.
The beech has been sitting in my garage for just shy of two years now and it was time to take some out and have a look at it.
I've attached a picture so you can see for yourselves what has happened. It's the same on all of the wood.
So, bearing in mind my complete lack of wood-knowledge, my question, is this normal or is my timber ruined?

 

[custard]

Hi everyone, I'm back to bug you all for more advice.
I was wondering if anyone who has experience working with beech might know at what moisture % is acceptable to begin working the wood.

The beech has been sitting in an unheated garage with relatively decent airflow for almost 2 years now. I got a moisture meter from Lidl and tested the planks this weekend and most of the results were around the 12% mark.
Now I can't vouch for the reliability / accuracy of a Lidl product but there was a variety of around 0.4% across all the planks, the lowest being 11.8% the highest being 12.2% so it seems to be consistent if nothing else.

Ultimately, my goal is to turn these into slab table tops so there's little work to be done to them, mostly sanding and finishing.

Does 12% seem like an acceptable level to begin working the wood? 2 years seems like a short drying period to me but I'll happily admit I've no idea what I'm taking about. As always, any advice is greatly appreciated.

12% isn't at all bad for air dried, in fact I'm slightly surprised you've got boards as thick as that (50mm?) down to 12% so quickly. The old rule of thumb of one year for every inch is a bit optimistic, a year an inch plus a full summer is normally the minimum for timber up to 50mm, above 50mm and you might have to add another year, above 75mm and you might never see 12% deep in the centre of the boards.

 

[custard]

Incidentally, I make a lot of tables from waney edged slabs. I normally lay out the slab on trestles and work it flat with a hand plane. Then I leave it for a week or two to see if it's behaving itself. That's not a bad strategy. You don't need dead flat for a dining table or a coffee table, but if anyone will use a computer keyboard on the surface then you need to be a lot more particular or it will rock whenever it's used.

Good luck!

 

[Woodmonkey]

You'll probably find that staining is fairly superficial, but as custard said you'll find out once you start planing it.