Drying Yew

[neilyweely]

I have got the yew I was promised, and now need to cut it into planks and dry it. I have figured a way to cut it (needs must) but am not sure the best way to dry it. If I put it into the loft, for instance, would it dry quicker than if I left it outside in the woodshed? Or what about the airing cupboard? If the Mrs could , well, if I could hide it well enough!!!

I did wonder about making a small kiln, as I have so much I will be drying over the coming months. But I know nothing about this sort of thing. I was gonna plank it to one inch thick and leave it for about a year.Does this sound about right? The tree was cut down a month ago, or thereabouts.

Any help appreciated

Neil

 

[Doug B]

Neil.
I tend to get planks cut a minimum of 1 1/2 thick.
If you go for 1" planks & you get some warping as it dries, then by the time you`ve "trued" up the planks it can leave you with very thin stock. Though of course it depends on what use you are putting the yew to & how thin you want your finished timber.
As for drying, don`t go for the loft. I store mine down the side of the house, in stick (1" sticks), with a bit of old ply on top to keep the rain off. All you need is plenty of ventilation, & to seal the end grain.
Good luck.

 

[woodbloke]

Yew dries fairly slowly iIrcc and splits badly so there might be a lot of waste, definitely outside in stick under cover and not in the loft or anywhere indoors - Rob

 

[neilyweely]

woodbloke, doug
Thanks a lot for that, and great you are both telling me the same. But sorry, what is 'stick'?
Am fairly sure I stack it so air can circulate all the way round, but do I need to do anything else? And what do I seal the ends with? Wax?

Do you think it'll take a year? Or more?

Thanks ever so

Neil

 

[wizer]

stickering is merely keeping the planks separated with thinish pieces of wood so that air can circulate around them, evening out the drying process.

 

[woodbloke]

And what do I seal the ends with? Wax?

Do you think it'll take a year? Or more?


Neil

Seal the ends with some watered down PVA glue or similar, each board should take about a year per 25mm of thickness when it'll come down to about 20% moisture content and will need further careful drying in a moderately cool room before use - Rob

 

[big soft moose]

I did wonder about making a small kiln, as I have so much I will be drying over the coming months.

the easiest way to build a home or 'shop kiln is to build an insulated box and stack your wood in it (in stick) - together with a dehumidifier - ideally you want the type that can set to continuos drain so you can run a hose out of the box .

lots of info here http://www.woodweb.com/KnowledgeBase/WD ... ction.html however note that this site is 'murrican and so you can ignore what they say about solar kilns as we dont have the climate.

 

[neilyweely]

Wizer, woodbloke, bsm ; Thanks guys.

Last week I got a phone call asking me if I wanted to come pick up a de-humidifier. Great, thinks I. Off we go, 25 miles, pick up a......
air conditioner. Great.

Anyway, The yew is now cut to 30mm approx thick planks, nice pale wood, grain full of interesting patterns/ knots. I also had some unknown timber, but when I cut it I thought it stunk of pine, or whatever, but definitely pitchy. However it was IMO quite good looking. I must try and get a camera working so I can show you guys and suss out what it is.

I guessed that was what sticks were. I will stack it all in the lean-to this evening and check in a year or so.

Would it help to put any weight on it whilst it drys out? To keep it flat/ prevent twist? Or does it not work like that?

Thanks again

Neil

 

[Doug B]

Neil.
Keep your sticks in a straight line, & as already has been said PVA is good for sealing the end grain, though i don`t bother watering it down.
I`ve seen piles of planks with strap banding wrapped round them, presumably to stop warping, but i don`t bother. If it`s going to twist, let it, better to release tension while drying, than have timber bow when you start machining it.

 

[big soft moose]

Last week I got a phone call asking me if I wanted to come pick up a de-humidifier. Great, thinks I. Off we go, 25 miles, pick up a......
air conditioner. Great.

my dehumidifier (Amcor 5 L capacity with contiuous drain) was 65 notes from screwfix. - if you are only building a relatively small kiln you dont need a high capacity expensive type.

 

[chipchaser]

Hi Neil,

I don't think that a dehumidifier is essential, some gentle heat should be enough to dry the timber. However, I believe that most air conditioners also do dehumidify the air. Check to see if the one you picked up has a drain to discharge, or a tank to catch, condensed water.

Regards

Graham

 

[neilyweely]

BSM, Doug and C-chaser, thanks a lot guys, will do as you all say (as none of your advice is conflicting!!).

Tell the truth I forgot to PVA the ends so far, but I will do it tomorrow, and surely this'll be ok?

P'raps I should strap it? I reckon the same as you Doug, will leave it to go mad for now, and at least I know what I am dealing with.

None of the pieces are longer than a meter, or wider than 8". So I am hoping to minimise twist and cupping anyways, what about shakes? I guess the PVA helps?

Thanks again

Neil

 

[Sgian Dubh]

... you can ignore what they say about solar kilns as we dont have the climate.

Not quite true BSM. I know of at least three, admittedly relatively small, commercial solar kilns operating in the UK. Here are links to two. Slainte.

http://www.cornishwoodland.co.uk/contact.htm
http://www.jonathan-guest.co.uk/solar-kiln.htm

 

[OPJ]

Cardigan College, over in Wales, also have a solar kiln, according to something I read in Good Woodworking a couple of months ago.

 

[Harbo]

OK this story is about oak but I can confirm the bits about wastage.
I have just planed down some oak that I bought rough sawn air dried last summer. Sawn roughly to size late Autumn and left to dry some more over winter (mainly because of the cold weather!! ).
The planks started off between 25 to 30mm thick but because of cupping etc. and their length (1.5m) some have finished up 14mm thick! (I had cut them down to about 250max width to fit my planer).
Not a great problem as I can adapt my design (for a CD storage unit) but in my experience the thicker the plank the better especially if you need fairly long lengths?

Rod

 

[Derek Willis.]

I went past someone's log pile the other day, and ninety per cent of it was Yew, all much larger than 150mm. dia.
I am not a turner, but I am considring making an offer for some of it, it must be a good idea.

 

[neilyweely]

Derek - Having seen the pattern of some of the grain in the small bits of yew i cut I am now a bit of a fan. The (rather small) burr parts are quite stunning, and I think there may be some unusual marking on some.

When I was chainsawing down the grain and the wood split above what I would call a 'node' (junction) there was a massive amount of blood red moisture. So much so that I checked all my digits to make sure I hadn't caught one on the blade. There was a patch about 6inches square. Really pronounceably red. And some of this had sunk into the wood slightly. Not sure what it was but am hoping it'll look nice when dry. Any ideas?

Thanks

Neil

 

[miles_hot]

I went past someone's log pile the other day, and ninety per cent of it was Yew, all much larger than 150mm. dia.
I am not a turner, but I am considring making an offer for some of it, it must be a good idea.

Too right - there's a number of turners (myself included) who love the stuff

Lucky you.

Miles