Just finished milling some butternut and thought I would post up some pics for advice/opinions on my drying stacks. I made some adjustments to my set-up based on comments (much appreciated) from my first attempt posted a few months back. I'm hoping to use the butternut for a tv cabinet to match a corner bookcase that I have in the same wood. I centred my spacers every 16", used a ratchet strap to compress everything then bound the whole stack with strapping from Baillie's. Painted the ends and am drying in a shady spot. Top covered with old fibreglass panels. Am I covering all the bases here? Sorry about the duplicate pics.
Beautiful lumber . Butternut is a species at risk here in Ontario now and therefore protected. https://www.ontario.ca/page/butternut-species-risk
I have only started reading up on milling myself. I couldnt part with my ratchet straps for a whole year! Are the very ends stickered too? Hard to tell from pics. Aside from that looks proper. Lots of weight on top is ideal. Where's Shawn Curry and mdavlee ?
Looks pretty good to me. If you could add weight you would be even better off. Check those straps once a week as the wood will shrink.
Looks great! You're gonna have some beautiful lumber in a few years! That butternut can look just like white oak, but its 1/2 the weight. Nice looking stuff you got!
Oakville, Ontario. Standing dead removed as a hazard tree, with the towns permission and permits. There are still 2, 8' clear trunk sections lying on the ground ready and waiting. It's a bit of an adventure getting at the wood, that's one of the reasons I want to make sure I do this right, and of course the scarcity of the wood.
This time is stickered right to the end. Thanks to Shawn Curry for that tip. I only used the ratchets to pre- tighten the whole load, then used the orange straps from Baillie's to keep the tension on. Seemed to work well and it frees up the ratchet straps for future work.
Butternut should dry nicely. I've had good luck using row of cinderblocks over each row of stickers. Sometimes, I'll wrap some burlap around the pile this time of year to keep the sun and wind down to keep it from drying too fast. My drying area is not completely shaded.
I didn't even realize you were from Ontario too. Nice work and best of luck. Rare wood and worth preserving. Edit: Let me know if you want a hand getting the rest
Great idea with the burlap. I was racking my brain trying to find some type of mesh tarp to keep the sun out but let the air pass through. Burlap coming tomorrow.
Looking good Smoketr1973. There's a Tube video about wrapping slabs in plastic...... Predecessor video to firewood solar kilns, but for slabwood.
Agreed, Mike.... Got to be careful with such beautiful, al beit rare wood (for those parts up north). FWIW, I was citing this guy's practice, not my own experience.
Beautiful lumber, looks like you guys covered all the bases! Still waiting for a couple good logs to mill myself this summer, but since my buddy Tony bought a Woodmizer, I may not use the Alaskan as much......lol
