I have several board feet of walnut that my dad cut and had milled about 15 years ago He gave it to me. I did not seal the ends. It had been stacked in the top of one of my building for the last 14 years. The boards have long cracks on the ends. If I were to cut the cracked ends off, would the limber still be useable or will the cracks continue to grow?
Shouldn't be a problem to cut the ends off, the cracks have probably gone as far as they're going to go. Air dried lumber is usually less stable than kiln dried, if you cut the boards into smaller pieces for a project you may see some warping and end cracks in the pieces after they are planed as it opens the wood up to allow moisture to enter or exit. I hope this makes sense, I have been in the Custom Cabinet business for 22 years and avoid air dried lumber like the plague for the above mentioned reasons.
Makes sense to me. I didn't know if it was useable. I probably have around 20 to 25 board feet. N.E Indiana. Fired a PM your way.
I think you should be ok. Walnut is fairly stable. Air dried vs kiln I think depends on species. I was recently working some beech, a known pita. I tried culling or trimming and end and it not only split but warped /twisted badly. It was from a large tree with serious sweep though. Also a 20+inch plank.
14 years? I would think you're good. Pre-mill all your pieces 1/8"-1/4" over finished dimensions, sticker and let sit for a week, then mill to finished dimension. This is how we would do all our stock for window sash and stiles and rails for doors regardless of whether stock was kiln dried or not. All kiln dried lumber is not equal either. I've gotten locust that is stable as just about anything I've ever worked from Leon and Sue Fisk at Forrest Products in Greenfield, MA. I've gotten maple, oak, and poplar that hiss and spit water out the end grain of off cuts I burn from some of the "kilns" down here.
Broad generality, one year per inch thickness to be dry. Unless your roof leaks would think it is as dry as it ever is going to be. Hit it with a moisture meter if nothing else. Nice thing about air dried walnut, it gets the "chocolate" color where kiln dried doesn't. Once made into a project you will wonder why it has sat for the last ten years!
Thanks for the information. They are still siting in my barn. Most have been cut to 7/8" with a few thicker pieces that were cut for gunstocks. Now that I am retired, I plan on getting my woodshop back up and running when it warms up.
After 14 years you should be fine. Might be helpful to bring it into the shop and let it acclimate for a week or two before working it. Sent from my Moto E (4) using Tapatalk
