Hello all,
I received a commission of building a 14'x5' conference table out of 8/4 white oak slabs. They were felled years ago but not sawn nor painted on the ends. Ah well.
They're sawn now, and each slab is 8' long and between 20"-30" wide. Initial moisture content checked out around 25%.
They're now stacked inside a solar kiln a friend of mine built, and they've been in about 3 weeks. I'm not sure if all solar kilns operate on the same principle, but this is one with an angled clear plastic roof, it's painted black on the inside, and has fans and vents placed according to a common online design.
Anyway - time to get to the point. I ran b there today to check the moisture content, but I was reluctant to rip a slab all the way down the center to test for it. Instead, I took one of the 4' slabs and ripped a piece off the edge, about 2" in. The moisture content read 15%.
So: guys with experience, do you think that's fairly representative of the lumber all the way through, or does lumber dry quickly from the edges out (towards the bark)?
I'm on vacation for a week starting Saturday, then I'll come back and most likely rip a piece in half. I just want to avoid doing this more than I need to, so doing it too early could possibly end up wasting usable lumber (maybe not, maybe I'll need some ripped pieces anyway, but I haven't drawn up plans yet).
Thanks
I received a commission of building a 14'x5' conference table out of 8/4 white oak slabs. They were felled years ago but not sawn nor painted on the ends. Ah well.
They're sawn now, and each slab is 8' long and between 20"-30" wide. Initial moisture content checked out around 25%.
They're now stacked inside a solar kiln a friend of mine built, and they've been in about 3 weeks. I'm not sure if all solar kilns operate on the same principle, but this is one with an angled clear plastic roof, it's painted black on the inside, and has fans and vents placed according to a common online design.
Anyway - time to get to the point. I ran b there today to check the moisture content, but I was reluctant to rip a slab all the way down the center to test for it. Instead, I took one of the 4' slabs and ripped a piece off the edge, about 2" in. The moisture content read 15%.
So: guys with experience, do you think that's fairly representative of the lumber all the way through, or does lumber dry quickly from the edges out (towards the bark)?
I'm on vacation for a week starting Saturday, then I'll come back and most likely rip a piece in half. I just want to avoid doing this more than I need to, so doing it too early could possibly end up wasting usable lumber (maybe not, maybe I'll need some ripped pieces anyway, but I haven't drawn up plans yet).
Thanks