Chinese cherry

Re: Chinese cherry, question

Jim D.

>This is a photo of 9 pieces i got this morning. The smallest is about 5" and the largest about 9" round. They have been anchor sealed and will be stored in a rack in the shade all day.

Question, how long can I expect these to take to air dry on an average?

Jim D.

Re: Chinese cherry, question

John K Jordan

>>Question, how long can I expect these to

>take to air dry on an average?

How dry do you want them?

The typical "rule of thumb" I see to get lumber to an acceptable moisture content for making furniture is one year per inch. Sometimes I see one year per inch plus one year. However, I think these estimates are for 4/4 and 8/4 boards, stickered. I suspect very thick chunks of wood would be much different; anchorsealing all over would also change things although drying would be in all six directions instead of just two. The ambient temperature, relative humidity, and air circulation would also make a difference.

I've had some chunks anchorsealed for a couple of years and they are still pretty wet. I treat them just like green wood, turn to about 1" then let them dry before final turning. After a year or two my rough turned green bowls are pretty dry (6%-10%).

I just went out to the shop and checked a piece of anchorsealed maple 6"x6"x4" that has been air drying since March '03. The meter (pinless) indicates around 20% on the end grain, 16% on the side grain. However, the meter is only good to 1.5" into the wood so it might be much wetter deep inside. I have some 3" squares of maple and walnut drying the same length of time and they read about 12%-14%.

Perhaps someone with more experience in this will have better comments.

JKJ in East TN