How To Properly Dry Live Edge Slabs - Lancaster Live Edge (2024)

FAQs

How do you dry a live edge slab? ›

Air drying is an essential first step to properly drying your slabs. At Lancaster Live Edge, we allow all of our slabs to air dry after they're cut for about 2 years. Allowing these to air dry prior to putting them in the kiln will help keep them from getting large cracks and warping from drying too fast.

You can dry wood without cracking by applying a sealant, stabilizer, or salt paste before drying. Finally, you can apply boiled linseed oil or let logs dry as boards to avoid cracking when drying. Treating wood with stabilizing solution keeps wood from cracking when drying.

All you need to do is set up a decent dehumidifier beside the stack of wood to be dried, let it run, and it will suck the moisture right out of the wood. This can speed up the drying time from months or weeks to just a few days. Even better is if you add an air fan into the mix to produce some extra airflow.

When applied to wood, linseed oil is one of the most effective ways to prevent it from splitting and cracking. Apply boiled linseed oil to the wood and keep the wood out of direct sunlight.

So based on the prior paragraph a theoretical drying time for 2 inch thick wood should be closer to 140-180 days, or close to half a year. Both research and the experience of many operators will tell you this can be pushed closer to perhaps 90-100 days as a practical minimum for most species.

Just as drying wood shrinks, wood that is absorbing moisture from its environment will swell in size. While that might cause a tight fit or even a potential split, in some wood projects and in wood floors it can also cause crowning or buckling.

The most commonly used grout to fill concrete cracks is Portland cement mixed with water. You need to add enough water to make a good quality grout mix. Besides cement grout, you can go with any other filler material or sealant to fill out the cracks.

Store your lumber in a clean, cool, shaded and dry location. If you're storing wood in an area with high relative humidity—80 percent or more—be sure it's wrapped in material that is impermeable to vapor. This prevents the wood from absorbing significant amounts of moisture from the surrounding air.

The general rule of thumb is that concrete takes about 28 days to dry for every inch of slab thickness. Within 24 to 48 hours, the concrete will be ready for foot traffic.

Seal off the ends of each piece of lumber immediately after cutting to prevent moisture decay. Exposed ends can lead to drying that is too fast, which paves the way for end-grain cracking and splits. And since moisture escapes wood 10 to 12 times quicker from the ends, leaving them exposed is damaging to the wood.

How long does it take to air dry a slab of wood? ›

A rule of thumb for air drying wood slabs is to allow one year per inch of thickness.

Start with a sharp blade, and keep extras on hand. *Cut slabs a minimum of 2" thick to minimize warping. Saw thicker slabs for specific purposes or projects. If you want to use the warp-prone pith (the log's center), cut it as a 4–5"-thick slab, as shown at right.

yes, it's a good idea to remove the bark from a live edge slab. The bond between the bark and the wood isn't strong at all. Even if it feels solid when you get the slab, it will just be a matter of time before it crumbles and breaks off on its own.

Sand the sharp edges on the ends of the slab, if needed.

Live edge slabs usually have bark on 2 sides; the other 2 sides are sometimes jagged from where they were cut. If this is the case with your slab, sand the roughness away with 120-grit sandpaper. Work your way to 150-, 180-, 220-, and 320-grit.

Two: Kiln Drying is a Must when buying a live edge slab.

In this condition, the wood is very unstable, and is prone to checking (cracking) and warp of all types. Kiln drying brings the moisture content down to 6-8% for lumber or below 10% for slabs, in order to make sure it's in a stable and ready to be worked with.

Once you've laid out all of your paving slabs, be sure not to walk on them until the mortar is completely dry, usually 24-48 hours after you finished the pointing.

For this test, a calcium chloride disk is placed under a sealed plastic sheet and left to collect moisture vapor. After 24 hours, the disk is retrieved and weighed, and compared to the disk's pretest weight. This weight difference indicates how much moisture vapor has emerged from the slab in 24 hours.

The simple answer is yes, spalted woods can go beyond turning. The worse the wood the harder it is turn. Some woodturners see it as a challenge and seek out such wood.

3. The best place to dry freshly-cut firewood is outside. If you throw it straight into a wood shed, it will take twice as long (18-24 months) because it's not getting assistance from the sun or air movement.

It can take 3-12 months or longer to season firewood. On average, it usually takes around 6-months to dry out the cut-firewood that you purchased from a store or supplier. Depending on the original timber's moisture content, it can take more or less time to season.

How long can untreated wood wet? ›

Wood can Start to Rot in 1-6 months If:

Wood is untreated. The wooded area is sitting in water. Water and/or air space is hot & humid.

Even when suitably damp, the natural resistance to decay of some timbers (and properly preserved timber) may prevent rot. Thus, dry rot is not inevitable if wood becomes and remains damp but timbers will certainly be at risk. Omnipresent in the environment, spores will therefore be present in all properties.

Before you can start laying patio slabs, you need to dampen them so they don't dry out your concrete too quickly. Then, lower your first paving slab into position. Lay it into the concrete mix and gently tap it with a rubber mallet so it's fixed in place.

Concrete Paving Slabs

Filling large gaps between paving slabs can be easily achieved with wet brush-in joint filler or polymeric sand. Wet brush-in filler is more flexible, making the joints less susceptible to cracking as the temperature changes throughout the year.

Foam insulation under concrete slab avoids thermal discrepancies caused by uncontrollable temperature variations, heat transfers and losses and variable environmental conditions. This will help to reduce energy costs.

Conventional kilns and solar drying both enable wood to be dried to any moisture content regardless of weather conditions. For most large-scale drying operations solar and conventional kiln drying are more efficient than air drying. Compartment-type kilns are most commonly used in timber companies.

The two most popular ways of drying your own timber is by kiln or in open-air. Air dried wood contains much less moisture than green wood, but a little bit more than the faster and more aggressive method of Kiln drying.

It may be down to a high salt content within the cement and it is coming through, because these are not natural stone and pre-cast from cement it looks as though they have reacted. Sealing will not help it will just seal in the stain, do not scrub or apply detergent as this may remove the dye or colour from the slabs.

While it is possible to lay paving slabs on soil, it is not generally advised. The durability of any paving with a soil base can depend on many factors, including: Type of soil: Heavy clay soil will be far more durable and less likely to be compromised by British weather conditions.

Does wood dry faster in a pile? ›

There is less effort in stacking because you do it right where you split the wood. One of the biggest benefits of this method is that the wood dries faster. This is because of the chimney effect that is created within the pile.

Is it Possible to Dry Firewood in Winter? Yes, but firewood dries slower in winter. Sunlight—one of the key ingredients for drying wood—is in short supply in winter. Though drier winter air helps extract some moisture from the firewood, the process is much slower than in warmer weather.

Pressure-Treated Wood: Similar to hardwood, pressure-treated wood can be used with just about any type of stain and takes about 4 to 8 hours to dry. It can also take about 24 to 48 hours to fully cure, though this depends on the temperature, humidity, and ventilation.

Ideally, firewood should remain uncovered so it can be properly dried, but this is not practical when rain, snow and ice can quickly coat winter firewood. A good cover over the top of your woodpile will protect it, and be sure the cover is slanted to shed moisture away from the pile's base.

Air Drying The Right Way

"Stickering" is the stacking of the green lumber boards with 1 inch wooden spacers in between the layers of wood. The stickers should be aligned vertically and should be separated by approximately 18 inches. A column of stickers should be placed near the ends of the drying stack.

Advantages Of Drying Wood In The Kitchen Oven

The wood can be dried quickly, yet evenly, vastly reducing any moisture gradient between the edges and the core. This process avoids any drying defects that may occur with other-uneven-drying methods.

The three main players on the market are Odie's Oil, Osmo, and my personal choice, Rubio Monocoat. Unlike film finishes, hard-wax oils provide protection by penetrating and binding to the top most wood fibres on the live edge slab and then a seal layer of wax cures on the surface.

It's also important to make sure your live edge wood has been properly sealed. At Hardwood Lumber Company, we carefully seal our live edge wood pieces and take precautionary steps with a crisp coat that serves as a protective boundary against stains.

For the best results, live edge wood should be milled to at least three inches in thickness. This size is sufficient to handle any changes that will naturally occur during the drying process. Reputable sawmills know that if they mill the wood slab any thinner than three inches, the wood can become twisted and warped.

Air drying is an essential first step to properly drying your slabs. At Lancaster Live Edge, we allow all of our slabs to air dry after they're cut for about 2 years. Allowing these to air dry prior to putting them in the kiln will help keep them from getting large cracks and warping from drying too fast.

How do I keep my live edge slab flat? ›

1 - The first is by leaning them against a wall. Most slab showrooms will lean the slabs upright against the wall. This is known as the best way to store slabs once they're flattened and sanded. Each side of the wood is then evenly exposed to moisture in the air, which is ideal for keeping them flat.

Before sanding, use a chisel to peel off the bark section by section, making sure to work along the edges of your slab so you don't gouge the surface. Next, sand your wood slab using a portable belt sander or sandpaper, starting with 120-grit sandpaper and working your way up to 220-grit.

For natural (live) edges use 60 grit sandpaper and be sure that your sander is not set on “grind”. You want to keep it at fine sanding, and be careful not to go overboard or you'll sand all the features out of the edge — it's a purely personal choice of how you want your live edge to look.

Two: Kiln Drying is a Must when buying a live edge slab.

In this condition, the wood is very unstable, and is prone to checking (cracking) and warp of all types. Kiln drying brings the moisture content down to 6-8% for lumber or below 10% for slabs, in order to make sure it's in a stable and ready to be worked with.

The most common method used to air-dry lumber is to lay narrow sticks perpendicular to the layers of lumber to create an air space between each layer so the moisture can escape. A good foundation is critical to successfully drying wood.

Unique Live Edge Wood Slabs

Our live edge pieces are used for dining room and conference tables, desks, counter tops, shelving, and bars, console and coffee tables. Each carefully kiln dried piece of lumber provides for a beautiful and dramatic solid wood surface that will last for generations.

There are many reasons why wood suppliers like Northern Log Supply believe kiln-dried logs are better than air-dried logs. Because of the high heat, kiln drying ensures that all insects, eggs, mold, and fungi in the wood are killed and dries off the resin, which would otherwise turn to liquid at room temperature.

Temperatures inside the kiln range from 120 to 190 degrees F, depending on the stage of drying. Although there are kilns in which temperatures reach up to 240 degrees F, they are usually limited to softwoods that dry very easily and low-value hardwoods.

The concrete curing time takes about 28 days to be fully cured. Differences in weather, mix, other items can slightly change the timeframe of the curing period. The general rule of thumb for concrete drying is 28 days to dry for every 1-inch of slab thickness.

A rule of thumb for air drying wood slabs is to allow one year per inch of thickness. Some environments may demand more time. Use a moisture meter to check the material.

What 2 methods are used in the drying process of wood? ›

Conventional kiln and solar drying both enable wood to be dried to any moisture content regardless of weather conditions. For most large-scale drying operations solar and conventional kiln drying are more efficient than air drying. Compartment-type kilns are most commonly used in timber companies.

Trees recently milled into lumber are 100 percent wet. A solar kiln is a great option to accelerate the drying process. Creating a south-facing enclosed shed with a clear plastic roof that heats up to 130 F or more will speed drying along. One must be careful to not dry the wood too fast, or it will warp and crack.

at 1.5” minimum for smaller pieces and ideally 1.75 or more for wide pieces. Most dining or conference tables we make land somewhere between 1.75” and 2.25” finished.