We’re about to get some tree trimming done at home, and I think some of the pieces might be large enough for small projects (largest branch is probably ~6" around), but I have no clue what goes into processing those other than that they need a really long time in a kiln.
Is there anywhere in the Austin area where I could take the chopped branches and have them give me project-ready wood back?
You don’t need a kiln; you can substitute space and time. I’ve made projects out of “firewood” log pieces I left to dry in my garage for a couple years, then sawed into plank on the bandsaw. If you want to minimize wait time, check with a moisture meter every few months.
If you do go the way of drying it in the garage, covering the endgrain can help keep it from checking/cracking. There’s a product called anchor seal, but I’ve also seen latex paint or wood glue used.
I’ve seen a jig being used to pass logs through the bandsaw to cut planks, unsure if that is in the shop or member owned, but should be pretty easy to make if needed! Generally you’ll need a year of drying per inch of thickness.
denatured alcohol is a well established technique to dry quickly without cracking. the wood is really stable afterwards too
you do need to soak it which is easy for small stuff. it’s an issue with bigger stuff though as the volume of alcohol needed could be huge. i could picture putting it an a sealable bag, a small volume of alcohol, and drawing all the air out around it, except the bag would generally slump and alcohol would only soak the bottom. maybe you could float the bag in a tub of water with alcohol and wood sealed inside? or just keep flipping it.
it’s supposed to be really effective and extremely fast. like turning blocks inches thick become dry and stable in days
Unfortunately, we have a small one-car garage, so there’s not really room to leave wood sitting around for years waiting for it to dry.
I’ll look into the denatured alcohol technique, thanks for the reference, Danny! I’ll still keep looking for an option with a kiln or storage space in case the pieces are too large. But it’d even be feasible to keep the wood around for a few months and just chop off blocks and dry them as I have project ideas.
Look into a solar kiln as well, they’re very simple to make (essentially a triangular frame with corrugated plastic on the top 2 sides). Unsure how much backyard space you have though.
There are a places that offer kiln services to the public. Lookup local sawmills and ask them. If that particular mill doesn’t offer the service, they will know who does. Good luck!
Harvest Lumber Co is a great local place that mills locally reclaimed wood. I’m not sure they offer kiln space, but it never hurts to ask, and they may be able to refer you to someone who does. Depending on the kind of wood and the kind of project you may be able to use it green. Highly recommend reaching out to harvest since they can maybe even offer recommendations on what to look out for and avoid with local varietals.
My thought exactly. I’m sure they would be happy to at least provide some info. They are a very cool outfit and everyone should check them out!
@AJStow @OctopusDream @Jordanva2
@Rolo and I have had several conversations on scheduling some Asmbly sponsored field trips to both saw mills and Fine Lumber that are education focused. We briefly spoke with Fine Lumber and they already have a program in place for one school/college.
One of the topic’s Robert and I further discussed was seeing if we can arrange a discount with some of these lumber yards and saw mills for our members. We would encourage our members to purchase from them—we pretty much already do this with Fine Lumber already—to make it worthwhile.
I’m certain there are possibilities for similar field trips for our other departments.
Fine Lumber is great when I get to Asmbly and realize that I’ve left some wood at home.
They’re great the rest of the time, too.