why does oak or any hardwood need to be dried?

Answer 1

Any wood, when first cut down, will have water in it. As the water evaporates the wood will shrink, possibly causing whatever was made from it to break. Hardwood used for furniture should be dried, either naturally or in a kiln, down to 6-8% moisture content. Here's a great article that explains it in more detail.
http://www.sankey.ws/wetwood.html

Answer 2

All wood, not just hardwoods, contain a high level of moisture when they are first cut down. They do transport sap up and down the trunk, after all. In a climate-controlled space, such as a modern house wood will naturally achieve a moisture content of between 6 and 12 %, depending on the exact conditions. When a tree is felled it can be as much as 40% water. When that water leaves the wood the cells shrink, introducing stresses in the wood that cause it to change shape, it can cup, bow, and wind. Any of these conditions will make furniture unstable and unsightly, or in the case of flooring it will make it creak rather loudly. If the log is allowed to dry in a round state it can develop deep cracks that run from the bark to the pith (center). These cracks, known as shakes make logs extremely difficult to saw into a maximum amount of lumber. The solution is to cut the lumber into pieces larger than needed, rough sawing, so that it can dry more easily. Only then, once it has dried can you mill the wood, turning it into what ever shape you desire. Drying the lumber can be accomplished in two ways, it can either be air-dried, that is stacked in a pile outdoors and allowed to achieve equilibrium over the course of 1-2 years, or it can be kiln dried, stacked in an enclosure in which the humidity and temperature is carefully controlled. Air-dried lumber needs additional time to equalize with the indoors before it is milled, while kiln dried lumber is ready to use as soon as it is brought into the shop, but you pay a premium for running the kiln to dry the wood. So basically, wood will dry out once it is cut down and you can either control the process so the wood is predictable, or you can let it run its course and ruin the work.

Answer 3

DIMENSIONAL WOOD STABILITY

The numbers in the chart reflect the dimensional change coefficient for the various species, measured as tangential shrinkage or swelling within normal moisture content limits of 6-14 percent. Tangential change values will normally reflect changes in plainsawn wood. Quartersawn wood will usually be more dimensionally stable than plainsawn.

The dimensional change coefficient can be used to calculate expected shrinkage or swelling. In actual practice, however, change would be diminished in a complete floor, as the boards’ proximity to each other tends to restrain movement.

What all this is really saying is that the lower the change coefficient, the less your wood project will move and the less your wood moves, the better.

http://www.floorsincalifornia.com/stability.html

is 2 types of oak
red oak that have a wood stability of .00369
white oak that have a wood stability of .00365

If your wood is made by a process call rift sawn cutting then you will be fine because this is the best cut that any wood can have.

if you want to have a high qulaity finish project you always must consider
1.get as much that you can oak that is been cut "rift-sawn"
2.make sure that the wood stay in the place or work shop for at least 36 hours before you start to work on it

if you need it the hardness of white oak is White Oak
1360
and the red oak is Red Oak
1290
so if you can try to always get white oak

good luck!

Answer 4

All wood needs to be dried before it can be used. However oak and hardwoods are very dense woods and as such take a lot longer to dry out. The drying can be carried out by stacking the wood and letting it dry by the air or it can be dried in a heated kiln.

Answer 5

If hardwood isn't dried before it is used in construction in will dry in the sun or centrally heated environments causing cracks and structural damage. The Oak is like a sponge full of water. You have to empty the sponge before you can use it.

Answer 6

Wood shrinks as it dries. If a piece of furniture, for instance, were build with wet wood, the joints would loosen as it dried and would eventually become a useless mess. Conversely, if you're building furniture (with dried wood) , precautions must be taken in the construction to help prevent the wood from splitting due to humidity..

Answer 7

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Answer 8

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Answer 9

Its cut straight at the mill, but if it still has some moisture in it, it will curve or warp a little...and you want it to warp before you nail it down, so you can prevent any warping after it is down

I bought some brazilian cherry from lumber liquidators, and it was pretty dry when i got it, and very, very straight.....i was totally happy with the product....it was only 3.75 a foot....check out the lumber liquidators in your area.

Answer 10

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