how about a Oklahoma,AR,MO,KS,TX,+IA GTG thread?

[moparnut88]

.

Drying thick & wide hardwood is difficult.....

I have no experience with vacuum kilns, but I have heard they are definitely easier on the wood vs a regular kiln.
If you can find someone with a vacuum kiln, contact em and ask a bunch of questions, would be my advice.

Regardless of how you dry it, design it so the wood can move with moisture swings.

the current design has 8 counter sunk lags that will bolt each plank from the bottom thru a piece of 3/8"x8" flatbar. customer doesnt want to see any exposed fastners. very modern build will have iron and smooth architecture. he calls it modern organic.

 

[Hedgerow]

working on a project. set of custom stairs called floating stairs. gonna be white oak steps 3" thick 12" deep 48" wide finished. looking for alternative ways to dry other than traditional kilns. i was suggested to maybe look for a vacuum kiln. anyone have any thoughts? this is going into a very high end house. it will have to be perfect.

Will it be raw timbers? Or finished?

 

[Hedgerow]

8 lags per step?
Recipe for disaster.

 

[Hedgerow]

Unless kiln dried.

 

[JimBear]

8 lags per step?
Recipe for disaster.

Are you thinking that more lags will make it more susceptible to cracking/breakage with changes in the wood versus maybe 4 lags??

 

[Semotony]

would ideally like to have finished boards ready in 1-2 months. could prlly stretch 3 at most

So me coming down to cs mill that oak you've mentioned isn't workable

 

[Hedgerow]

Are you thinking that more lags will make it more susceptible to cracking/breakage with changes in the wood versus maybe 4 lags??

Anything more than two and it will crack if it is not absolutely dry when installed.
A piece of wood is going to do what it is going to do no matter how you anchor it down. It will move heaven and earth to get to its happy place, the key is figuring out how to let it do what it wants to do and end up where you want it to end up.
A 3 inch thick piece of white oak is a pretty darn stable piece of lumber. That being said, it will absolutely still shrink on the 12 inch plane and the 3 inch plane, but it will not shrink measurably on the 48 inch plane. Proceed accordingly. Lol.

 

[moparnut88]

Will it be raw timbers? Or finished?

he wants smooth planed finished steps so figure those dimensions as finished sizes for stain

 

[moparnut88]

this is roughly the desing we are going for

 

[Sawdust Man]

Anything more than two and it will crack if it is not absolutely dry when installed.
A piece of wood is going to do what it is going to do no matter how you anchor it down. It will move heaven and earth to get to its happy place, the key is figuring out how to let it do what it wants to do and end up where you want it to end up.
A 3 inch thick piece of white oak is a pretty darn stable piece of lumber. That being said, it will absolutely still shrink on the 12 inch plane and the 3 inch plane, but it will not shrink measurably on the 48 inch plane. Proceed accordingly. Lol.

.

^^^
Exactly.

I'd do two anchor points dead center... one on each end.

 

[JimBear]

Anything more than two and it will crack if it is not absolutely dry when installed.
A piece of wood is going to do what it is going to do no matter how you anchor it down. It will move heaven and earth to get to its happy place, the key is figuring out how to let it do what it wants to do and end up where you want it to end up.
A 3 inch thick piece of white oak is a pretty darn stable piece of lumber. That being said, it will absolutely still shrink on the 12 inch plane and the 3 inch plane, but it will not shrink measurably on the 48 inch plane. Proceed accordingly. Lol.

That was along my line of thinking as well but you build a lot more stuff out of home sawed lumber than I do.

I remember from junior high woods class that lumber often shrinks/moves on the thickness & width but not usually on the length.

 

[Semotony]

.

^^^
Exactly.

I'd do two anchor points dead center... one on each end.

With over size holes thru metal to allow room for flex. Less room for movement more conflict in the boards
If the wood is not very close to dry it will cup toward the bark side of the origin of the board. On a 25" x 2 3/4" board got about 1 3/8" deep cup down a couple who were apposite sides of center of log. Hoped for the least movement since the pith was between.
Only time stabbing white oak