TIL the hard way about kiln-dried lumber from a local mill

Stopped by Johnson's Mill outside Portland last week to grab some oak for a dining table project. The guy there pointed out my moisture meter was reading wrong because I was testing the face instead of the end grain. Anyone else run into issues with green wood warping after you thought it was dry?

3 comments

3 Comments

adam1866d ago

Wait, you're telling me @matthewking's maple actually twisted overnight after a month of sitting there?

white.keith6d ago

Happens with so many things that look fine on the surface.

-1

matthewking6d ago

Brought home a whole stack of what I thought was kiln dried maple from a local guy last summer, let it sit in my shop for a month, started milling it for a desk and it twisted like a pretzel overnight. Turned out the core of the boards was still wet even though the surface read fine. Now I always split a scrap piece or test the end grain like that mill guy said. Your mistake is way more common than you think, a lot of small mills don't dry stuff all the way through.