Eric wrote:
"Dave Balderstone" wrote in message
news:220720111644584940%dave@N_O_T_T_H_I_Sbalderst one.ca...

A neighbour's favourite mountain ash went down in a windstorm the
other day, and they have asked me to create some keepsakes as it was
the tree they were married in front of.

I've slabbed a section of the trunk into approx 1" x 5" x 18" pieces
for stickering and stacking. Am end-sealing them now. The wood is very
wet.

Can anyone point me towards a cheap way to speed up the drying
somewhat? I've told them that it could be 6 months before it's dry
enough to work, but she's been through chemo lately and even though
she seems to be doing well, I would like to do this as soon as
possible.
I have never worked with mountain ash (rowant) before and don't know
how to expect it to behave while drying. All and any advice would be
most welcome.

====================

SIx months for ash?

I would think more like 1-2 years unless you have some heat and/or
forced ventilation or vacuum you can apply.

Depends on how thick it is.


Depending on what you are making you want stable wood. You may have a
hard time burning it in your woodstove after 6 months.

Well... on the other hand, I've taken chunked woods - worse woods than ash,
and turned them into wood-stove ready in 3 months with a simple 24" box fan
blowing air through them. I would look into how fast your particular ash
might dry with a good air flow through the stack. there's a big difference
between stickering wood and moving air through stickered wood - a big
difference.

--

-Mike-