Q: We are fairly new at lumber drying and have a question. When running the kiln at the end of the cycle to relieve stresses, we call this process "conditioning," how can we tell when the conditioning is done? In the last load, the prong tests looked okay when we pulled the load, but now, two days later, we see a lot of stress. When we joint the lumber on one face, the lumber cups.

Q: Can you tell me about energy losses in a dry kiln? My folks like to run at low temperatures and I see the vents open all the time in the summer, which seems wasteful. I was taught to go as high as possible for energy savings. True or false? We are drying mainly 4/4 red oak in a 30 MBF steam-heated kiln.

Q: We received some red oak lumber and a few pieces are blue in the sapwood. Is this mold fungal stain?

Q: In our dimension mill for the center panels on doors, we present the inspector with staves which are 8 feet to 14 feet wide. The inspector marks the unacceptable knots, cracks and other defects with a UV "pen." The staves are passed to a saw operator who (using an UV lamp for ID) cuts out the defective areas and creates shorter staves for subsequent processing (along with some amount of scrap). We then glue-up these staves into a panel downstream in the manufacturing process. In a different plant we use the "glued-up stock" and make a panel for a door. When we stain the doors (or our customers stain the doors), we often find cracks that were missed. In the short term, I'd like to optimize the lighting in the stave and panel inspection area. Can you recommend a reference that would suggest inspection lighting alternatives (ambient lighting, alternative light sources, etc.) that could be evaluated? In the longer term, I'd like to consider some type of a more automated process for crack/check identification. This process would have to be quick and non-invasive to the wood. Have you ever seen this done in your travels?

Q: We are seeing differences in the way that yellow birch and white birch finish; that is, they do not look the same after finishing. Can you shed some light on this?

Q. One of our customers has been purchasing hard maple KD S2S 1-5/8 inches thick and 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 inches wide. Here are their problems: 1. Movement of the rips within a minute or less after ripping and prior to gluing. 2. The glue stave moving prior to gluing. 3. The glued-up piece moving prior to finishing. 4. A few glue lines “opening up” after staining, where they can’t see it until the first coat of sealer is applied. A quick moisture test indicated 8.8 percent MC average.

Q.Casehardening occurs when the outside tries to shrink, but can't because of the wet core.

An ideal furniture wood, it is also used in flooring and cabinets.

Q: We are trying to save money by getting a small dry kiln and drying the lumber ourselves. We are looking at a DH (dehumidifier) electric kiln. The electric company offers us a fantastic rate if we use "off-peak" electricity, which means that we need to shut of the kiln in the afternoon on many days. Is this okay?