Q: We have some sticker stain or sticker shadow that showed up in hard maple lumber after kiln drying. There was no stain when the lumber went into the kiln, except for a little log stain on the ends of the lumber. We also had lumber from other suppliers in the kiln and their lumber didn't stain. The lumber came to us in June and was on sticks within 24 hours. It was on the yard for a week waiting to go into the kiln. When it went into the kiln it was about 42 to 45 percent MC. We start our kiln at 100 F and a 12 percent EMC. Can you explain what has happened?

Q: We manufacture children's furniture using oak and maple solids, and MDF with hardwood veneer. We are having complaints from the field concerning a very unpleasant, nauseating odor from the drawers. Any ideas?

Q: I have some cypress outdoor furniture that I made and now I am getting a few complaints from customers that there are some substantial cracks in the arms and other flat surfaces. Can you help with this?

Q: Can I test some kiln-dried hard maple lumber to determine if the lumber was dipped in an anti-stain chemical when the wood was green?

Q: We use a long, slender piece of wood (pool cue) that must be perfectly straight and stay straight. How can we do this?

Q: How close can you equalize lumber in a kiln? We have one customer that is asking for every piece in the load to be between 6.7 percent and 7.2 percent moisture content. Is this reasonable? We are drying cherry, hard maple, red oak and a few other hardwoods. Most is 4/4 and 5/4.

Q: I am thinking about taking my dry wood waste and compressing it into firewood logs. Perhaps there are some other uses for this material that are more profitable? Can you suggest a reference to look at?

Q: I find your column very useful, and I hope you are well. We manufacture inexpensive kitchen cabinets with mitered flat-panel doors, and we have recently had a serious problem with warping hard maple doors. We purchase the mouldings in random length, and check moisture with an expensive pin-type moisture meter. The pieces generally indicate an MC of 8 to 10 percent. When we build, finish and ship doors to low-humidity environments, many of the doors warp over a period of a few weeks. What causes the doors to warp? What can we do to minimize or eliminate this problem? What moisture content should we specify for our incoming mouldings? Thank you for your advice.

Q: What is the difference between quarter-sawn, rift-sawn, and quarter and rift lumber?