Whitethorn Hardwoods
About Our Wood
Whitethorn's Wood Drying FAQs
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Yes, we are very committed to air drying. We have worked with eastern kiln dried lumber like everyone else, prior to using our native California hardwoods here in Whitethorn. There are very few hardwood kilns in California and 35 years ago there were far fewer than today. We began with only air dried hardwood to build cabinets, furniture and related fixtures. We have been using our air dried and then kiln dried stock for decades now.
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Yes, and we learned the pros and cons of air dried lumber. The most important positive value was the way the wood felt. Wood that is only air dried has a "feel" unlike that of commercially kiln dried hardwood. Commercially kiln dried wood is dried not by woodworkers but by entrepreneurs. Capital investment demands speed in drying and the results show themselves when the woodworker mills them. We have made it our job to offer a product that mimics our own experience with air dried wood. There is nothing quite like hardwood that has been dried slowly and thoroughly. We use our own air dried and then kiln dried stock for our own products and now offer it to others.
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The general rule of thumb in drying is one year for the first one inch, three years for the second inch and 5 years for third inch of thickness. The thicker the raw stock the longer it takes for the captive moisture in the cells to leave the wood. Free water, be it rain or simple humidity, leaves the wood easily. Captive water needs to be nursed from the wood gradually. Remember that this is a rule of thumb and that it can vary with specie and experience.
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Our goal is to mill or buy green wood and to add the value of air drying and kiln drying. However, we do occasionally offer green wood for sale. This is mostly true with slabs. We have also sold whole logs that we mill to the buyers specs. We will consider selling green or air dried stock; this is a point of discussion.
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No, there are different kinds of kilns and different kinds of kiln schedules. The purpose of one's drying will dictate the type of kiln one should use. Beyond the type of kiln is the use of that kiln. The kiln operator has many possibilities before him. Because we are seeking a thoroughly kiln dried product that 'feels' different from standard kiln dried products we dry our wood extremely slowly.
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Slow drying yields a product that is more balanced than quickly dried stock. Slow drying allows the wood to mature. If a board is dried too quickly it will be case hardened or approach a case hardening level. The result is a board that is harder to machine. The result may be that it "binds" onto itself as it is run threw the table saw. When that same board is run threw the resaw it will cup and bow. A properly dried hardwood will not react that way.
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Case hardening happens when the wood has been dried too quickly. Surface cells have lost their water and taken a set. The captive water in the cells has not been able to leave the wood evenly over time. The cells in the center of the board are not as dry as those closer to the surface. Unevenly dried wood will react in ways that woodworkers will not appreciate. Any differential between the cells will lead to a different 'feel' when milling. The board may not cup or bow when sawn but it still may retain a 'hardness' of feel to the woodworker use to working with wood that has been dried more slowly and evenly.
Native California Hardwood Species
Source: Hardwoods of the Pacific Northwest, Niemiec, et. al. Forest Research Laboratory, Oregon State University, 1995.
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Tanoak (Lithocarpus densiflorus)
Tanoak is a hard, heavy wood that in many ways resembles the true oaks; thus, tanoak is often included in lumber from western oak species. The wood is a light, reddish brown color when freshly cut, but it ages to a tannish, reddish-brown. The sapwood is very wide and is difficult to distinguish from the heartwood. There are broad rays which are conspicuous on quartersawn surfaces. Tanoak is highly rated for hardness, resistance to abrasion, stiffness, and bending strengths. Machinability is comparable or better than commercial eastern oaks. Tanoak finishes well because of its uniform color and is used for flooring, furniture, pallets, veneer, and paneling. Clear-coated flooring products made from tanoak have a warm, pleasant, appearance.
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California Black Oak (Quercus kelloggii)
Black oak heartwood is light brown with pink to pale reddish-brown color; the sapwood is a pale yellowish-white to brownish-white. California black oak is a ring-porous wood, with distinct early wood pores that form a conspicuous band with each growth ring. Among the red oaks, California black oak has one of the lowest percentages of summer wood. The wood is fairly fine-grained. Rays are numerous, short in height, and wide. California black oak is classified as a red oak in USDA Forest Service nomenclature. The machining characteristics of black oak are excellent. Feed speeds can be greater than for other oaks and still produce quality surfaces when planing, shaping, turning, boring, and sanding. The wood can be successfully bent when properly steamed. Black oak finishes well. Heartwood/sapwood color variation is distinct. Black oak is used for moulding, millwork, paneling, furniture, flooring, veneer, and pallets and edge-glued panels.
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Pacific Madrone (Arbutus menziesii)
Pacific madone is a hard, heavy wood with a fine grain and uniform texture. The sapwood is white or cream-colored with a pinkish tinge; the heartwood is a light reddish-brown. Pacific Madrone is diffuse porous; the pores are nearly uniform, numerous, and minute. Rays range from barely visible to readily visible. Pacific Madrone has good strenth properties and for most of its uses (flooring and furniture), its resistance to indentation and abrasion is very high. Pacific madrone has exceptional resistance to breakage, making it suitable for joinery. Because of its hardness, nailing is difficult and splitting is likely unless the wood is pre-bored. Madrone ranks highest (fewest machining defects) among all the hardwoods of the Pacific Northwest for planing, shaping, boring, and turning. Its high density requires caution to prevent over-feeding. Pacific madrone finshes well, without the need to fill the grain and can be successfully ebonized.
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Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana)
Oregon white oad is a hard, heavy wood that has distinct growth rings and very prominent rays. The sapwood is whitish to light brown; the heartwood is a pale, yellowish, grey-brown, often with a slight greenish cast. It is ring-porous. Rays are of two types, broad and narrow. When quartersawn the broad rays appear as a pronounced fleck. Oregon white oak is classified with the other white oaks in USDA Forest Service nomenclature. The wood of Oregon white oak has exceptional strength properties and is noted for its hardness, toughness, resiliency, and resistance to abrasion. It hold nails well, but because of its density and hardness it will split without preboring. Species in the white oak group, including Oregon white oak, generally machine well. They plane, turn, mortise and bore well. White oaks also bend exceptionally well. Care should be taken not to over-feed this wood. All white oaks finish well although it may be necessary to fill the grain. Oregon white oak heartwod is resistant to decay. Oregon white oak is used for furniture, flooring, cooperage, turnings, veneer, millwork, fence posts, handles, boxes, and pallets.
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Claro Walnut (Juglans hindsii)
Working Properties: Black walnut is straight grained and easily worked with hand tools and by machine. It finishes beautifully and holds paint and stain exceptionally well. It also glues and polishes well.
Durability: Rated as very resistant to heartwood decay—one of the most durable woods, even under conditions favorable to decay.
Uses: Furniture, fixtures, cabinets, gunstocks, novelties, interior paneling, veneer.
source: USDA Wood technical fact sheet (not included in Pacific Hardwoods of the Northwest)
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Giant Chinkapin (Castanopsis chrysophylla)
The wood of giant chinkapin, also known as Goldenleaf chestnut, is of moderately fine texture and is moderately hard and heavy. the thin sapwood is the same color or slightly lighter than the light brown, pinkish-tinged heartwood. It is a ring-porous wood with large earlywood pores. Rays are barely visible with a hand lens. Chinkapin is most often used for fine furniture or exceptional paneling, and performs well in these applications if furniture is properly designed. Chinkapin machines comparably to walnut, red alder, and maple. There are no difficulites in staining or coating this wood. Related to the American chestnut (now endangered by the chestnut blight endothia parasitica), chinkapin is used for furniture, veneer, paneling, and doors.
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California Bay Laurel (Umbellularia californica)
California-laurel (often known as Pepperwood) is a moderately heavy, moderately hard wood with an even texture and a fine grain. The sapwood is whitish to light brown and typically thick. The heartwood is light brown or greyish-brown, frequently with darker streaks of pigment figure. The growth rings are distinct and can be delineated by a dark band of denser latewood. The wood is diffuse porous, with evenly distributed, distant small pores that are barely visible to the naked eye. These pores are either solitary or in groups of two or three, and are encircled by a whitish sheath. The fine rays require a hand lens to see. When freshly cut, the wood has a very characteristic spicy odor, but its volitile oils impart no taste to the wood. Burls are sometimes produced and some of the wood has interlocked grain. When soaked in water, the wood darkens appreciably.
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Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)
The wood from bigleaf maple is fine-grained and of moderate weight and hardness. The sapwood is reddish-white, sometimes with a grayish cast; the heartwood is light pinkish-brown. Bigleaf maple is diffuse porous and pores are moderately small to medium in size. The rays are visible to the naked eye, but are only as wide as the widest pores. Although much of the wood is straight-grained, some highly figured wood includes wavy, quilted, fiddle-back, or burl grain patterns is also produced. The strength properties of bigleaf maple are exceptionally good considering its intermediate specific gravity. While not as strong as the eastern hard maples, it performs better in most tests thatn the soft maples, and is suitable for most furniture design applications. Bigleaf maple retains many of the favorable machining (planing, shaping, boring, and turning) characteristics of the eastern hard maples, while allowing for greater production feed rates because of its lower density. Bigleaf maple finishes well and there is no need to fill the grain. Bigleaf maple is used for furniture, veneer, paneling, and turnery.