February 08, 2023
As you search Craigslist, Facebook market place or check out some local sawyers for some slabs, you might notice that some slabs are cheaper than others. Often the cause of the price difference is due to the product being air dried or kiln dried.
Air drying costs the sawyer time but generally no money, so its cheaper than kiln drying. If a sawyer can purchase a log, or has access to their own wood, they can produce slabs to be air dried for not a lot of money, so they can sell the slabs cheap. But cheap isn't the best route when you're making indoor furniture.
Kiln drying lumber increases the cost of production due to both purchasing the kiln and running it. Kilns are not cheap but once a wood product is properly kiln dried it produces a substantially better end product then air drying.
At Maine Urban Timber Company, we don’t sell air dried lumber. We utilize an iDry vacuum kiln which has the capability to kiln dry thick slab lumber. Our slabs can be used for an indoor piece of furniture and will be more stable than any air dried piece of lumber.
If you are going to spend the time, energy and cost to build a piece of furniture, its important to use the right material. Kiln dried slabs will produce the best end result and will save you time, energy and money from having to redo the project.
February 02, 2021
October 22, 2020
Why should you only buy kiln dried live edge slab lumber? Enduring quality and no bugs! "Green" or non-kiln dried lumber will be more susceptible to seasonal wood movement than kiln dried wood. This can cause your beautiful slab table to warp, cup and crack!
All the slabs that are sold by Maine Urban Timber Company are kiln dried to an average moisture content of 6-8% which makes the wood more stable and kills all the bugs that once lived in the wood.