# making drying stickers "green" again.



## jimmyjames (Jul 18, 2013)

I picked up a load of soft maple straight line rip cutoffs for using as stickers, they are kiln dried, I've heard if stickers are too dry it will cause staining as well as too wet of stickers will also leave stains, I don't have the option for cutting stickers out of the maple I will be milling, will I have staining issues if these stickers are so dry??


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## Kevin (Jul 18, 2013)

I can't offer any advice about maple stickers because I have no experience with them other than acer negundo and it doesn't act like other maples. But I've never heard of stickers being a problem for being too dry, only too wet like 12% or above. I remember Doc Wengert weighing in on it over on woodweb but cannot find the article again. I do remember this, he said:

_The only 100% sure way to avoid sticker stain is to achieve fast drying with freshly sawn lumber._

That's not word for word but close enough. I cannot offer anything except that and I know that's not much but anything else I would say would be conjecture. Good luck - I've always heard how problematic sticker stain is for y'all fortunate enough to have access to hard maple.


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## woodtickgreg (Jul 18, 2013)

I reuse stickers over and over, clear white woods are not usually an issue. maples work well for me, poplar too.


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## gvwp (Jul 18, 2013)

I also use stickers over and over. I wouldn't think you would have any problem with dry Maple. I prefer Aspen stickers but also use a lot of pine. Never have much trouble with sticker stain. May be a little discoloration on the surface of the wood but it always planes out. Are all the Maple rips the same thickness? I would think this would be more a problem if they were not all exactly the same thickness.


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## jimmyjames (Jul 18, 2013)

gvwp said:


> I also use stickers over and over. I wouldn't think you would have any problem with dry Maple. I prefer Aspen stickers but also use a lot of pine. Never have much trouble with sticker stain. May be a little discoloration on the surface of the wood but it always planes out. Are all the Maple rips the same thickness? I would think this would be more a problem if they were not all exactly the same thickness.



Thanks for the info , yes they are all the same thickness, the boards were planed before ripping so they all are 13/16" thick


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## Kevin (Jul 19, 2013)

Jim I reuse erc over and over but as stated I don't dry maple so don't know if erc would work. Any of you northern guys ever try erc with maple?


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## jimmyjames (Jul 19, 2013)

Kevin said:


> Jim I reuse erc over and over but as stated I don't dry maple so don't know if erc would work. Any of you northern guys ever try erc with maple?



The maple I will be drying is soft western big leaf so its not as bad for staining as hard maple is.


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## Treecycle Hardwoods (Jul 19, 2013)

I have not used ERC but I do use basswood for stickers. I get staining when I air dry maple but not so much when I get it in the kiln within a month or 2 of sawing. 

Kevin had suggested using cedar to me a while back but I haven't found a clear log to cut and try. I would be interested in hearing about others experience with cedar stickers on maple.


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## Kevin (Jul 19, 2013)

It doesn't have to be clear Greg, you'll just have a little more waste than normal. Yea some will break at the knots but it isn't as bad as you might think unless you get a log plumb full of knots.


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## jimmyjames (Jul 19, 2013)

I plan on air drying the stack for about 2 weeks, that seems to be the going time frame for air drying before the kilning, but then again some load it in the kiln directly after milling to cut down on staining. Common consensus is that soft maple air dries rather quickly, not as fast as that other maple(box elder) though, here we can cut box elder firewood and burn within the same season it dries so fast


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## gvwp (Jul 19, 2013)

Ug. Using good Cedar for stickers.  Thats a sin Kevin. We have to bring our Cedar in here in west central Indiana because there is not enough to log. :sad: Makes me remember way back when I purchased my first sawmill. I had a pile of very nice 4SC Cherry logs. Well I didn't have any stickers so I cut stickers out of a couple of the 4SC Cherry logs only to really realize what I had done some time later. :wacko1::wacko1: :dunno: 

I've had the most trouble with Walnut and sticker stain. The sapwood will stain very easily and it doesn't always plane out.


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## woodtickgreg (Jul 19, 2013)

Sticker stain with maples is usually minimal for me, if there is stain it usually planes out when surfacing. I have even had a batch of maple mold on me due to lack of air movement and it planed right of in the first pass and left no permanent stain.


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## Kevin (Jul 19, 2013)

David I thought of you yesterday. We milled some more ERC and the largest log (9') squared to 16" with not much sap left. I took a couple of 16/4 slabs off to make it a 12 x 12 cant then took the rest in 5/8" x 12" siding. Nearly breaks my heart sawing those large beautiful beams into thin boards but when you need siding you need siding.


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## jimmyjames (Jul 19, 2013)

Do you have the resaw for your mill? Or just sawing them flat?


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## gvwp (Jul 19, 2013)

Kevin said:


> David I thought of you yesterday. We milled some more ERC and the largest log (9') squared to 16" with not much sap left. I took a couple of 16/4 slabs off to make it a 12 x 12 cant then took the rest in 5/8" x 12" siding. Nearly breaks my heart sawing those large beautiful beams into thin boards but when you need siding you need siding.



You are killing me Kevin. First you cut Cedar into stickers and break my heart. :fit: Then you cut 16" wide ERC into siding. :dunno: Just killing me. :sad:


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## jimmyjames (Jul 19, 2013)

gvwp said:


> Kevin said:
> 
> 
> > David I thought of you yesterday. We milled some more ERC and the largest log (9') squared to 16" with not much sap left. I took a couple of 16/4 slabs off to make it a 12 x 12 cant then took the rest in 5/8" x 12" siding. Nearly breaks my heart sawing those large beautiful beams into thin boards but when you need siding you need siding.
> ...



Isn't that the truth, any cedar here you might be able to make toothpicks out of them.... I can push them over by hand they are so small.......


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## Kevin (Jul 19, 2013)

jimmyjames said:


> Do you have the resaw for your mill? Or just sawing them flat?



I have a resaw that came with my circle mill but I never set it up. I think of my band mill as a resaw itself - except instead of feeding boards into the saw I'm feeding the saw into a big cant.


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