Wood drying/storage questions

So I live in Tucson Az and I am surrounded by mesquite and ironwood trees. Ever since I got bit by the knifemaking bug last year, I have been processing tons of mesquite and ironwood (some long dead, some still green). I read about storing wood in bins of sawdust to dry, so that's what I've done. Recently though one of my large refrigerators kicked the bucket, so I moved it out to the shop and stuck a whole bunch of dessicants in the fridge and started storing all my wood blanks in there. So I wanted to ask you guys if you think that is okay? Is that a better solution than storing them in a bunch of plastic tote bins? I would think that the fridge would offer a more stable and consistent environment and temp for storing the wood but I've been wrong before so I figured I'd ask the opinion of some stronger minds.


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Being in Arizona you could probably just toss them on the night stand.
I'm in Florida....and right now at 7:15 am the feels like temp. is 88 and the humidity is 90%.
I wouldn't think putting them in an old fridge would be good, it would trap any moisture in the wood, unless maybe you drilled a hole in the top and installed a dehumidifier rod or something. it sounds like you have a lot of wood so maybe it would be worth it to do something like that, I don't know, but your humidity levels are awfull low as it is where you are.
 
Thanks man. You're definitely right about the humidity here. We hit 100 for the first time a few days ago, and it has been drier than heck


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What's the relative humidity in your area? I don't need help drying here in Montana...it's very dry. I should probably be adding humidity...You might be in the same situation?
 
I've been to Las Vegas twice, both times in August. the one thing I remember about the lack of humidity there was I couldn't blow my nose for four days,
it was like I was packed up with road gravel, Ha ha. never broke a sweat either.
 
What's the relative humidity in your area? I don't need help drying here in Montana...it's very dry. I should probably be adding humidity...You might be in the same situation?

I don't know for sure, but I would say that from may thru July the humidity hovers around zero, probably goes negative at times if that's possible. Then it jumps up to rainforest humidity levels from august thru September. I never thought about maybe needing to add humidity, maybe storing the wood in the fridge isn't a bad idea if it would be a little humid in there


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The simplest successful kiln I've ever built was just a plywood box. It had an outlet in it, (wired to a switch, but that can be skipped) and an electric dehumidifier. The dehumidifier would run, raising the heat in the kiln, which forced moisture out of the wood, raising the humidity in the box. Which triggered the dehumidifier to run.

Temperature in the box would stay between 100 and 120 F. The danger was drying wood too fast. I'd open it back up and check the wood when water stopped coming out of the hose from the dehumidifier.
 
With that low humidity, you really don't need a mechanical dryer. Packing in sawdust is not good as it traps the moisture in the wood blank. Stack the wood with about 1" separation in a place where air can flow around it. The denser woods take longer so will need longer duration to become acceptably dry, your mesquite may require a number of years. Once the wood is dry it can be cut to smaller just over handle size units. I would then dry them for a couple days in a oven at abut 200 degrees before using. In my case they go from the oven to stabilization.
Hope this is helpful.
 
With that low humidity, you really don't need a mechanical dryer. Packing in sawdust is not good as it traps the moisture in the wood blank. Stack the wood with about 1" separation in a place where air can flow around it. The denser woods take longer so will need longer duration to become acceptably dry, your mesquite may require a number of years. Once the wood is dry it can be cut to smaller just over handle size units. I would then dry them for a couple days in a oven at abut 200 degrees before using. In my case they go from the oven to stabilization.
Hope this is helpful.

Thanks man, that is helpful... I've got a question for you since you seem pretty knowledgeable about this stuff. Is mesquite a wood that can be left unstabilized? I know that stabilized is optimal but I am not set up for stabilizing yet, and don't have the money or time to send it to a place like K&G.


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