Kiln dried vs air dried wood - my workshop disaster that changed my mind

I used to swear by air dried lumber for all my furniture builds. Cheaper, more character, that whole thing. But last fall I picked up a batch of air dried oak from a guy in Tennessee for a dining table I was building. All looked good when I planed it. Two months after delivery, the customer called me saying gaps were opening up between the boards. I drove over and saw it. One board had shrunk a quarter inch across the width. The whole table top had shifted. I ended up having to rip it all apart and re-glue with kiln dried stock from a local mill. Cost me an extra $150 in materials and three weekends of work. The kiln dried boards were dead flat and stable. No movement at all after six months. So now I'm torn. I love the look and price of air dried, but I hate the risk. How do you all decide which to use for your projects?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_tessa24d ago

You ever have a buddy who just refuses to learn? My friend Mike builds cabinets on the side and he got a deal on some air dried cherry from a guy off Craigslist. Stacked it in his garage for a month, thought it was good. He built a kitchen island with it and three weeks later one of the drawer fronts warped so bad it wouldn't close. He had to tear it out and rebuild it with kiln dried from Home Depot. He still talks about that cherry like it was a bad ex girlfriend.

claire_hayes3524d agoMost Upvoted

Cherry is just wood, not a person to learn lessons from.