Here in Northern NY. If logs are cut, milled on a band saw. 1/2 to 3/4” in mid April. Stickered and covered.
Can they be made into stretchers by end of August?
Thanks

i would think so

080808, it takes lumber approximately three months to air dry it should be just fine.

I wonder if that thin might check or crack during drying? If so slab it thicker and resaw when dry???

Get them up in the garage rafters with a little summer heat on them. find someone with a moisture meter to get them around>16%
Remember that it takes about 1 sticker for spacing per board foot of lumber. and dry stickers not green

I would cut them , 1 inch thick. This will allow for cupping, twisting etc. When you plane them you will remove defects. . Several months , stickered and well covered they will be fine.. old243

Seal the ends of the boards with melted wax so the boards don't dry from the ends and they will turn out way better.

You can use house paint to seal the ends as well.

If you place stickers close to the ends directly over each other and directly over your bottom dunnage the end checks won't go past the stickers.

I have mine milled in a combination of thicknesses from 5/16 ,1/2 , 3/4 , thinner stuff from the heart wood . Thicker stuff from the sap wood . I make small medium lrg coon boards out of the 5/16 Xl s , otter , from 1/2 then two piece from 3/4 . I don't worry at all about warp , the skins still come off dry and you cant tell the board was warped in the finished dry hide . If i sold boards I would sell straight boards and use the warped myself . IT makes no difference in the pelt . I 've milled and finished boards on the schedule you mentioned and had successes . I Know dealers that sell boards within a couple months of milling them .

I have mine milled in a combination of thicknesses from 5/16 ,1/2 , 3/4 , thinner stuff from the heart wood .

Bigfoot when you state milled to 5/16ths is that sanded or do you sand it down a bit from there. I have several boards that I would like to plane down. I have a person who may do this for me this summer. I would like my rat boards and coon boards to be a bit thinner as I feel I could gain some length, especially with the rats.

Bryce

Much good info here. Thanks

When you sticker the boards to dry, place some weight on top of them, that will help prevent warpage.

Yes you can, I do it all the time. I buy mine from the Amish saw mill rough cut and about 3/4 thickness, I bring them home and air dry them in the loft of my metal building and then work them up. Thickness planer, bandsaw and router table the edges then sand the board to your liking. Nothing better than putting fur on boards you have made. Save your curved pieces that you cut off, they make decent belly wedges.

IMO
B

A good rule of thumb on air drying lumber is One year per inch of thickness. Some of the variables that come into play- when the logs were milled. Spring and summer cut logs have higher sap flow and take longer to dry then say a dormant winter cut tree with lower initial moisture content. Also its very important to have good air flow when drying lumber. I would much prefer to store outside with a good covering on top versus inside a dry but enclosed building with little airflow. You will run into mold and staining issues if you dont have enough airflow, especially on a lighter wood like basswood. A three sided shed is perfect for drying as it covers the wood but also provides good airflow. Outside is fine too, just make sure to cover the top layers with tin or somthing waterproof to sheet off the water. Put your lowest quality lumber - the ones with the most deffects or bark edges on the very top layer . These will be the ones most prone to warping and other drying defects. And as squash stated above by squash-placing some weight on the top of the stack will help reduce this .
To answer your question -yes as long as you properly sticker the lumber when stacking and store them covered and in a place with good airflow you will be fine with drying down that thickness of lumber in that amount of time. Thicker lumber would take longer. I had some 5/8 basswood mailed in late winter a couple years back and it was all ready to use by the following fall. Just keep the top dry and in a place with good airflow and you’ll be fine .

House hold paint= yes= old latex= just dip the ends in a tray= saves time and mess
if you get fancy then colour code the different woods
careful with bark left on logs of basswood as it creates mold growth and staining of the wood so you don't have that nice white finish
Does your basswood have a lot of sapsucker tapping, this will create brown weak spots in the wood that pins pull out of in boards
cores or cants are always iffy for quality wood
load binders or ratchet straps around the wood, and weight on top, I've used brake routers and covered the top layer completely
make quick notes on the boards if you are there when they come off the mill, as to log position, helps when you are deciding how to cut the board
ie; split boards can come from outside edge pieces since the 2-3 inch pieces are used vs the 7" wide board may cup after being formed

Use a couple of pieces and form the boards and wait a month, if they cork-screw or cup, then check moisture or you have some pressure wood to deal with = lamination time
I've used boards off old pallets as stickers, hardwoods preferred , the 48 inches is just right for leaning over and piling

Using a wind tunnel will cut down on drying time considerably. First time I did it the tree was cut in June and the water ran out of the tree. Wind tunnel in an enclosed shed all summer and we planed and shaped the boards in October

Some mills can saw stuff thin others cant .The first basswood I had milled I happened to be helping and saw how much varience in thickness in each board .I changed my mind and told him to just saw 3/4 .The guy I use now could saw lumber for mink boards . His stuff doesn't need planing just cut out bevel and hit with a belt sander . I ment to say 3/8 instead of 5/16 in my previous post . If you plane them you will probably have to be thicker yet , i dont plain mine I saw them out I bevel them with a router then sand to desired finnish . You will not get perfect true boards with this process but you can start with thinner boards than you can if you plane your boards .

A note about log selection if the log has a shake ring the boards will fall apart at the growth ring thats shaky . Basswood logs will stain if felled in the warm months and not milled and stickerd within a week or two this stain does not effect the use of the board it is just a cosmetic blemish . Larger straighter logs will yield more stable boards .If you are milling crooked logs you will get more warpage than straight logs and the grain will run out the side effecting their strength , you may not be able to get them thin without problems .they might be best for your rat boards .

My logs layed for 4 months then went to the saw in Sept. I just made a fox board from a board yesterday and it was plenty dry.

I preferred to have the lumber cut in a 6/4 configuration and dry stacked and sticked as described.. Use a moisture check and take the guesswork out, someone in your Neighborhood will have one.. Let that be your guide to when to process.. 6/4 will eliminate a lot of shape issues is what I found out.. Then resaw the 6/4 on a band saw and work your blanks down from there.. That's how i gained the best shape and got the most useable lumber out of a log.. We did it for a business so waste was lost revenue and cost. We glued up a lot of panels as well and I believe those to be the best stretchers for wear, strength and shape. FWIW...