Replies

1. 
   wotnow | Oct 17, 2009 06:01am | #1

   Using scraps of a similar timber you should be ok. I also found that ripping up all my old melamine (white) board into 1" strips and used as stickers worked well.

2. 
   KiddervilleAcres | Oct 17, 2009 02:40pm | #2

   Perhaps one of the most important aspects is that they should all be the same thickness.  If they aren't this can cause stacking issues and slightly bowed boards.  I get stickers from my sawyer as they have been thru the kiln several times, so they are dry.  They are several different species but mostly fir or spruce.

   I have several hundred bf of stickered cherry and have had NO problems with these stickers.  I do get what I call inverse staining, i.e. lighter colored stripes across the boards, as a result of no light getting to these areas and is somewhat confined to only the upper layers in the stacks.

   Also rought cut boards are always planed and jointed so any stains/inverse staining is removed during the milling process so is generally not an issue.

   Regards, 

   Bob @ Kidderville Acres

   A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!

1. 
   mrcarlson | Oct 21, 2009 04:34am | #5

   thanks KiddervilleAcres, My adventure starts Monday at a local woodmizer.

3. 
   MrSQL | Oct 20, 2009 07:58pm | #3

   if the wood gets wet during drying (as is usually the case if not in a shed with a decent roof), then you wind up with a higher chance of sticker stain.  most of the times it planes off, but if it's gone real deep, you won't be able to plane it all off.  The only time for me that it has gone so deep that it would not plane off was when the stack was outside for a few years with just tin on top of it.

    

    

4. 
   MrSQL | Oct 21, 2009 03:29am | #4

   one more idea.

   Sticker stain is from fungus growth.  you can protect against fungus using a product called Bora-Care.

    

1. 
   mrcarlson | Oct 21, 2009 04:35am | #6

   Thanks MrSQL for taking the time to respond. Mrcarlson

1. 
   forestgirl | Oct 21, 2009 05:44pm | #9

   Mr. C., I found a very informative Dept. of Forestry article about sticker stain here <click>.  Note that sticker stain is not a fungal process.  Not to say advice about dry stickers, etc., is not valid, just clarifying things.

   Although the article is primarily about white wood drying in a kiln, the information about high relative humidity, air flow, humid weather, tannate stain may be helpful to you.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

2. 
   forestgirl | Oct 21, 2009 05:38pm | #8

   "Sticker stain is from fungus growth."  Mr. SQL, I think you've gotten some misinformation there.  According to this article by E. M. Wengert of the Dept. of Forestry:

   "It is important to recognize that sticker stain is not a fungal stain. However, the slow drying that results in sticker stain can also result in fungal staining if other conditions for fungal activity are appropriate. "

   .forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

1. 
   MrSQL | Oct 21, 2009 09:05pm | #10

   ok.  I respect your willingness to point this out.  I have not had that much sticker stain, but when I have, there always seemed to be fungus around the intersection of the sticker and the wood. 

1. 
   forestgirl | Oct 21, 2009 10:14pm | #11

   From my brief scan of the article, it seems that sticker stain can often be accompanied by fungal stain, because the conditions each are similar:  "However, the slow drying that results in sticker stain can also result in fungal staining if other conditions for fungal activity are appropriate. "  He discusses "sap stain" which is caused by a fungus.

   I hope you have/had time to read the article, it's interesting.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-) 

2. 
   flairwoodworks | Oct 22, 2009 02:41am | #12

   Thanks for the link. That was an interesting read.Chris @ http://www.flairwoodworks.com and http://www.flairwoodwork.spaces.live.com)

    - Success is not the key to happiness.  Happiness is the key to success.  If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer

5. 
   DHAM | Oct 21, 2009 03:22pm | #7

   The stickers need to be dry.  Wet stickers trap moisture and lead to sticker stain.  That is probably the #1 cause of sticker stain.  Cherry is not too bad, and you might get away with using not-too-dry stickers.  If it was maple and you used wet stickers, you would be sunk.  The stickers need to be at least 3/4" in thickness and less than 1 1/2 inches wide.  Like has been said, they have to oriented with the same thickness to get flat lumber.

6. 
   KeithNewton | Oct 22, 2009 04:30pm | #13

   I have given up on trying to keep a live edge on 2" cherry, unless you meant 2' like you posted.

   You sure need to get rid of the bark, because it increases insect infestation. Once the bark is gone, the sapwood on cherry dries so much faster than heartwood, then it checks, which can carry right on into the heartwood more readily than when I have cut it off.

   I would certainly not recommend using melamine as someone stated. Stickers should be soft dry absorbent wood, to speed the drying from the wet wood trapped under the sticks.