Drying time for lumber

[medic82]

Sorry in advance if I'm regurgitating info already posted.

There are some good articles on seasoning wood, both air-drying and kiln-drying, that can be found at FineWoodworking.com.

As I remember (and as stated earlier) the rule of thumb is one year per inch thickness. IIRC it was also stressed to coat each end of the board with a moisture sealer (parafin wax was listed as a fairly inexpensive option). This reduces the rate of drying from the end-grain, decreasing the likelihood of checking. It was also recommended to stack the boards horizontally leaving about an inch or so of space between boards side-by-side, and stickering the wood with 3/4" - 1" (~19mm - 25mm for the real world) stickers about every 18" - 36" (~500cm - 1m).

These steps will (presumably) provide the best environment possible for moisture-loss evenly across all surfaces of the board, reducing twisting, warping, cupping, etc.

There are even some simple DIY kiln ideas involving box fans and a small heat source (e.g., 75W - 100W incandescent lightbulb).

As for whether or not it's worth it, I would guess that depends on how much space you have, how much woodworking you do, and how patient you are. There is definitely a high likelihood of getting some gorgeous figure that can be resawn and bookmatched, and if you are essentially getting this wood milled QS for free, that is an amazing deal! I don't know what lumber prices are in your neighborhood, but flatsawn grade A walnut at WoodworkersSource.com runs ~$9/bf - $11/bf depending on the month and the thickness.