Drying Fast

I've noticed over the last couple of days with the high heat and humidity, that the splits and rounds are really popping open. I bucked up a hickory this morning and within 3 hours all the faces were beginning to open up. You can almost watch it dry.

Pretty wood eh?
Birch does the same & fresh cut rounds split easy. But let it dry for a few months, splitting is a bit harder.
The round is helping you by telling you where it wants to split

I took the covers off the hickory that was c/s/s last winter and before I took them off you could barely smell them. I was thinking they were drying pretty well but now that the covers are off the smell awesome again, which means NOW I'm getting some serious drying going on.

fv

But don't take those cracks for too much. They only say that the ends are drying.

+1, but as stated above, they help you know where to split usually. A C

Humidity has been low here, at or below 40% mid-afternoon, which I really like. Coupled with the mid-90s temps and some breeze, the wood is dumping some serious moisture. Temps are coming down starting tomorrow but the humidity will still be low. We need rain bad, though...maybe Thursday.

I've read here that when the cracks start closing up again, the split is getting dry in the center. Makes sense...

I recall that as well... I think it was that woodpecker who said it. I would like to here more though.

I think the idea is that early in the drying, the end of the split dries and shrinks first but the center is still wetter and hasn't shrunk yet so you get the big cracks (checks) on the end. As the wood in the center of the split eventually dries and shrinks, the cracks will close back up