20 tops, 6 rubber bands, a handful of stickers and an oven set at 225 degrees.
Even though these tops have been air dried for over two years now, there is still some bound water stuck on the inside. the only way to get it out is to force it out.
Back at the factory we used to prep all softwood tops this way. 225 degrees for two-and-a –half hours.
Here's the experiment:
--Weigh all the tops. I did it in grams since my scale does not give me whole number in ounces.
--Measure each top before going into the oven. a great idea, but I neglected to do it, so I have no beginning reference.
--After baking, let the tops sit stickered with a fan on them until they stop taking on weight.
Baking in the oven will force all of the water out of the wood as well as set the pitch. after baking. the tops need to stay stickered so they can come back to an equilibrium state. They will take on water from the atmosphere around them. it should take 10 to 14 days. measuring the bundle and in some cases individual tops will tell me when that process has finished.
When the whole thing is over, I will have stable tops that are ready for building
