The point of wood curing

Answer 1

An explanation first, "curing & drying" are similar in a sense, "Drying" is sometimes forced, (chambers with circulating warm air) "Curing" is a more natural time consuming way of drying, put in a dry area for a year or more, (depending on the size and thickness of the wood). The point: All trees have moisture in them when cut, when the logs are cut and dimensioned they still have a high percentage of moisture in them, when they dry they shrink. Wood has resins within the cells of the wood, curing/drying solidifies these resins and makes the wood stronger and less prone to movement, there will still be movement, but much less. EXAMPLE: There have been many people who have made beautiful pieces, (furniture, etc.) out of wood with the moisture content in the wood 12% or higher, once they finished their piece and brought it in the house where the humidity is much lower, the piece dried out and BOOM, the "Splitting, Cracking, Warping, etc." began, ruining the piece and all their work. Use wood with a moisture content of 10% or less, (cheap pin moisture meters will tell you the moisture content of your wood) TIP: once you have completed the project, put finish on all exposed wood, top an bottom, inside an out, the trick is to slow the moisture down from re-entering the wood.