I've worked with a lot of hardwood in the "sprining" capacity. In short, I made wooden bows for several years. You cannot get wood down to acceptable levels without kiln drying it to reach target MC.
Only woods with a tolerance for higher MC (like Yew) can make an acceptable bow with air drying for several years. A Yew stave dried in a few days with a drying oven performs as well and works the same. I've worked with both and can't tell any appreciable difference in how the wood responds to tools.
On other woods, like hickory, you MUST dry the wood over heat or it will never work.
All wood will reach the same ambient MC whether finished or not finished. In a house where ambient humidity is pretty low anyway, it can shrink. And probably will.
Heat dries out MC. Cold doesn't, regardless of the ambient humidity.
