Seasoning of logs

[brainstrust]

Tell me please turners!!!!
A fresh log say 2 or 3 foot long.
To what degree do you cut them down and seal to season?
How close to ready to use on the lathe do you get them?



I put this in the wrong forum before, sorry,

[Paul39]

Do a Google search, drying wood for turning.

I do the following:

If a huge bunch of timber available, just pile it up, it will crack, later cut into lengths twice the diameter and split through major crack, stack.

Cut logs slightly longer than diameter, split, turn wet to thickness 10 - 15% of diameter, then:
Wrap in 7 layers of newspaper and let dry 3 months to year then finish.
Or soak in half water half hand dishwashing liquid for 3 - 9 months, rinse, surface dry, wrap in 7 layers newspaper let dry 3 - 6 months.
Or put in crock pot and simmer overnight, wrap in newspaper as above, let dry 3 - 6 months.
Or stick in plastic bag with a little water, microwave 5 - 10 minutes let rest 30 minutes to 1 hour, repeat, 2 - 3 times, remove from bag, wrap in newspaper, etc.
I will sometimes microwave newspaper wrapped roughed turnings until they get warm to the touch to drive out moisture off and on when I think of it.

I have had good luck with vases and bottle shaped turnings that start as a whole round, pith down the center, with many limb bulls eyes, and not have them crack.

With all of the above some crack and some don't. You can read about all the above methods and pick your poison.

[NeilS]

With all of the above some crack and some don't. You can read about all the above methods and pick your poison.

+1 on Paul's post.

IME, cutting the log in half down the centre ring line is the critical step to reduce lip cracks, and needs to be done ASAP.

Nowadays I go with the easiest method for me, which is bag blanks in black plastic garbage bags until I can green turn.

Store pre-turned pieces in cardboard boxes (they can be stacked on one another) with wet shavings until moisture drops to just above ambient humidity.

Stack in open shelving until re-turned.

Whichever method you use, keep in mind that a bowl blank that dries out starting from the outside of the bowl is more prone to cracking than one that dries out from the inner surface first.

Turning the half logs or trimming first with band or chainsaw is a matter of preference. I do both, but don't find I save much time either way. If pre-sawing, octagonal is good enough.


439395

[artful bodger]

Hi NeilS, that is an impressive bunch of blanks in the picture indeed.What sort of dia bowls might they be (perhaps 400-500mm?).
Have the opportunity here to do the same thing with a big blackwood tree in the near future.
What are you sealing the ends with?. I was planning to use pva glue.

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

IME, cutting the log in half down the centre ring line is the critical step to reduce lip cracks, and needs to be done ASAP.

Yep! Invest in a few splitting wedges and a good sledgie. (Doesn't need to be heavy, unless you're a masochist.) Splitting is better than trying to mill it with a BS or chainsaw as splitting tends to run with the grain, not ignoring it.

Personally I usually leave the logs at full length - unless they're measured in metres! - split down the middle, seal the ends and stack/sticker bark side up, so water runs off. That's it, apart from monitoring the stack for QC, particularly logs I consider desirable or irreplaceable.

Mind you, I rely on a fireplace for heating and go through several m3 of firewood every year. Naturally, I try to pay for as little of it as possible so I'm not particularly concerned about minimising the splits in my turning pile, although I really don't have that much wastage. It works both ways though; just as often, logs destined for the firewood stack migrate over... :wink:

Occasionally I may rough-shape blanks, but not often. I want the option to turn what I want when I want to turn, not what I thought I might have wanted a couple of years ago. :rolleyes:

[bruceward51]

I did some tests with some Blue Mountains Ash from a tree in my yard. I left one billet in the round and it cracked within a few days. Two other round billets were painted, one with plastic paint and one with cross-linked PVA. One coat one end - two on the other. These also cracked eventually but a lot less severe than the untreated.
Pieces spit right through the pith and sawn Either side of the pith hardly split at all painted or not but they distorted quite a bit. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180720/025340d0112deed9613a8cba61ed6d44.jpg

Above is the untreated control.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180720/929062f4d7226b736f1c071154a2ebc2.jpg

Split no treatment

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180720/18b6beaacc0dbbf987ae8cb7641fd833.jpg

Rip sawn with pith out then painted. It WAS flat.

All pics after 4 months.


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[NeilS]

What sort of dia bowls might they be (perhaps 400-500mm?).
Have the opportunity here to do the same thing with a big blackwood tree in the near future.
What are you sealing the ends with?. I was planning to use pva glue.

Most were 500-600mm, with a few up to 750mm. I feel it is disrespectful of a large old tree to just cut it up into smaller pieces, but having said that the larger bowls and platters don't sell very quickly. I would sell ten smaller pieces to every one of those.

Of course, you can always burden your family and friends with a piece of that size that doesn't readily fit anywhere in their homes. After all, family and friends are there to stroke your ego when you give them such a large piece, then curse you when working out where or what to do with it, especially when scrambling to find it and put it out when you visit!

Do your best with that Blackwood... it's a beautiful wood!

As for sealing, I only do that where I can't get the blanks immediately wrapped up in plastic bags or tarps. In such cases I use whatever water based paint is to hand that has no further better use.

On wrapping in plastic, mould growth is the challenge with that.

Smaller high quality blanks might warrant wax. Op-shops are a good source of cheap large beeswax candles recycled from the 70s.

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[bruceward51]

Another interesting option is to turn the wet wood to final dimensions and let the natural warping add character. You have to hand sand after it dries and you also have to re-flatten the base so it will sit flat.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180721/02437a21164823fa3281448bcbdb8645.jpg

This was from the same Blue Mtns Ash as the earlier pics. There was a small crack in the bottom which I filled with CA. l am going to do more of this next time I get some fresh wood.


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[Paul39]

Another interesting option is to turn the wet wood to final dimensions and let the natural warping add character. You have to hand sand after it dries and you also have to re-flatten the base so it will sit flat.


This was from the same Blue Mtns Ash as the earlier pics. There was a small crack in the bottom which I filled with CA. l am going to do more of this next time I get some fresh wood.


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Very nice, I like the wandering rim. If the piece on the lathe is surface dry, you could wet sand using Tung Oil or Danish Oil following with cheese cloth or an athletic sock to reduce or eliminate some or all of the hand sanding.