Thread: Seasoning a small log

Originally Posted by dauph

Hi all, I've been given a small (30cm x 10cm) piece of Mulberry, but have no idea how to dry/season it?
Should I cut it into boards first, or season it as one piece, should I remove the bark?
I'm in the UK, it's winter here, so I'm thinking indoors might be better, but I've no idea of the ideal temperature?
Cheers

in Oz we probably wouldn't call that a log - maybe a "branch"?

You have a couple of options,
1) Leave the bark on but to reduce cracking, seal the ends with wax or house paint or a proper log end sealer.
Store it in a cool dry place, it will take a few years to dry out and then saw it into boards.

2) Saw it into boards now and seal the ends of the boards. Store in a cool dry place. It will dry quicker once it's sawn up.

Depends what you want to do with it. You can store it whole in a plastic bag and open it occasionally for 12-24 months or so. But keeping it whole, with pith, risks splitting and losing it all. Chances of splitting lowers just by halving it. You could seal as Bob suggests.