Thread: Sealing green wood

pollyester stinks too much to use but would work. Use something cheaper old paint, pva glue, it only has to stop the ends drying faster than the middle. Wax is the most common but are you talking turning blanks or logs? :confused:

Originally Posted by smidsy

Hi Guys,
Someone was telling me that freshly cut timber needs to be sealed to keep the moisture in.
I have in my bomb cabinet model aircraft dope and fibreglass resin - is either of those any good or do I need something specific.
Cheers
Smidsy

Endcheck is made specifically for this application and is round about $10 a litre or $30 for four litres.

Timbecon and Carbatec have it and probably Southside does as well.

Which ever sealer you use needs applying as soon as possible after the timber is cut.

It's logs that will eventually become turning blanks - I plan on leaving the logs about a metre long until I need them.
Cheers
Smidsy

The Woodturning Club you belong to has Endcheck in their cupboard. I am sure that they sell it to members in 1 Litre quantities.

Epoxy is not a good idea as it is not flexible enough to cope with the expansion and contraction of the seasoning timber

Hi
litre quantities turn out very expensive Carbatec sell is for $20 a litre in their catalogue. MobilCERM from, you guessed it, Mobil costs about $64 for 20L. If you have logs and are likely to get more go for the 20L.

Just some added comments:

Two things occur when logs lose moisture. The first is the more rapid loss of moisture through the end grain, resulting in shrinkage of the ends, and end checking. Coating the ends will help preveny this, and must be done immediately the timber is sawn, especially with most of the eucalypts, as a day is enough to result in degrade.

The second is that there is a significant difference in radial and tangential shrinkage as timber dries. Put into context here, it means that as a complete log dries, (even slowly and evenly) it will result in star checking in the log, even well away from the ends. This is a longer term effect, and will take place even if the ends are sealed.

What works best is to immediately cut the log int sections a bit longer than the girth of the log (to allow for a bit of end checking which may occur in spite of our best efforts), coat the ends with your favourite sealer, and then (or before) split each log section into two with the grain, thus yielding two bowl blanks. As these dry, they will "cup" but this will relieve the tension in most cases, leaving a usable blank. Expect still to lose a fair bit, depending on the species.

Hope this helps,

Alastair

I like to break it down as far as possible while green, with chainsaw or bandsaw - ending with an octagonal piece with one bark and one flat side. Don't include pith, it's just going to crack. Then seal.

Hie Guys
I ended up getting some from Timbecon - my woodturning group had run out and I didn't have time to drive all the way up from Gosnells to Carbatec.
(Carbatec south of the river sounds like a good idea hint hint)

The guy at Timbecon decanted some into an unmarked container for me (not ideal and I would prefer an MDS but the poor sod was on his own and running his butt off) and I found when I opened the bottle that it is white with the conistency of white glue and not clear as the Carbatec catalogue states.

Have I been given the wrong stuff?
Cheers
Smidsy

No. it looks like milk but dries into a clear waxy look. Put it on the end of the log plus 1-2" up the sides. I tend to recoat in about 24 hours.

My 2 bits worth.
I cut my green wood into blanks as soon as I can (immediately if possible) and roll them in a wax mixture then put away to dry.
I use 95% paraffin wax and 5% beeswax. I keep it in an old electric frypan (2$ at a garage sale) and heat it up and dunk whenever needed.
I have tried waxing the ends of logs but still get a lot of cracking. Generally the only blanks that crack are ones with the centre of the log running through them.
Regards
Don

I use 95% paraffin wax and 5% beeswax. I keep it in an old electric frypan (2$ at a garage sale) and heat it up and dunk whenever needed.

Don
But don't you find the wax make's your snag's taste a bit funny though. :eek:
Rod

I bought some polytex paint for the walls of the kitchen and still have heaps left over - I use this as it stretches a bit and allows for the timber to move under the skin without cracking. I always remove the bark and paint up the trunk of the log/slab about an inch. seems to work ok.

cheers

One other thing I would add is that you shouldn't let direct sunlight onto the ends of the timber when you have cut it. Whack it into shade immediately and then cover for the trip back home. Even 10-15 minutes of direct sun (especially in Perth) can cause cracks to start forming (I have seen this a lot on the bits that are offcuts and get left in the sun).

I have to agree with Sean.

The sooner you can get the ends sealed, the better the result.

Alastair