Thread: Preserving/restoring Huon pine?

There are wood preservatives on the market. Try Bunnings.

It would be good to get onto this quickly as borer starts in the bark/sapwood.

Nice work btw.

Originally Posted by ohno

Hi. I've created this statue out of a extremely worn Huon pine log.
The back of the statue where the "wings" are formed is untouched wood where a knothole has rotten away.
I want to know if theres any way of preventing further rot from spreading over time?.
You can see what i mean on the top of the head there. Is slowly developing from the core i think.

Ta

Ben,
The timber has now been removed from the environment that caused the rot (wet forest) and is being stored in a dry environment house/office where the conditions that support the breakdown of the timber no longer exist.

As long as you keep it dry, the rot area will not enlarge.

Kev M

You can still have borer in it and alive when the bark or sapwood are dry. Huon's not supposed to be susceptible to borer but I know of one retailer with large stocks who found that's not always true.

Originally Posted by KevM

Ben,
The timber has now been removed from the environment that caused the rot (wet forest) and is being stored in a dry environment house/office where the conditions that support the breakdown of the timber no longer exist.

As long as you keep it dry, the rot area will not enlarge.

Kev M

This piece had been sitting on a shelf indoors for over a year before i did any carving to it. I finished this piece several months ago and i've seen cracks slowly progressing across it.

Its not entirely suprising though as the whole design is based around using the rotted out knothole on the back.
I wonder how many years its been in the weather for it to do that to Huon pine.??. The tree itself was 364 years old. :eek:

ta
ben

Originally Posted by ohno

This piece had been sitting on a shelf indoors for over a year before i did any carving to it. I finished this piece several months ago and i've seen cracks slowly progressing across it.


ta
ben

Huon is like any other timber it takes around 1 year per inch (25mm) of thickness to dry. If you cut it and finish it while still green (wet) it will continue to dry and if there are any stress areas it can/will crack.

Kev M

We have been useing huon for ten years and I have only once seen a living thing in the wood. (a nest of wasps). It is arguably the most insect and rot resistant wood ever discovered. Very rarely we find pockets of rot and can only guess that the particular log was very old and I mean thousands of years old where one side of the tree is alive and the dead side is held up exposed to the weather. To fill cracks like the one in the sculpture we drip clear epoxy resin, low viscosity formula, thinned with about 10% lacquer thinner very carefully into the cracks. That seems to do the trick. Then sand up to 400 grit and finish with Organoils danish and a bit of wax a couple of days later. As for huon getting lyctus borer or termites I would have to see it with my own eyes, unles its that notorious 'Illawarra huon pine' much beloved of dodgy antique dealers.
Beautiful sculpture BTW very nice work.

Re borer: Speak to Chris at Cockatoo timbers. When I was there last year he saw some with his own eyes.

I have seen a hugh northfolk pine gutted by termites.

Originally Posted by Len McCarthy

We have been useing huon for ten years and I have only once seen a living thing in the wood. (a nest of wasps). It is arguably the most insect and rot resistant wood ever discovered. Very rarely we find pockets of rot and can only guess that the particular log was very old and I mean thousands of years old where one side of the tree is alive and the dead side is held up exposed to the weather. To fill cracks like the one in the sculpture we drip clear epoxy resin, low viscosity formula, thinned with about 10% lacquer thinner very carefully into the cracks. That seems to do the trick. Then sand up to 400 grit and finish with Organoils danish and a bit of wax a couple of days later. As for huon getting lyctus borer or termites I would have to see it with my own eyes, unles its that notorious 'Illawarra huon pine' much beloved of dodgy antique dealers.
Beautiful sculpture BTW very nice work.

Ta. Thats probably the go.
The log was extremely lopsided grain wise. On one side it carves like pine, the other its so dense that its almost glass like. The heart is very off centre too.
It must have been in some interesting conditions for it to rot away and inch or two over the years.
Apart from that the log was "dry" (as opposed to green) when i bought it.

Your piece could well be a branch that grew for 364 years on the side of a tree that grew for 3000 years. Hence the lopsided centre and density.