how to treat and cut green wood

[zimmerstutzen]

I saw a video in which a gent cut angled slabs from a tree branch and scrolled them to make plaques.  I have 20 acres of woods and lots of maple, cedar, poplar, etc.  I have a bandsaw to cut the wood into thin  half inch slabs.  But how should they be treated/handled until dry to reduce cracking and checking.   turners spray their bowl blanks with paint, or BLO, Spraying the pieces with paint would create a mess to sand off.   I have a barrel where I could bury them in saw dust to dry more slowly.  But that might promote mold.  

 

Any suggestions.    

Edited March 28, 2016 by zimmerstutzen

[MrsN]

typically slabs are cut thick, then dried and planed/resawn to the final desired thickness. This helps to reduce checking, splitting and warping.

When drying green lumber, you want to promote air movement. so don't bury it in sawdust or stick it under a tarp. Slabs should be stacked with small boards (called stickers) to promote air movement. You can let slabs sit in standard air and dry out, it takes about 1 year per inch of thickness to achieve "dry".

You can also  build a kiln of sorts that uses solar energy to speed the drying process.

There are some good resources on YouTube on milling your own lumber. I have a list on my school computer that I show my students. I will try to remember tomorrow to post some links.

[Scrolling Steve]

Painting the ends of the wood with a cheap latex paint will keep it from splitting on the ends.

[amazingkevin]

I saw a video in which a gent cut angled slabs from a tree branch and scrolled them to make plaques.  I have 20 acres of woods and lots of maple, cedar, poplar, etc.  I have a bandsaw to cut the wood into thin  half inch slabs.  But how should they be treated/handled until dry to reduce cracking and checking.   turners spray their bowl blanks with paint, or BLO, Spraying the pieces with paint would create a mess to sand off.   I have a barrel where I could bury them in saw dust to dry more slowly.  But that might promote mold.  

 

Any suggestions.    

Everyday i learn something here!

[Lucky2]

When cutting this type of blank, you'd never ever use any type of paint to stabilize the blank. The blanks are cut so thin, that the color of the paint will stain the blank making it unusable. No matter what you do, you're going to have a lot of unusable blanks due to cracking and warping. MrsN (Katie) has pretty much covered what you should do, but, keep in mind it's all a matter of trial and error. Did you try doing a Google search on the subject?

Len

[Dan]

Katie summed it up nicely. Be patient as it will take a long time to dry.

[WayneMahler]

Mrs.N ( Katie ) summed it up really good. The only thing different I did was seal the ends of the boards ( planks ) with anchor seal. This decreases the checking ( splitting ) on the ends. Use "stickers" of the same type of wood to prevent discoloration. Example would be if you are drying Maple and stickers are cherry it will stain the Maple. Have fun, learn lots and enjoy the end product.

[Tommy Johnson]

I sticker all the green lumber that I get and keep it stored a dry area. Also on small logs that I want to use I melt down cheap wax and coat both ends and store them in a dry area also.

Tommy

[ike]

This topicis pretty well covered. The only thing I have to add is LET IT DRY FOR ABOUT A YEAR THEN BUY A MOISTURE CHECKER AND IF THE MOISTURE IS LESS THAN 7% IT IS READY TO PLAIN DOWN.

[Birchbark]

Yeah what they said, only don't try and do it quick in the microwave.  Like in a day because you are impatient. 

Here's what happens, and when that thing splits, it sounds like a gun shot went off in your house!  Scare the crap outta me. 

 

Russell