Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
What if-
jim reasoner
>I applied anchorseal to the ends of a green log, say 10" dia and 15" long and then peeled the bark with a drawknife? Does this nullify the end coating or what? It would speed up water loss but would it be so much that cracking would be inevitable?
Re: What if-
Jay in Ohio
>Jim,
Its not a question of bark vs. no bark, but of end grain vs. long grain. Moisture is released more quickly from end grain rather than long grain, so you even out the moisture loss rate between these two types of grain by coating the endgrain of the log with a sealent. BTW, I cut the pith out of that piece of log or you may be subject to a good bit of cracking.
Cheers!
~Jay Kilpatrick in Dayton, Ohio
Depends.....
TDaniel
>Each wood is different and what works on one will not work on the next. When in doubt, coat all surfaces. Many woods will only need a heavy coat of Anchorseal on the endgrain but some will need more. Some will need spit in halves and others can be left whole. And the size of the log will also have to be taken into consideration, smaller logs seem to crack more readily than larger logs. A learning curve is invloved so just jump in and see what happens.
Re: What if-
Brad Vietje
>I leave wood in whole log segments when I want to PREVENT it from drying. After I cut workable-sized chunks, I'm still trying to PREVENT the loss of moisture. Once I've roughed out a bowl, I'm trying to CONTROL the loss of moisture -- slow and steady usually wins the race here. The exception to this is when I'm trying to save drying time, where boiling can help the wood fibers to relax, and not crack. Even then, we are trying to control the rate of moisture loss. See Steven D. Russell's comments, above, under the Madrona question. No one knows more about the boiling process than him. For smaller turnings, the microwave can also be used to speed things up -- experimentation is the key.
Safe Spinning,
Brad Vietje
Thetford, VT