I must respectfully disagree...
Steven D. Russell
>Hello,
I would not recommend leaving the logs in whole, as even though the endgrain may be sealed, the sidegrain will also loose moisture (albeit at a slower rate than endgrain). This will cause differential moisture gradients to form and in conjunction with other process's, will cause the logs to crack.
Very few logs can be dried successfully in the whole log form... Best bet is to process your logs into the desired blank sizes you are looking for (rough them out if possible) and seal them with a good quality cold wax emulsion like Anchorseal, or ExxonMobil Mobil's Cer-M. Two coats would be optimal, with the second coat being applied before the first coat has fully dried. Even better, is to rough turn, boil the roughouts and then dry the roughouts.
Madrone has a LOT of stress in the wood and as such, it lives to crack. Mitigation of the mositure loss through the endgrain/sidegrain helps to prevent steep moisture gradients from forming, but it does nothing to mitigate the inherient stress in the wood.
This stress is present in varying degrees in the trunk and limbs and can be exacerbated by growing angles, environmental factors present in the growing area and the specific species involved.
Years ago, I began experimenting with boiling roughed out timbers (and solid blanks) to speed drying and reduce the potential drying defects to an absolute minimum. The timber that initially got me travelling along this path was none other than Madrone... I had received a large amount of green Madrone and was frantically trying to find ways of preventing it from checking.
Out of those experiences and many of thousands of bowls and years of experimenting later, my boiling protocol is used by thousands of woodturners around the world with great success. It will reduce the drying time of boiled pieces on average by 50%, with some species achieving a 83.5% reduction in overall drying time.
Drying reduction rates in excess of 50% is species dependent, but when averaged over more than 2,000 species, the average reduction seen by turners using my protocol is 50%. In addition, boiling will reduce the cracking in boiled pieces significantly, (when the protocol is followed exactly) with a well documented success rate of 98.5% or higher (bowls boiled and dried without cracks), per hundred bowls turned.
I must respectfully disagree with Russ's statement "Boiling will relieve the stresses in burl wood. It does nothing for flat grain."
This has not been my experience with boiling and since I developed the boiling protocol several years ago, I believe I have boiled more pieces (several thousand) than any other turner using the protocol. The benefits of boiling are achieved with sidegrain/flatgrain and endgrain processed timbers, burrs, exotics, and ordinary North American timbers as well.
Thousands of turners are now using my boiling protocol on species in countries all over the world, cut flatgrain, endgrain and burr with equal success. I promote my boiling protocol around the United States in my weekly demonstrations and in the rest of the world via the internet. In these demonstrations and in thousands of emails I have received, I have met and visited with a plethora of turners who are using my boiling protocol and report the same high success rates as I acheive.
If you would like a copy of my boiling protocol, please let me know. Take care and all the best to you and yours!
Better Woodturning and Finishing Through Chemistry...
Steven D. Russell
Eurowood Werks Woodturning Studio and Advanced Research Laboratory
The Woodlands, Texas
Machinery, Tool and Product Testing for The Woodworking and Woodturning Industry