storing logs indoors

Re: storing logs indoors (long reply)

Gary Evans

>Jim,

If the wood is fresh cut, I wouldn't recommend leaving it in rounds. Split it as near as possible through the pith and coat the endgrain, the pith area, plus any wild grain that you might find.

You are dealing with a balancing act here. The strength of the wood increases as it drys. At the same time, the stresses due to drying are building in the wood. The trick is in keeping the strength curve slightly ahead of the stress curve.

You can do this by controlling the Relative Humidity where the wood is being stored. The lower the RH, the higher the stresses, because the outer wood starts to shrink before the inner wood. You want an area with a very high RH, i.e. 90%+ if the wood is very green.

An enclosed garage, would, I think, be a little too dry for green wood, particularly in the round. I would recommend to start it outside, in a shady spot, under some cover to protect it from the elements. As it dries, you can gradually accilimate it to drier environs, such as your garage.

My 2 cents,

GE

Re: storing logs indoors

Mike Schwing from Md.

>Jim, the poplar probably won't do well. Depending on what type of poplar it is, it'll be very susceptible to blue stain - what appears to be mold but is actually an oxidation reaction. It'll go right through the entire log (or sealed blank) in just a few months. Mold will still be a factor, but it can be dealt with semi-effectively on cut blanks by spraying liberally with bleach before waxing the blanks.

On blanks that get a bit moldy but not blue stained, I've had OK success returing them to normal color after turning by using chlorine bleach and wood bleach.

Yellow poplar is very susceptible to blue stain, tulip poplar slightly less so.

Re: storing logs indoors (long reply)

Sean Troy

>I agree with Gary to an extent. I think it depends on which part of the country your from. Here in Arizona, even if the wood is covered outside, the temps under a tarp can reach well over 120 degrees with very low humidity at 10% or less. In that case a garage would be a safer bet. At least thats what I'm finding. Best of luck, Sean

Re: storing logs indoors

jim moy

>thanks guys! i live in chicago and its still cool yet so i think i have alittle time to cut this stuff up.

i just bought a brand new 20"husky 359 over on ebay and i'm dieing to try it out(i'm gonna need a bigger bar maybe). thanks again.

Re: storing logs indoors

John Lucas

>Jim

I had my best luck by splitting the logs, sealing both ends and then trying to keep them out of the sun and wind. Indoors causes them to split quickly here in Tennessee.

I have a husky that came with a 16" bar. I added an 18" and have cut up trees as big as 24". It's a tough little machine. A little slow in ripping but I'm patient.