Question on storing turning wood

Re: Question on storing turning wood

e

>you're going to want to prevent cracking, bugs, and slow-down rotting. therefore, keep the logs out of the sun and wind (tarping, storing in shady, sheltered place).

keep off the ground to limit moisture and bugs. do not use any insecticide or anything else you don't want to be exposed to while turning.

if you don't get back to the logs for a while, reapply end-sealer.

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Russ Fairfield

>In Florida??

Off the ground.

Full shade.

Seal the ends

Cover with a tarp.

OR,

you can cut them into lathe-ready turning rounds, coat all over with AnchorSeal,

and store them anywhere you want that won't melt the wax.

Re: Question on storing turning wood

John Trant (Baltimore/WashDC)

>Off the ground(especially if there is standing water), in full shade, AnchorSealed, and draped with plastic sheeting.

John

Thanks for the quick reponse

Brad Risley

>I am definitly elevating the material and the ends will be sealed. And into the shade they go. Currently the ends are sealed with oil paint.

Thanks again

Brad

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Guest

>Ideally,

- Sealed ends, but not too sealed

- Elevated

- Insect/Ant Barrier between logs and ground

- Full shade

- Air space between, above and around the logs to allow minimal air circulation but no "wind" running through it. This means NOT having anything directly laying on the logs. You'll get condensation and moisture on the logs.

- Turned periodically

I store my ~400 logs each year in some well vented metal roofed sheds located in the forest shade. I have less than 2% loss due to storage in my operation.

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Gary Evans, Tallassee, TN

>You say "sealed ends, but not too sealed."

I'm just curious about your reasoning. To me the point of sealing the ends is to minimize moisture loss through the end grain. Don't you get some cracking when you use a less permeable barrier than something like Anchorseal?

Thanks,

Gary

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Guest

>"I'm just curious about your reasoning. To me the point of sealing the ends is to minimize moisture loss through the end grain."

Minimize, yes. But not stop it completely or, in the case of Anchorseal, to really slow it down to a crawl. Ideally, you want the same rate of moisture loss through the endgrain as you do through the rest of the log. Keeping it even, you see. Anchorseal (just a paraffin, surfactant, and water solution essentially) and many other "endgrain-sealers" on the market error on the side of stopping too much moisture from passing through it. That's fine and good as it's better for the general consumer to use it and forget it and not complain to the company or on the web. ha! It's also horribly expensive for what you get but that's another discussion.

Use those products as directed but just be aware that it's going to take 2-3 times longer to dry that piece of wood than otherwise (still using a sealer but one that lets more moisture through). For a log, that's measured in years worth of difference! Something I can't afford to do in my business.

"Don't you get some cracking when you use a less permeable barrier than something like Anchorseal?"

You mean "more permeable" as in letting more moisture through? No. However, letting too much through will certainly cause problems such as more checking. The key is to use a product (or simply make your own as I used to before switching to something completely different now) that lets just enough through to allow that piece of wood dry at an acceptable rate but yet not let too much through or risk developing checks and cracks. It's a balance.

Additionally, having a less permeable (= less moisture let through) product on there sets you up for other problems such as rot, discoloration (and not necessarily the good kind), uneven hardening, disease, and insects not to mention just taking longer to dry to a usable state.

Hope this helps.

Better than Anchor Seal??

Russ Fairfield

>Now that you have aroused our interest, how about sharing the name of this product that is better than Anchor Seal??

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Gary Evans, Tallassee, TN

>I did mean "more" permeable. And I, like Russ, would be interested in knowing what you use now to seal your log ends.

Does the product you use work equally well for sealing wild side grain, such as crotch figure? Also, how does it work for sealing burls? Inquiring minds want to know. 8^]

Also, we promise not to bite if you tell us who you are. We are all friends here.

Thanks,

Gary

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Ryan McMullen - Memphis

>wow, this thread came along at just the right time. I was just going through my wood pile and realized that I have to scrap most of my wood (approx 20-30 pcs). I had the wood stored on an old pallet and covered with a blue tarp. I thought I was doing good, but apparently not.

In addition to end cracks (I wouldn't call this checking as these cracks were for the most part completely through the wood) I had "ring shank" (where the wood separates at the growth rings). Since I live in TN, where the summers are HOT & HUMID what are my options for storing my wood? If it is outside (which is has to be due to shop size) then how to protect it from the heat. I am using anchorseal, but I guess with our heat it melted away???

I have some old pallets that I was planning on building more shelving in the back yard (higher off the ground), how should I go about covering up the wood?

Any ideas and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Ryan

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Gary Evans, Tallassee, TN

>Ryan,

The ring shake didn't come from improper storage. It was in the wood when you got it. My understanding is that it occurs due to bacterial infection in the standing tree.

GE

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Gary Evans, Tallassee, TN

>I meant to ask this in my earlier reply; How long had the wood been stored under the tarp? Also, what kind of wood was it? It may be that the bacterial infection contributed to the excessive cracking of the end grain. I don't expect that you lost the Anchorseal unless the ends were exposed to a lot of weather.

GE

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Ryan McMullen - Memphis

>Gary,

Thanks for the info on ring shank - seems I get a lot of wood that has it, dumb luck I guess.

The wood has been under the tarp since at least March of this year.

Wood types: Cedar, Fir, Rosebud, White Oak, and Maple

The Cedar and maple held up the best (fewest pcs with checking and cracking) while the Rosebud had the ring shank and severe cracking.

For future storage should the wood be kept separated? Most, if not all, of the wood had been cut to length and the pith removed.

One of the things I was thinking of was the fact that the wood was stored on the west side of the house (my backyard) and so it would receive direct afternoon and evening sun, perhaps that is just a bit too hot?

Thanks in advance for any help with my wood storage problems.

Ryan

Re: Question on storing turning wood

John Trant (aka Boxes-n-Bowls)

>I coat the ends of logs twice to build a faily heavy layer of Anchorseal. If I directly saw the logs into blanks, then I coat all cut surfaces. My wood is off of the ground and completely covered under thick black plastic. It is stacked in a shady part of the yard where it never sees direct sunlight. I have stored wood for years this way. My main problem is spalting and rot, not sever cracking.

Just my 2 cents.

John

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Guest

>"I did mean "more" permeable. And I, like Russ, would be interested in knowing what you use now to seal your log ends."

Well, I can't mention what I use for my logs now. I can, however, describe what I used to use for those logs and what I still use for smaller items now.

Let me first say that I don't consider what I'm going to describe as a competition for Anchorseal or it's kind of paraffin-based wood sealers. It's a different kind of thing. I would use an Anchorseal-type of product in different situations than I would this; very few situations but still, ...

There are all kinds of commercial products that are at least close to what you can make yourself fairly easily. I'll mention a few of them if you just want to pick something up at the hardware store in a minute. Here's the ingredients list if you want to make it yourself:

- A PVA (Polyvinyl Acetate) or EVA (Ethyl-Vinyl Acetate) if you can get it. PVA is commonly found around the shop in White and Yellow glues. It's also in many sealers and overcoatings for all kinds of things from plaster to metal and so on.

- A penetrating, drying oil that's, preferrably, fairly cheap. Linseed or Boiled Linseed oil is commonly used. This acts sort of like a plasticizer and keeps things flexible among other things.

- Solvent. A slow drying one like Mineral Spirits/Paint Thinner.

- A surfactant. To make it easy on yourself just use a concentrated dishwashing detergent. Not much of this though.

- Water to get it to the consistency that works best for you.

The mixture should be thick enough to stay where you put it and not drip much but yet be easy to apply. It'll soak into the wood a little but mainly it's a surface treatment. It shouldn't crack or sag. It'll be dry but not brittle to the touch and stay really flexible and often squishy next to the wood.

If you want to try a commercial product, there are a couple that I can remember off the top of my head. One is from a company in New York called the Peter Cooper Corp. Otherwise, you can go down to your hardware store and look for a sealer/sealant that contains PVA. Things like roof coatings (not the silver topcoatings though), high PVA latex paints, primers, concrete, or (drywall, plaster, etc) wall sealers. It MUST say PVA or EVA on the label and stay flexible.

I'm not talking about just simply using White Glue on wood here. Although that will work to some degree, it's not the right consitency and doesn't have the flexibility after drying that's needed to be really as effective as it could be.

"Does the product you use work equally well for sealing wild side grain, such as crotch figure? Also, how does it work for sealing burls?"

Yes, of course. No difference in any of those woods for any wood sealer. The only difference is in application. You still have to seal the endgrain regardless of where it's coming out of the piece you have. Burls have endgrain running out all over the place so you just seal the entire thing for the most part.

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Peter Teubel

>"Well, I can't mention what I use for my logs now."

===============

May I ask why?

Re: Question on storing turning wood

George Van

>Can you put the above ingredients in percentage or level of importance? I understand from reading your post that water is a variable.

George

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Guest

>Try this as a starting point....

6 parts PVA (glue or whatever)

2 parts oil (don't overdo this)

1 part solvent (definately don't overdo this!)

1 part detergent (the surfactant in it is the key... so if you can get just surfactant by itself somewhere, use about 1/3 part here)

Increase the glue to have it more sticky/thick; add water to thin it. Sometimes I want it thick and sometimes I want it thin to spray it on when doing dozens of logs at a time.

Re: Question on storing turning wood

Guest

>"May I ask why?"

Sure. Doesn't mean I'll tell you though. ha! Just kidding.

In truth, it's something that I might want to market someday. As it is, it's only really applicable to large scale commercial use but I may, someday, make something more consumerable.

The PVA-type of sealer I mentioned is quite good and certainly a cheaper alternative even if you buy it commercially instead of making it yourself. It's what I used to use for the large scale logs I do and still use it for the smaller stuff like bowl blanks. I developed an equally effective product that is much less expensive for large scale operations that I use now.

For the truly delicate woods that I don't mind if they take forever to dry, I'll still use the paraffin-based (Anchorseal being one) products or, more accurately, my own version of it and seal it up tight. I just can't afford 1) the time it takes to fully dry and 2) the cost of those commercial products in the business end of things.