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Yellow Glue To Seal End Grain

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Yellow Glue To Seal End Grain

#1

Does anyone use glue for this purpose.  As a result of Milton, here in Florida, I've collected a few pieces of Live Oak.  I applied a generous coating of Titebond 11 fifteen days ago to the end grain and I can see that the glue has held tight without any indication of cracks.

Is this good?  That is, isn't it necessary for some moisture to be escaping?

Thanks,

Re: Yellow Glue To Seal End Grain

#2

Sealing end grain is done to help prevent end-checking (cracks) as the wood dries.  Your wood will still gradually loose moisture through the face grain. 

You haven't mentioned whether you're dealing with boards or log sections, but with boards, you'll also need to get them stacked on a good flat surface with  "stickers"  (3/4x3/4") between them every 24" or so and then put some real weight on top.  Concrete blocks work  but you'll need at least 3 blocks for 8' boards to keep them flat as they dry.  

Hope you're not in a hurry to use the boards as air drying takes most of a year for each inch of thickness, especially in humid locations like Florida.

Re: Yellow Glue To Seal End Grain

#3

If you are saving turning blanks, steps taken to slow the drying of a chunk of tree trunk will help but by far it is better to rough out the bowl than totally relying on sealer to keep it from cracking. You can apply some sealer to the end-grain of the roughed blank exterior .
Cracks are devilish and while they may not be visible they can still be present.
You also need to monitor your pieces to ensure that mold is not growing because of the high-moisture condition being maintained during the slow drying; some species like maple are worse for this.
If you are dealing with a tree trunk piece it should as a bare minimum be split down the pith and if possible remove about an inch on either side of the pith if the piece is big enough.

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