how to dry some 30" maple logs?????

[hamrdog]

a neighbor just cut down a maple tree today (okay, i finished cutting it down). there are a couple 3-4' logs about 30" in diameter, and a few smaller ones. every time i try to dry green wood it starts cracking. all i have is the outside, no kilns or heated shops to keep logs in. so what should i do? i would eventually like to make four round tabletops from one of the logs (you know, just lop off a disk of wood from the end of the log), so i don't want the wood to crack on the ends of the logs. i've tried painting the ends of the logs as well as cutting them into slabs. i don't mind a few very small cracks, but a big 1/2" split halfway into the log is not what i want.

thanks for any tips.

andy b.

[Rodney Myrvaagnes]

AFIK, the only way you will be able to use the end grain slice as a table top is to cut it off immediately and immerse it in PEG 1000, which will replace the moisture in th ewood without shrinking it.

If you want to use the rest of the log in a more normal fashion you should saw it into planks so it can dry without the checking that always occurs when a whole log dries.

The checking occurs because the tangential shrinkage is greater than the radial.

HTH

Rodney Myrvaagnes NYC J36 Gjo/a

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