I am building a new house so I am going to clear a number of nice pieces of maple, oak, and cherry. I would like to turn these into turning blanks. how do I seal the ends/sides of the wood so it does not split while it is waiting for me to use it?
Water emulsion wax. Commercial product called Anchorseal as well as others, though it's remove the pith, hold the bark, coat the ends and hope.
Keep them out of the sun.
I just leave the whole log out in the shade, off the ground, and sacrifice a bit each time I harvest a pair of blanks.
Mark:
This is a favorite subject on the woodturning NG, especially when trying to save, store and protect a nice blank.
Check out this link:
Robert
If you want you can just paint the ends with water based paint ,most importaint is to keep out of sun. The sides dont matter ,infact you want the water to evaporite via the sides.
Not in the log. Radial checks will ruin the whole thing.
I've heard that in Sweden they'll submerge a log for years to keep it whole while it's "curing". I believe the anaerobic environment of the bottom of a lake will prevent them from rotting.
I've seen loggers keep sprinklers on their logs while waiting transport to the mill, along the North (CA) coast roads.
They were never painted on the ends during this time. Seemed like keeping 'em moist was the key.
er
I cut them into manageable pieces, around 4', cut the pith (center) out, and seal them with anchorseal or other wood wax sealer. If your in a hurry, like I am, you can rough turn and mircrowave the piece. or simply place it in several paper bags and wait. Maple and Cherry dry fairly evenly, oak is more tempermental.
"I've heard that in Sweden they'll submerge a log for years "
There is a small industry in American (Florida to name one state) centered about retrieving "lost logs" that have been submerged for thirty plus years.
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