I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a month ago. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?
Larry
PS They were free!
Rule of thumb, 1 year per inch.
To help prevent checking, I would paint the end grains with a few coats house paint or varnish. Nothing fancy or expensive.
Just curious - what part of the world ? What type of willow ? Our most common or most obvious, here in southwestern Ontario is weeping willow - I've never heard of it being used for anything - not even firewood ... the one in my brothers yard was huge when we were kids - has been in decline for 25 + years. ~ 8 - 10 feet in diameter ... a big messy beast. John T.
Not my tree, but suspect the weeping variety. It has a nice grain pattern and the worms and insects have created a couple of very interesting slabs.
Sorry -- southeast Wisconsin
go. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are re ady to be worked. Any thoughts?
Plenty of info out there on drying, and you have a great start here. If yo u are going to air dry, make sure you have the wood "stickered" to speed dr ying and keep it from molding, and every 90 days or so turn it move it arou nd in your pile. Plenty of air circulation is a good thing!
As mentioned, I would take a piece of that wood and dry it in my microwave, then try some wood working tests on it. The willow we have down here in S . Texas can get quite large, but the wood is soft and very fibrous. When I was turning a lot I traded for some of that stuff, and while the grain was pretty, the tear out was ferocious. Even with sharp tools and quality san dpaper, the surface remained fibrous and I never could get it smooth.
Robert
go. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are re ady to be worked. Any thoughts?
Yes, get a bathroom scale and weight it NOW. Then each month weight it and write the date and the weight on the piece. When it quits losing weight ( i.e., reached its moisture equilibrium), its ready to use. ALSO, paint, a s said elsewhere, paint the ends. You should have done that the day you go t it, but later is better than never.
The method I found works best is to melt wax into the end grain with an old iron. Another I've used recently is to stick painters tape on the ends of the boards. That is really easy and seemed to work well.
No one has yet mentioned playing classical music so it drys more mellow and less checking. Do not play Ride of the Valkaries though.
nor Moonlight Sonata (3rd Movement)
depends
you going to make natural edge style or traditional
if traditional you may want to rough cut then seal edges with paint or wax
saw some high end furniture makers harvesting an old dead tree think it was walnut
but they acquire wood for use 10 to 15 years later they slabbed it and edge sealed it and stored outdoors in a covered space
price is right
Freshly cut, aye? Keep an eye out for more worm activity. If small holes (not channels) it may be powder post beetles (treat PPBs with Timbor). If it's other larvae, you might have to fumigate the wood.
*I've fumed small boards with gasoline... don't pour it on the wood. Put t he gas in a small container next to the boards and cover with tarp type mat erial.... but not in your basement. Takes about 2 days of fuming, for the gas fumes to drive off the bugs. *Pouring gasoline onto the boards will le ave a gasoline smell on and in the boards for (almost) forever.Just keep an eye out for more insects, since the wood is freshly cut. Mayb e the miller has some info about the (previous?) bugs. The latest hickory I had milled, grubs were coming out as we sawed the boards.
l be > stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are rea dy to be >worked. Any thoughts?
18 mos sounds about right. If shorter boards, 3' and shorter, (such that y ou are limited to how much you can cut off the ends, later), another option is to screw/attach a "bread board" onto the ends, to prevent checking. If a shorter board seems to be checking fairly significantly, then, likely, i t will be, somewhat, weak along the whole length, even if you don't see a c rack all along its length. The wider the board, the more significant this effect.All the mo betta!
Sonny
ybe the miller has some info about the (previous?) bugs. The latest hickor y I had milled, grubs were coming out as we sawed the boards.
I am reminded of how important that is after reading your post.
Several years ago I got some wormy ash to turn on the lathe to make some tr aditional, flat shaped oil lamp holders. The wood turned well, and the bla nks were reduced in size by at least half with no sign of bugs. The rouged blanks at in the hot garage for about three months to stabilize before fin al sanding and finishing.
No bug stuff of any kind showed up. Sanded, finished, and presented. Six months later frass started showing up on the display shelf. Those little b astards had been turning at an average of a bout 2000 rpms for several sess ions, even lived through my finishing, and they still survived.
Good point!
Robert
Powder post beetles can live as larva in the lumber for 4 - 5 years before emerging as adult beetles - I know - my hickory flooring had several pieces infected ... Hopefully they didn't find a good place to lay eggs after emerging .. John T.
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