Wife wants plant stands made out of tree log sections....

... and I was wondering if there was a way to stop them cracking and splitting as they dry, not that its really all that important. If I varnish it on the end, will that slow it down enough and stop it splitting?

Its oak wood, although the wife wants me to get some pine as it would be lighter to move around the house if necessary.

Thanks

Dean

Reply to
dean
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Varnishing the ends is a good idea. You can also paint it with a thick layer of yellow glue, shellac, or my favorite, parrafin melted in a double boiler.

This will minimize checking, as will stripping off the bark.

The worst paint to use would be latex paint. Latex paint is highly permeable to water vapor.

Reply to
fredfighter

If you hollowed the sections out it would help prevent splitting and make them lighter. Cut a rabbet in one end and inset a piece of plywood to hold the plant.

If I was doing it I think I'd try splitting the log into quarters, chop out the center, and glue it back together real quick before it dried and warped. But then again I've never done this and this method may not work. It's just an idea and others with more experience will rightly shoot it down if it's a bad one.

Art

Reply to
Wood Butcher

I make side tables out of 2 inch thick 3' diameter pine and alder endgrain slices/slabs. The trick to prevent radial cracking: Seasoning in the house for 1 year prior to beltsanding smooth (they start out with chainsaw finish) and finishing with 6-10 coats of shellac. Don't know if this would work for entire log sections due to thickness and difficulty in maintaining even moisture content throughout entire piece. Wondering where I store these slabs in the house for a year? I keep them under my bed!

Reply to
woodworker88

I was looking at some chainsaw-carved bears in Alaska. They had a vertical chainsaw kerf up the back approx. 70% of the log thickness. This essentially gives you two half logs and seems to control major splits. Just a thought.

Reply to
Gerald Ross

Right out of Hoadley.

Seems the best answer to me, as well. As a turner, I work green wood a lot. End grain with the pith included is at best a crapshoot unless you soak it in PEG or similar, and then it'll be a damp, greasy, finish-rejecting item suitable only with a glass top. If the wife insists, go with a wood like elm, yellow birch, or true poplar (not "Poplar"), which has interlocking grain and stands a chance of holding if hollowed and protected during drying.

Reply to
George

You asked the same question in January, and again in May.

The answer hasn't changed.

Reply to
Doug Miller

Paint them with ethylene glycol auto antifreeze for a few weeks or until it stops absorbing rapidly. This will prevent cracking while not interfering with finishing or gluing. It also kills rot organisms and insects.

Latex paints are no more water permeable than oil paints.

dean wrote:

Reply to
Dave Carnell

That was a disk, not a log.

Reply to
dean

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