Wood Coasters with Bark Edges

[Dee Gallo]

I have some nice cherry branches which are very straight, around 4" diameter which I was going to cut into coasters or rounds for engraving. I went to search for previous threads on this topic and came up with several blank pages... :confused:

So, here are my questions: Did you guys engrave the end grain just "as is" or did you seal it first in some way? Is it better to cut them straight across or at a slight angle or does that not matter at all? Does end grain burn a lot differently than flat wood?

I have some time, these branches have been drying since September so I thought they should be ready to use without shrinkage cracks in another month or so... is that right?

This is just for fun, new territory, thanks, dee

[Anthony Welch]

Dee, I'm going to show a pen display in a few days where it'll have a slab of a cedar tree. It is a straight cut, sanded to 120 and 3 coats of lacquer. Then engrave image and color fill. I'm contimplating(sp?) giving another coat of lacquer.

Cutting the slabs at an angle for a coaster will give an interesting and unique style of coaster. Finishing (either poly or lacquer) then engraving will reduce clean up of smoke residue as you will only have to wipe it off. Other wise you'll have to sand after engraving.

Also the way the slabs will be cut or any wood for that matter, they do tend to crack if not dried properly. Which may add to the unique character of the coaster.

This is my opinion and YMMV.:o

Anthony

[Dee Gallo]

Also the way the slabs will be cut or any wood for that matter, they do tend to crack if not dried properly.

Thanks, Anthony, I'll be looking for your cedar post (ha ha that came out funny).

Can you explain more what "not dried properly" means? I thought if I let them dry whole and slowly over 6 months, they would not crack after they are cut... is this wrong?

Thank you for the tip on sanding and lacquer before lasering, that should save me a lot of cleanup. I like to sand cherry to about 400 so it's silky smooth. Is that overkill for a project like this?

cheers, dee

[Anthony Welch]

Over in the turners section, they say it takes 1yr for every 3" of wood to dry. That is if you seal the ends of the cut with either Anchorseal or a latex paint. This causes the ends to dry as slowly as it does the lateral sides of the wood.

Again I'm no expert in turning. Just dabble with some pen turnings and a few other small what-nots. Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong, which is about 99% of the time.:D

Anthony

[Dee Gallo]

Over in the turners section, they say it takes 1yr for every 3" of wood to dry. That is if you seal the ends of the cut with either Anchorseal or a latex paint. This causes the ends to dry as slowly as it does the lateral sides of the wood.

Again I'm no expert in turning. Just dabble with some pen turnings and a few other small what-nots. Someone else can correct me if I'm wrong, which is about 99% of the time.:D

Anthony

Wow - I guess my timeframe is only halfway there. I did not seal the ends, thinking the bark would slow it down as is. Well, there is plenty more where this came from, we are always cutting wood around here.

We just found a lot of curly maple in our firewood pile... the guy must be blind! It's only 18" and split, so only good for little stuff, but we pull it out whenever we find another piece.

cheers, dee

[Bill Cunningham]

My experience is sawing them into disks, (they dry faster, 3-4 months works for me on 1-1.5 inches thick) after their dry I sand the surface on a tabletop belt sander, and put 2 coats of lacquer (light sanding between coats) Laser, then spray another coat or two (sanding between them) to seal it up.. This particular piece had a nice red natural stain when fresh, and some of it stayed even after it dried

[Chip Peterson]

I used to do alot of turning. I still love it, and would do more if time allowed.

When I turned alot, I was a pack rat for wood. I'd grab as much as I could. Most often, the wood was green, and I'd have to protect it from cracking until I was able to put a gouge to it.

There are a few drying techniques that can be used.

1) Like was mentioned, seal the end grain. You can use something like Anchorseal. It's a brush on wax emulsion that slows the drying of the wood, thus limiting (eliminating in many cases) cracking. The cracks almost always originate from the pith. You can also use scrap paint that you have sitting around. It works, but maybe not as good as the Anchorseal.

2) Place your wood in brown paper grocery bags. Tape the bag closed and place it out of sunlight and away from strong air movement. You are trying to slow and equalize the natural drying process. You can monitor the wieght of the wood. When weight loss stops, it's dry. Typically 1 year per inch thickness.

3) Place your wood in denatured alcohol over night. The next day, remove it and allow the surface to dry. Then handle your wood as in #2 above. Drying time will be decreased.

Those methods will help you effectively handle the drying process.

[Linda Tetreault]

Dee,

A friend of mine cuts rounds for me, he drys them in a bin of sawdust, it obsorbs the moisture quicker than air drying & none of them have ever cracked. He used a plastic storage container & uses a moisture meter to check them.

[Dee Gallo]

Wow- Thanks Linda and Chip for those interesting lessons - there's always something new to learn!

Maybe what I'll do is try some Chip's way and some Linda's way, what the heck? Either way, it looks like it will be a while before I can really use this wood.

The Creek Rules!

[Rodne Gold]

I think the biggest problem will be the bark coming off in patches..........

[Ray Mighells]

American Black Cherry engraves nicely in the end grain. A very sharp saw blade will require less sanding. A square cut will center easier in your machine, but you could also cut oblong slices. You could dry some in your microwave oven with a little experimenting with low power and variable settings. Weigh a piece after each run and when the weight doesn't change it's dry. 3/8 to 1/2" works well. Don't try to seal or sand before it's dry, and you'll find that sanding to 150 grit will be good. I use a heavy body lacquer sanding sealer for most of my sealing. It has more solids in it and does a better job of sealing the grain. It also sands very easily. Your husband will know how to make jigs to make repetitive uniform cuts. With your artistic ability and creativity you will produce some great stuff. Have fun.!!

[Dee Gallo]

Thanks, Ray!

I'll give your suggestions a try - sounds like a good way to get going without waiting a year.


My husband has a kick-butt Dewalt table saw with all kinds of built-in gizmos to make even cuts and a blade which cuts super fine. He might object to putting raw logs in there, though.. have to check that. It would be a lot more accurate than chainsaw, that's for sure! Maybe a radial arm would be better...

Anyway, the microwave thing sounds cool. Time to start designing, I think!

Rodne, I HOPE the bark stays on, that's kind of the point of this experiment...

Thanks, dee

[Ray Mighells]

It would take a big table saw to handle 4" diameter. A band saw with a veneer slicing blade would work or a 14" mitre saw with a combo planer blade (will rip or crosscut with ready to finish edges.) I have 14" table and mitre saws in my shop but most shops have 10" and some 12".

[Dee Gallo]

Good point, I'll have to check that out.

[Bill Cunningham]

For those that have PMed me for the Indian Chief .. Here it is.. A old photograph that must be from the early camera days... For the wood piece above, used a viginette, brightened it up a bit, then ran it through photograv (cherry setting) This is the same picture I did on the 12 x 12 cork I posted a while back... Sorry Dee I don't want to hi-jack your thread, but a number of folks wanted this from both this and the earlier thread.. I figgered this would be the best place for them to find it.. And it is a nice picture...

[Dee Gallo]

No problem, Bill, I might like to try that one myself sometime! Thanks for posting it... helping each other is what it's all about, isn't it?

cheers, dee

[Mike DeRegnaucourt]

I'm curious and wondering if through the use of a vacuum press and maybe some type of moisture absorbing material surrounding the wood would help reduce the drying time. Does anybody know if through the vacuum press's ability to remove the air from the bag, if this would also help to draw out the moisture in the wood if a more absorbent material was on each side of the wood? Hmmmmm? :rolleyes:

[Ed Harrall]

As a teacher I always use the rule of thumb 1"/year when dry drying wood. I have used the oven to dry out small parts. Set it as low as you can about 150 degrees. Get a moisture meter ( around $50.00) and reduce it to about 10 percent. this would approximate kiln dried wood. A trick that I have learned when spray ploy or lacquer is use a scotch bite pad between coats instead of sanding it is faster and does not remove as much of the finish
Ed