Easy as Apple Pie?

[Jim Koepke]

Here is some wood from an old apple tree a neighbor let me have.

Someone here said to coat it with BLO on the ends to help prevent cracking. There is some separation already started, hope to control it a bit before it gets worse.

There are a few smaller pieces between the big pieces and the cab. Have to let it dry out for a while, anyone have any idea as to how long?

I would like to make some hollow work and also make some flat pieces for saw handles.

jim

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jim - apple is notorious for cracking really fast! Seal the wood as soon as you can with something like anchorseal - or latex if you don't have anchorseal - or place in plastic bags until you can get them sealed.

I would rough turn as many pieces as possible - as soon as possible. Then soak them in DNA, wrap in brown paper bag and shelve them for a couple of months. Should be some really pretty wood judging by all the heartwood!

Best of luck to you!

[Frank Kobilsek]

Jim
Steve is completely wrong! He said Apple cracks really fast the truth is that it cracks lightening fast.

Double garbage bag it and rough it ASAP. Wonderful to turn both wet and dry, but the step in between is a killer.

Frank

[Brian Brown]

Here is some wood from an old apple tree a neighbor let me have.

Have to let it dry out for a while, anyone have any idea as to how long?

jim

Jim,

The humidity in longview will never let it dry. You better ship it to me here in the desert. :D I't will dry in a few months. Of course, Washington will never let me ship it back. :D:D

Actually, use the year per inch rule. One year per inch of width plus 1 year. I.E., if the log is 8' wide your drying time is 9 years. Yikes! For an oblong shape, say the log is 8" one direction, and 11 the other, it would be more like 12 years. Remember we are talking the girth of the log, not the length of the log.

That is the technical answer to your question. The practical answer is fruit wood and almost all others will crack if the pith (log center) is left in, and fruit wood will probably crack even if you take it out. As soon as possible (yesterday), cut the logs in two pieces along the grain to remove the pith. Don't just slice them in half, cut a slab out of the center, so the center circles are gone (drawing atached). If you cut the bowls blanks now, you can start to turn immediatly. It is much faster to rough cut the bowl/vessels you want to make, and then dry them. They dry much faster, and somwhat more predictably. There is a ton of information on the forum about that, just search for rough turning. Good luck, apple wood is really nice looking, and I can never seem to find any here. By the way, I would use a product like Anchor Seal rather than BLO. It does a much better job of sealing, especially for troublesome woods like apple.

[Wally Dickerman]

First, get the wood into plastic bags to slow the drying. BLO will do nothing at all to seal the end grain. A wood sealer meant for the job, such as Anchorseal is a must. Ends dipped into melted paraffine will also do it. If you don't have either of those, a coat of white or yellow glue will work. Enamel paint (not latex) will be better than nothing. Don't leave it in plastic for too long or it will get moldy. Hurry, your apple wood is cracking as we speak.

Wally

[Jim Koepke]

Thanks for the advice.

Someone said here said BLO and since I had some of that, I didn't look for anything else when we were in town a few days ago.

So, I guess I had better get it off the truck and bag it up until I do get some anchor seal or something like it.

Do the borgs carry anchor seal?

jim

[Steve Schlumpf]

Do the borgs carry anchor seal?jim

Jim - not to my knowledge! Best bet at this point is to put everything into plastic bags to prevent any further moisture loss. Then rough out everything asap and soak in DNA.

Best of luck with this!

[Julian Nicks]

I just pulled some apple lumber out of my solar kiln today that I dried from green to 7% in one month. It cupped fairly bad, but didn't check nearly as bad as I have heard others say it would. I milled it all 1" thick, and plan on using it for small boxes, so I'll easily get 1/2" stock out of it.

[Jim Koepke]

I just pulled some apple lumber out of my solar kiln today that I dried from green to 7% in one month. It cupped fairly bad, but didn't check nearly as bad as I have heard others say it would. I milled it all 1" thick, and plan on using it for small boxes, so I'll easily get 1/2" stock out of it.

My thoughts were mostly turning tool handles and trying to make some flat stock for saw handles.

jim

[Bernie Weishapl]

Jim when I first started over 3 yrs. ago I used cheap latex paint I had sitting around. It worked pretty well believe it or not but as Frank and Steve said apple will split while you watch it.

[Jarrod McGehee]

nice haul. good luck.

[Scott Lux]

Excellent advice all around.

Don't forget to save all your cut-offs and scrap. Toss some apple in with the charcoal next time you're grilling poultry, pork, or fish. Yum yum. :)

[Burt Alcantara]

I have an assortment of apple segments. All of the pieces over 6" have cracked beyond usefulness. I should have removed the pith before sealing as the largest cracked pieces were sealed with 3 coats. Still didn't help.

If I were to do it again, I would cut the wood immediately then seal it with multiple coatings of wax and cover them.

Burt