How should I treat my wood?

[Ted Evans]

Hello everyone,

I have a question that surely has been answered before but I could use an answer quickly if someone would be so kind.

I have some maple, approximately 20” in diameter that I would like to cut into two pieces for bowls. My question is, how should the wood be treated being that I cannot get to them right away to rough them out? I am using Anchor Seal, should just the end grain be treated or should all places without bark also be treated? Should I store them on a trailer with a cover over it or would they be better in the basement?

Thanks for your suggestions.

Ted

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ted - I always seal anything that I just cut. Try to leave things as big as possible until you are ready to turn. Then cut into whatever size you need for a blank. You can leave outside - out of direct sunlight - and shouldn't have any problems. Just check every once in a while to make sure no cracks have started.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I also like to leave mine in log form if I am not getting to them like within a month or two. If you will be getting to them sooner I would make sure that when you cut it to make sure the pith is all gone. If not it will crack anchorseal or not. With that done I seal both ends and up over the edge on the flat for 2 to 4 inches.

[Ted Evans]

Thanks, Steve and Bernie for the info, now one more question. There are many limbs that are 3 to 8” in diameter, are these good for anything and if so, what do folks do with them?

Ted

[Steve Schlumpf]

Depends what you want to turn. A lot of times branch wood is reactionary - meaning as you remove wood it starts to bend/warp/distort. No reason why you couldn't turn any number of smaller items - bottle stoppers, candle holders, peppermills, etc. Just make sure to seal the wood and give it plenty of time to dry.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Steve. I use the limb parts for smaller things like lidded boxes, ornaments, mini birdhouses, pen blanks, etc. Wood moves and reacts more than the big trunk sections.

[Mike Minto]

give it the tool it needs and take it for a spin as often as possible! :p

[Charles Bouchelle]

I too have a question. I have a couple of trees down and logs are cut into 12-18inch pieces I want to seal them and get to turning them green in a month or more.Should I just anchor seal the logs on both ends and cut the logs into bowl blanks when I am ready to turn them?

[Ryan Baker]

If it were me, I would cut them and get rid of as much of the piths as possible before anchorsealing all the bare wood. 12-18" chunks are likely to still crack from the pith, even if the ends are sealed.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Charles - I would anchorseal on both ends and cut into blanks when ready to turn. The pith area may crack a some point but if you are only waiting for a month or so - no problem as you are going to chainsaw the pith out the blank before you turn it anyway.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I too have a question. I have a couple of trees down and logs are cut into 12-18inch pieces I want to seal them and get to turning them green in a month or more.Should I just anchor seal the logs on both ends and cut the logs into bowl blanks when I am ready to turn them?

I would anchorseal both ends with 2 coats. If there are some small cracks you can cut a couple of inches off both ends and get to some good wood. I don't think you will see much cracking in a month or so but any longer I wouldn't make any bets.

[Richard Madison]

There are many limbs that are 3 to 8” in diameter, are these good for anything and if so, what do folks do with them?

Those 7"-8" diameter limbs could become some dandy end grain, pith centered hollow forms. If you're not there yet (hollowforms) leave the limbs as long as feasible and heavily seal the ends. Store in cool, damp location (basement?), or send/bring them to me. Would love to have some 8" maple limbs.