walnut logs

[Rich Noterman]

My dad is going to take down a couple of walnut trees, My question is what do I with the logs? Let them dry? Take off the bark? or seal the ends? or seal all of it? Not sure when I will get to turn these, but I will what them to keep. Also what is the best to use to seal the logs?
Thanks for any help
Rich

[Stephen Massman]

here is a good article with pics on how to get bowl blanks out of the wood.

http://www.wonderfulwood.com/articles/logcutting.html


I use anchorseal (greenwood sealer) to seal all cut surfaces and leave the bark on.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Rich last fall (September) I got a load of 7 walnut logs. I left them in log form with the bark, sealed the ends with two coats of anchorseal and make sure you keep them out of the sun. Latex paint will work in a pinch but some sort of anchorseal or greenseal works best. I didn't have the time when I received them to cut them up into bowl blanks. None of them cracked and were in pretty good shape. I have since cut them up into bowl blanks in January. I always cut down the middle about a 1/2" on either side of the pith. That is where cracks start so that is a must to get it out. I sealed all of the bowl blank ends and up over the ends for about 2". I leave the bark on till I am ready to turn. Some of these will be NE bowls (Natural Edge). I have them store in my barn shed and as of yesterday the 50 some blanks had no cracks.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Rich - congrats on the wood score! Leave everything in log form as much as possible - with the bark on and seal any area that has been cut.

Best thing to use for that is anchorseal but other things - like paint - can work for the short term but not very well.

The idea behind leaving everything in log form - with the bark on - is to slow down the natural drying process. Like Bernie mentioned - keep the wood out of direct sun because that would heat up the wood and speed up drying. When it dries to fast - the wood will crack - so do your best to keep things sealed, covered and off the ground if possible so it doesn't rot from absorbing additional moisture through the ground.

Good luck with it! Looking forward to seeing the photos!

[Richard Coers]

I'm not such a fan of leaving the bark on. It depends on what park of the country you live in too. Leaving the bark on is an invitation for bugs. They may already be under the bark, but can really move in especially if you leave the logs on the ground. Leaving them in log form can also be the wrong thing to do if you live where it is dry and hot. When I did only bowls, I would cut everything up, knock off the bark, end coat it, then stack with spacers between them. Now I do hollow forms as well, so some will have to stay whole. Crotch sections will definitely need to be cut in half. They will almost always crack if left in the round.