sealer talk

[Sean Hughto]

okay so I've been at this for about 10 months now, and have obtained and turned a bunch of blanks from all sorts of places. Some I have cut myself, but most I have purchased from various sources. The main sealers I've come across seem to fall into three groups:

1. Anchorseal or a very high quality equivalent

2. a low quality knock off of anchorseal (or maybe just anchorseal that was too old or not mixed well enough or applied in a heavy enough coat - I can't tell)

3. wax - like someone melted a vat of canning wax and dipped the blank

With respect to good anchorseal type stuff, it seems to doa great job of letting a blank or rough out breath enough and slowing drying enough. I'm very happy with it.

With respect to the second category - (knock off or messed up anchorseal), I've found that it allows checks pretty quickly - like within weeks, especially if the blank is a tough grain assignment like crotch or curl.

And the wax dipping, I'm not happy with that either. It doesn't allow the wood to breath at all. This tends to cause the wood to get spalt, mold, punk, or just softness, and not in a good way. It seems like certain species handle the wax better than others. Some exotics shrug it off, from what I can tell, but stuff like hard maple, just doesn't like beeing sawed hard and put up wet, so to speak.

What do y'all think about sealers? Does this match your experiences? Do you have any other insights or tips?

[John Hart]

Hands Down...Anchorseal.

And I'm not one to name-drop a product normally. First off, it does a good job. Secondly...it lasts forever. (I bought a 5 gallon pail 3.5 years ago, used a third of it, and then it sat through hot summers and sub-zero winters until I opened it up 3 weeks ago, and it was like brand new)

I also like the fact that the instructions say "don't apply a second coat", which tells me that one is enough.

I've gotten similar coatings from different woodworking outlets, and they didn't perform well. Anchorseal coats nicely even with my lousy chainsawing ability

[Bob Hovde]

After about five years, I just bought my second 5-gal pail of Anchorseal. I tried wax and paint, but only the A-seal seems to work on a variety of wood (All logs I cut myself.) Some wood, especially fruit trees, will check no matter what you do if left to dry. I recommend roughing them out very soon.

Bob

[Barry Elder]

+1 for Anchorseal

[John Hart]

...And Furthermore...

I was just outside cutting up a bunch of cherry logs..and I got to thinkin' about this thread, and what Bob just said about fruit trees. It is true that they love to crack.

So while I'm sawin'...I'm thinkin'...Ya know, it just might be the sugar. Because, when I cut up cherry, I immediately seal it before I go to the next piece. You can watch cherry crack. Within a minute, the pith will start separating, and within about 20 minutes, that crack will advance toward the more stable wood.

I think the sugar is crystalizing with the exposure to air, and tearing the wood apart.

Yeah...That's what I think.;)

Where's my lacquer?:confused:

[David Christopher]

I use anchorseal for more than just blanks....I use it for endgrain on fence pickets and landscaping timbers, they will last years longer this way

[David E Keller]

...And Furthermore...

I was just outside cutting up a bunch of cherry logs..and I got to thinkin' about this thread, and what Bob just said about fruit trees. It is true that they love to crack.

So while I'm sawin'...I'm thinkin'...Ya know, it just might be the sugar. Because, when I cut up cherry, I immediately seal it before I go to the next piece. You can watch cherry crack. Within a minute, the pith will start separating, and within about 20 minutes, that crack will advance toward the more stable wood.

I think the sugar is crystalizing with the exposure to air, and tearing the wood apart.

Yeah...That's what I think.;)

Where's my lacquer?:confused:

I know nothing about fruit trees or cherry or botany or a thousand other topics, but I don't think it's the sugar crystalizing. I think it probably has something to do with cell membrane permeability or the intercellular bonding or the movement of cytoplasm. I just made that up, but it sounds pretty good. I made all of that BS up without lacquer... well, without much lacquer.:D

[John Hart]

Now look here David...You can't go spoutin' off that molecular or celullar biology mumbo-jumbo without being properly vaporized.

Now go out to the shop and don't come back til you can make some sense.

...like me! :)

[Tom Sherman]

[QUOTE=John Hart;1484417]...And Furthermore...

I was just outside cutting up a bunch of cherry logs..and I got to thinkin' about this thread, and what Bob just said about fruit trees. It is true that they love to crack.

So while I'm sawin'...I'm thinkin'...Ya know, it just might be the sugar. Because, when I cut up cherry, I immediately seal it before I go to the next piece. You can watch cherry crack. Within a minute, the pith will start separating, and within about 20 minutes, that crack will advance toward the more stable wood.

I think the sugar is crystalizing with the exposure to air, and tearing the wood apart.

Yeah...That's what I think.;)

Where's my lacquer?:confused:[/QUOTe

John I don't think its the sugar in the wood, its the sugar in the lacquer...sweet stuff

[Jeff Fagen]

My neighbor's smoke tree was damageed by wind so I coated the bare wood
with ancor seal and tree wrap.It seems to be doing fine.