Sealing roughouts for drying

[Fred Perreault]

I have been sealing my chainsawn blanks recently, and used up all of Anchorseal. I am waiting for a new 5 gallon can, but since I am incapable of any degree of self restraint, I have been coring and roughing out some inventory. As a substitute for the Anchorseal, I have been putting Bullseye Shellac on the rough outs as a sealer for drying. Has anybody else used shellac as a sealer for drying, and if so, was there any success? I am leaving the about 1" thick, a sealing them with the shellac, and tossing them into the shavings pile.

[Steve Vaughan]

Well, I've been using DNA for my roughed-out blanks with no issues. After a soak of a couple hours to overnight, through it in a paper grocery bag with few shavings and check on it in a month. Might that be an option?

[Wally Dickerman]

Until the Anchorseal arrives put the blanks in plastic bags. The idea is to keep the moisture in the blanks until you can protect them with wood sealer. Rapid evaporation from the blank surface creates shrinkage which creates cracks.

Wally

[Dan Forman]

I've been putting roughouts in paper bags on the shop floor for a few weeks, then storing on shelves for another 6 weeks or so, per Ernie Conover. No sealer used, works fine. I believe Leo does the same. The greatest amount of shrinkage occurs in the first few weeks, after that, the danger of cracking is over, and they dry faster (the rest of the way) out of the bag.

Dan

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Concur with Dan, except my shop is too warm and dry, so I place them in a cool unheated room in my basement, have done this for many years with good success, also have a drying cabin where they go in when the temps are right and when the in-house bowls are dry, they go there as well (ran out of room in there, have to do some re-arranging :-) )

[Jim Burr]

White (or any color really) latex paint works well in a pinch or even on a regular basis.

[Dan Forman]

I should have added that my shop is in the basement, so not too hot or dry, especially on the floor.

Dan

[Fred Belknap]

I have a problem finding Anchor Seal and am looking for a substitute. I thinking the stuff Lowes sells to seal concrete blocks would work. I am now using Johnson water seal for decks and with a couple coats it seems to work fairly good. I have also melted canning wax on blanks and it works. Just looking for something that I don't have to drive 200 miles to get.

[Fred Perreault]

I started using the shellac about 2 weeks ago, mostly as an experiment. I am not sure how well shallac breathes, but the Anchorseal on some of the earlier blanks and roughouts seemed to allow mold and mildew under the sealer. So far in 2 weeks the shellac does not seem to be failing, and the wood is not cracked and is holding its' color. I'll report updates as time goes on.

[Carol Kinney]

I would think it would work fine because the shellac would seal it good. I've heard of others using all types of wax, and paint as Jim has done. After Dan had posted in one of the threads that he just puts his in paper bags I've been doing it also - I live in Florida and it's working great. I also have been having problems with mold growing on my Achorsealed pieces - not sure why. I've also done a lot of DNA drying of my roughed out pieces, it also has worked great (just don't cut these really thin as it will crack). Good luck on using the shellac, what made you think of using it as a sealer?

[Leo Van Der Loo]

The thing about Anchor seal (they do ship BTW) is that it does let the wood dry at a slow rate, sealing the wood totally isn't what you want I think.
Also wax etc is usually costlier than Anchor seal, unless you have it and no other use for it, or find it for next to nothing.
For short periods of time the plastic bag works fine till you can rough turn the blanks, as all sealers are only good for a limited time, anchor seal has earned it's reputation for good reasons.
So unless it is for emergency reasons I would stick with Anchor seal :-)

[Fred Perreault]

Carol

I ran out of Anchorseal, and looked around the shop for something to seal the roughouts while they dried slowly. I don't always rough out and dry them, sometimes I turn to finish green or whatever and let air dry and change shape. I've also used paper bags, DNA, air drying, buried in shavings and paints and such. But I saw the shellac and chose to give it a go. It has DNA in it, and I believe that it is somewhat porous, so I am looking forward to the results. The Anchorseal should be on it's way... 5 gallons of shellac in quart cans is gonna be a lot $more$ than 5 gallons of Anchorseal. :)

[Grant Wilkinson]

Instead of anchor seal you can use ordinary latex house paint. As Leo said, you may have a problem with shellac. It will seal it. You don't want it completely sealed up. The moisture needs to get out. You just want to slow it down some.