Box elder gloat

[David Reed]

I have been a little enamored and jealous with the colors I have seen in turnings of Box Elder. Sooo, when Bob Bergstrom surfaced with his gloat re this Box Elder score, I could not keep quiet. Attached is a pic of the result. It was forced to tread water at the local post office for the past several days but I brought it home today. Perhaps not too exotic for you east coasters, but quite interesting for us in the land of the conifer on the Pacific. Great color and love the spalting. Seems as it may have even grown some in transit (Mold that is).
Not having dealt too much with green wood, I placed in a plastic trash bag in my cool basement but if I cannot get to it shortly, how should I treat this sawn blank to prevent cracking. Does one Anchor Seal the whole thing? The end grain only? Leave it in plastic until I can come up with a plan and 191353191354 rough turn it?
Thanks Bob
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/images/misc/pencil.png

[Dan Forman]

Davud---Just anchor seal the end grain and that eye thingy in the pic on the right, then get to it before too long. Looks like it's pretty well into spalting, it will keep going until it's dry, so if you wait too long it may get punky on you. I the plastic it will continue molding, and you can get spores all over, so you don"t want that. You will love turning green wood, much easier than dry, and little dust. Leave the thickness about 10% of the diameter, soften any sharp edges, put it in a brown shopping bag, tape up the bag, and let it sit for three weeks in the basement near the floor. After that you can take it out of the bag, let it dry another 6 weeks or so, then turn to final thickness.

Dan

[John Hart]

I agree with Dan. You'll love turning it. I wouldn't wait too long though. :)

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree and would get it sealed. I would turn it as soon as possible.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I agree with others and having turn some of it, I would seal the end grain and rough turn it when ready. Being a dead tree, it is lost probably half its water weight already. It should still be sound, but I would not leave it in any plastic. Hope it works as well some has turned for me. If not let me know, we have many other hard woods. David was so kind to send me a beautiful piece of big leaf burl that was less than 15% water. I cored a smaller bowl from the 12x12x6 block. I will post another when finished.
http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/nn274/bbergst/IMG_4410.jpg