Don Kondra
04-22-2011, 12:46 PM
Greetings,
A friend asked me for advice on how to dry a short section of lignum for use as knife handles. Of course my answer basically volunteered me for the job ;)
The rough log was just over 7" long, I started by squaring off the ends.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Log.jpg
Then I cut some 1/4" ply and wedges to hot glue the log to a sled.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Applyglueblocks.jpg
Ready to saw.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Readytocut.jpg
The first cut was just to square up a side and evaluate the yield.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Firstcut.jpg
Log cut into 3/8" boards.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Cutscompleted.jpg
I treated the ends with glue.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Treatends.jpg
And stickered the pile before loosely wrapping the flitch in a plastic bag.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Stickerandwrap.jpg
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Inthebag.jpg
I prefer to dry my blanks slowly, after three days I checked to be sure mold had not started to grow and found no beaded moisture inside the bag.
After a month or so I'll remove the flitch from the bag. As I said the bag is not totally sealed and handling the material will punch small holes in the bag. I use this procedure to dry 4" x 4" x 3" blanks of maple burl with virtually no cracking.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Threedays.jpg
Cheers, Don
A friend asked me for advice on how to dry a short section of lignum for use as knife handles. Of course my answer basically volunteered me for the job ;)
The rough log was just over 7" long, I started by squaring off the ends.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Log.jpg
Then I cut some 1/4" ply and wedges to hot glue the log to a sled.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Applyglueblocks.jpg
Ready to saw.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Readytocut.jpg
The first cut was just to square up a side and evaluate the yield.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Firstcut.jpg
Log cut into 3/8" boards.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Cutscompleted.jpg
I treated the ends with glue.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Treatends.jpg
And stickered the pile before loosely wrapping the flitch in a plastic bag.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Stickerandwrap.jpg
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Inthebag.jpg
I prefer to dry my blanks slowly, after three days I checked to be sure mold had not started to grow and found no beaded moisture inside the bag.
After a month or so I'll remove the flitch from the bag. As I said the bag is not totally sealed and handling the material will punch small holes in the bag. I use this procedure to dry 4" x 4" x 3" blanks of maple burl with virtually no cracking.
http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/Threedays.jpg
Cheers, Don