processing slabs

[Jeff Bartley]

Ok, here's the scene: I have several large crotch logs in the driveway, all fresh cut today. Do I wait potentially days to get some Anchorseal or do I paint the ends right away with kilz primer and latex paint??? Or should I paint them now and anchorseal later?
I've got a date with an Alaskan sawmill and a big chainsaw this weekend! Jeff

[Todd Burch]

This weekend is tomorrow!

Ends are much easier to paint with anchorseal before you cut it up. Keep the ends wet and you won't have to paint anything. ;)

Never done it, ('cuz I always have anchorseal on hand), but I guess you could wrap the end with trash bags for a few days while you want on your proper sealant.

I bought my 5 gallon bucket at Bailey's Online. I threw about 1/2 of it away about a year ago - the bucket split and it was leaking everywhere.

[Jamie Buxton]

You can seal the ends with asphalt emulsion roofing cement. It is available at any home-repair store like Home Depot. It is intended to to patch leaky roofs while they're wet, so it will bond to your green wood. You slather it on with a putty knife or trowel. It is waterborne, so cleanup is easy.

[Scott T Smith]

You can seal the ends with asphalt emulsion roofing cement. It is available at any home-repair store like Home Depot. It is intended to to patch leaky roofs while they're wet, so it will bond to your green wood. You slather it on with a putty knife or trowel. It is waterborne, so cleanup is easy.


Jamie, I respectfully disagree with your recommendation. The roofing cement will really gunk up chainsaw mill chains as well as normal sawmill blades. Not to mention the fact that he will need to cut the ends off of the slabs before surfacing, sanding, etc in order to prevent the cement from damaging woodworking machines.

If you're planning to store a log for months or years before milling, and you don't mind cutting off the end of the log with the cement and resealing prior to milling, then the roofing cement is an option if a commercial end sealer is not available.

Jeff, if you can't get some Anchor or Bailey's end sealer, the best case scenario for you right now is to paint with some latex paint. If you want to follow up with anchorseal, then you will want to trim 1/2" or so of of the end of the log/slab and then reseal.

[Jeff Bartley]

Thanks for the replies! Roger Chandler came in with the rescue.....I emailed him yesterday afternoon and within an hour or two he called me with the news that he had a gallon of anchorseal that he'd be willing to part with. It was great to finally meet him and considering he only lives about 10-15 mins away I can't believe we hadn't met sooner!
Thank you Roger!!! You made my day!
Last night I got the first coat on, another coat will go on shortly, then the milling begins again! BTW, if you've never experienced an Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, I highly recommend it! I wasn't sure what to expect but it's been really fun running this big saw and opening up those logs for the first time! Now I'm just hoping for successful drying!

[Jamie Buxton]

Jamie, I respectfully disagree with your recommendation. The roofing cement will really gunk up chainsaw mill chains as well as normal sawmill blades. Not to mention the fact that he will need to cut the ends off of the slabs before surfacing, sanding, etc in order to prevent the cement from damaging woodworking machines.

If you're planning to store a log for months or years before milling, and you don't mind cutting off the end of the log with the cement and resealing prior to milling, then the roofing cement is an option if a commercial end sealer is not available.

Jeff, if you can't get some Anchor or Bailey's end sealer, the best case scenario for you right now is to paint with some latex paint. If you want to follow up with anchorseal, then you will want to trim 1/2" or so of of the end of the log/slab and then reseal.

Scott, have you ever used asphalt emulsion? You're probably thinking of roofing tar, which is gunky. Emulsion is really much more like very thick latex paint. It dries to a consistency much more like, well, paint.

[Scott T Smith]

Scott, have you ever used asphalt emulsion? You're probably thinking of roofing tar, which is gunky. Emulsion is really much more like very thick latex paint. It dries to a consistency much more like, well, paint.


Jamie, I have not used asphalt emulsion (thanks for explaining the difference), but quite frankly I don't like latex paint much either! ;) When post-processing the milled/dried boards, latex paint tends to dull my planer knives, wheras anchor seal does not, and I don't care for the paint chips to contaminate the sawdust, especially since I mulch the sawdust onto my pastures. Having to take the time to end trim every board to remove the paint before processing the boards takes additional time as well.

I once had a guy bring me some 8' long logs to mill that had the ends covered with roofing tar, and he was very upset when I explained to him that I would not mill them w/o cutting the ends off of the logs. It seems that would have made the milled boards too short for his project.

I'll admit that latex is better than nothing though.

[Jeff Bartley]

I've had a few unplanned days off from this project due to a nasty stomach bug at our house. Scott--how long would you store a log that had been properly sealed?? I might not be able to get back on these logs for a few days....I can just now eat solid food!! Thanks!

[Carl Beckett]

Sorry to hear you are under the weather Jeff - hope its a speedy recovery.

I think one of the most important things you can do is take some pics and post them..... :)

(it wont answer your questions, but we like to look at pictures of wood)

[Jeff Bartley]

Ask and ye shall receive Carl!227137227138The Ash is from near the center of the log; two more large walnut crotches to go!

[Scott T Smith]

I've had a few unplanned days off from this project due to a nasty stomach bug at our house. Scott--how long would you store a log that had been properly sealed?? I might not be able to get back on these logs for a few days....I can just now eat solid food!! Thanks!


Jeff, if you're looking to store the log for a month or more, your best bet is to store it as high off the ground as you can get it, on some type of dunnage. Cooler temps work best. If you can put a piece of tin over it to keep the water off of it, that will help as well.

If only for a week or so, then no big deal.