Cutting your own rough stock?

[Neal McCormick]

I live in an area where over the last 2 weeks we have had an incredible amount of heavy wet snow. More than 34 inches. We have trees and huge limbs down everywhere. Lots of smaller (4 - 6 inch) branches too. Most of it is sugar maple, pine, tulip poplar, and at least one hickory tree. I'm sure there are other varieties. It seems to me I could make use of this manna if I only knew what to do with it. In my back yard I have two sugar maples that have lost some pretty big branches - I'm guessing at least one is 12 - 18 inches in diameter. There is one tree leaning that has a pretty good size burl on it. I believe it is also maple. So my newbie questions. Is there a preferred method to harvesting these trees? If cut into "bite size" pieces do I need to do something special to preserve them for later use? How long can the pieces sit before they are unusable? What do I do with the burl? As always, thanks in advance for you comments!

[Jeff Sudmeier]

The advice that I have always read is to cut them ASAP and seal them up with Anchorseal ASAP. The Anchorseal will slow the drying and hopefully prevent large splits and checks.

Anything you can turn green will be better as well.

[Chris Lee]

If you cut them up in to blanks you will need to seal them with AnchorSeal. Otherwise just cut them down in to logs and leave them be. They should be good for quite a while. Then you can rough turn them wet and seal them after they are rough turned. Or you can send them to me!:D


Chris

[Neal McCormick]

I went to their website. I recall know why I hated collegiate chemistry? Can someone tell me which product I am looking for? Thanks!

[Glenn Hodges]

Neal, call them up and tell them you are a woodturner, and need a small amount of Anchorseal to seal the ends of logs. They are pretty friendly people, and have always been helpful when I called, after all they want your money.

[Raymond Overman]

Neal,

Limb wood, while workable isn't ideal because it has wood that is under tension or compression. You'll find that it moves considerably more than wood that you get from the trunk of a tree. I'm not saying don't use it, just be aware of the difference and don't be surprised if you get a lot of movement and seasonal shape changes.

I like to keep my unprocessed logs in about 3-4 foot lengths if they are under 12 inches in diameter. If they are larger than that, I cut them into managable lengths. I also like to stand them on end while storing them. This seems to help prevent checking though I'm not sure why.

I seal both ends of the log. Anchorseal is a good product but you can also get a wax emulsion for about $9-10 a gallon at your local woodworking specialty store or you can use old latex paint to seal the ends. A gallon will go a long way. You're looking to prevent moisture from escaping at the endgrain of the logs which can cause stresses and cracking.

For fruit wood especially, seal the log ends as quickly as possible. I've had a 4 foot piece of cherry split end to end to the pith within a matter of weeks during the summer.

Once I cut the logs into blanks, I seal the whole blank until I get ready to use it.

Good luck with your hunting and gathering!

[Chris Lee]

Neal,

Here is a link. A gallon should do you for quite a while.

https://www.uccoatings.com/uccoat.php

Chris

[Ed Lang]

Chris,

Thanks for the link. I just ordered 5 gals!