Green Wood Drying Question

[Bruce Ferm]

I’m doing a project that involves using tree branch forks. I’m cutting the pieces I need in the middle of winter, so they’re (at least comparatively) dry, but I need to get them good and dry to avoid checking after I work on them.

My game plan for drying them is to debark them, coat the ends with candle wax and let them dry naturally indoors. The lower branches are +/- 4” wide and the upper branches on the fork are +/- 2” wide.

If anybody has any suggestions for an accelerated drying technique or any other improvements to my game plan, I’d appreciate any advice and help I can get.

[Bradley Gray]

Sounds like a good plan. I use Elmer's or Titebond thinned with water to seal the ends. I work with natural curves quite a bit and usually saw them close to finish size when green and then seal and let dry.

[John TenEyck]

When I turn bowls from green wood I put them in a brown paper bag after rough turning to slow down the drying; otherwise they crack. Sometimes I pack the bowls in the turnings first, to slow it down even more. After a month or two they are usually dry enough for final turning. If your branch sections are too big to fit into a paper bag you could just wrap them in brown paper or newsprint. I think you will have cracking problems if you don't slow the process down. The only way I know to accelerate the process w/o inducing defects is to use a drying kiln, where the temp/humidity are controlled.

John

[Scott T Smith]

I’m doing a project that involves using tree branch forks. I’m cutting the pieces I need in the middle of winter, so they’re (at least comparatively) dry, but I need to get them good and dry to avoid checking after I work on them.

My game plan for drying them is to debark them, coat the ends with candle wax and let them dry naturally indoors. The lower branches are +/- 4” wide and the upper branches on the fork are +/- 2” wide.

If anybody has any suggestions for an accelerated drying technique or any other improvements to my game plan, I’d appreciate any advice and help I can get.

Bruce, tree's have the same moisture content year round, as evidenced by the fact that logs harvested in the summer weigh pretty much the same as logs harvested in the winter. You might want to treat all of the wood with a boric acid solution such as Timbor or Solubor after removing the bark. That will help to sterilize the lumber and kill any powderpost beetles, etc that may already be in the wood.

In general lumber does not dry well in log form; however considering that your branch wood is only 2" - 4" will help. Each species has it's own recommended drying rate; species are they?