Anchor Seal on not-so-green logs?

[Marty Tippin]

I recently acquired several large cherry logs from a tree that had been standing dead for quite a while but was only recently cut down.

The wood is a little bit wet but far from green -- in fact, the bark on all the logs was rotten enough that it all fell off as I was loading it into my truck and there

Is there any reason to bother sealing the ends until I'm ready to use the logs, or should I just go ahead and cut bowl blanks out of it now and let them dry?

[Prashun Patel]

I think it's easier to control them when they're roughed out. I don't always have the time to do that. When this is the case, I still prefer to cross cut the logs oversized and seal the ends. Cutting the logs up allows me to a) store them inside, which gives better control, and b) see what I've got; it may not be even worth it to save a rotten log. However, it's been my experience that the interior of cherry can spalt up nice before it rots.

[Scott Conners]

Yes seal them. Cutting exposes end grain to air, which allows for much faster evaporation of moisture. It's usually fast enough to cause cracking problems, even in wood that has been dead or down for a while.

[Marty Tippin]

Will sealing the ends slow down the drying process appreciably, given that there's no bark on the logs?

[Bruce Pratt]

yes. drying is predominantly through the open end grain, and much less across the grain through the surface where the bark was/is.

[robert baccus]

Yes seal them and preserve what you have. Trim the cracks off the ends or the sealer will do no good. Also cherry is very durable in the heartwood.