Green Wood Sealer?

[Tom Albrecht]

I have been away from the log chasing and green bowl drying for too many years while I did my architectural turning work. Now that I'm back to scrounging logs and chasing the tree removal trucks I see there are more choices for sealers. Specifically, I see that Craft Supplies has a wax emulsion that appears to be what I used to buy from them with a different label, and then I see there is Anchor Seal.

What are the log harvester/ bowl turners using these days?

[Frank Drew]

Tom,

I've only used Craft Supplies (Craft USA?) green wood sealer, and I think it works very well; I've always assumed it was very close, if not identical, to Anchor Seal, that is, a waxy emulsion, but I don't know that for a fact. I don't know anything about other brands.

[Shawn Pachlhofer]

Anchor Seal (Classic) is all I use.

[Dan Masshardt]

Tom, I've only used Craft Supplies (Craft USA?) green wood sealer, and I think it works very well; I've always assumed it was very close, if not identical, to Anchor Seal, that is, a waxy emulsion, but I don't know that for a fact. I don't know anything about other brands.

I use this too.

[Steve Nix]

I get anchor seal fron UCCoatings retail. 2 gallon container for about $48 with free shipping.

[Ben Pierce]

I also use Anchorseal. Got a 5-gallon bucket delivered a couple years ago. It's almost gone...

[robert baccus]

Beware of anchor seal #2.

[Bill Blasic]

My club went through a 55 gallon barrel of Anchor Seal 2 without one single complaint. I myself used over 5 gallons and I saw no difference in results of either formula. We are currently in to the fifth club sponsored 55 Gallon barrel and I never asked which we bought. There must have been a price increase this year as the club is now charging $8 a gallon instead of $7.

[Tom Albrecht]

Beware of anchor seal #2.


Why do you say that?

[John K Jordan]

Why do you say that?

A google search of "anchorseal #2" showed past discussions in several forums about the original vs #2 formula. Some people reported better results with the original. I read a couple of speculations that problems with the #2 might be regional, i.e., more problems in drier climate. Some said #2 was thinner but worked OK with two coats.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?192010-Anchorseal-vs-Anchorseal-2
http://www.woodcentral.com/woodworking/forum/archives_turning.pl/bid/2001/md/read/id/459560/sbj/anchorseal-vs-anchorseal-2/
http://www.aawforum.org/vbforum/showthread.php?9789-Anchorseal-vs-Anchorseal-2

JKJ

[Tom Albrecht]

Thanks everyone.

I did get an answer from Roger Durst at Craft Supplies about his product:
The Artisan Woodsealer has always been Anchorseal wood sealer. Weather they have changed their formula over the years or not I can’t tell you."

I think I'll order some Anchor Seal Classic from the manufacturer, which appears to be the only place to buy it.

Tom

[Pat Scott]

I had no problems with the original Anchorseal. When I ran out of it I bought the new and improved Anchorseal 2. I noticed that I had a lot more bowls that cracked during the drying process than I ever had before. Nothing had changed as far as my process, thickness, or how I stored them, yet I wouldn't be surprised if I had 50% crack in one batch. It's pretty frustrating to put all that work into roughing out blanks, only to have them crack and become worthless.

I read other posts that said to put on 2 coats, but I never had to do that with the original Anchorseal. That adds double the work and that's not for me. I had to resort to double coats, then putting blanks in paper bags or cardboard boxes to try and keep them from cracking. The bags and boxes helped, but again that was more work, or more a pain in the you-know-what then I was used to.

Baileys was having a sale (baileysonline.com), so I bought a 5 gallon container of sealer from them when they were having free shipping. I've been using it for a while now and it seems OK. It's a little more watery than I like, but that doesn't seem to make any difference. My cracking rate has gone back down to what it was before, which means 1 or 2 bowls once in a while. When I run out of Baileys, I'll compare prices to the original Anchorseal, and then decide. If I remember right, I got the Baileys for $20 less than Anchorseal, and with free shipping it was a good buy.

[Dwight Rutherford]

I've been useing Baileys for a couple of years now. Works as well as Anchorseal #1 for me. Like Pat I find the 5 gallon bucket with free shipping a good deal.

[Tom Albrecht]

I've been useing Baileys for a couple of years now. Works as well as Anchorseal #1 for me. Like Pat I find the 5 gallon bucket with free shipping a good deal.

How the heck do you get free shipping? They want $52 to ship to IL.

[Dwight Rutherford]

They offer a free shipping promo a couple times a year. I'd call and ask when the next promo will be.

[Ed Wood]

While I never used anchor seal I did a search and wound on on amazon and found the following description
"Anchorseal2 is a hybrid sealer that contains renewable, natural ingredients so there is less petroleum based material used in production. The result is a greener, more economical product that drips less, sticks better, has improved stability and, best yet, better than the original Anchorseal. Now, new and improved Anchorseal 2 is the choice for prevention of end grain checking."
So the formula is changed and like most things I have found when its green , while it may be better for the environment it usually does not work as well as the old products

[Tom Albrecht]

Yep, I agree with Ed. So I went ahead and bought 5 gallons of the original formula direct from the manufacturer-- with free shipping east of the Mississippi.

[Ben Pierce]

UC coatings lists the 5 gal. Anchor Seal classic for $92, free shipping. I didn't check out to make sure it's not too good to be true, but at that price maybe I should.

[Tom Albrecht]

UC coatings lists the 5 gal. Anchor Seal classic for $92, free shipping. I didn't check out to make sure it's not too good to be true, but at that price maybe I should.

That is exactly what I just did-- $19/ gallon that way.

[Scott T Smith]

The Formula change that created Anchorseal II was not an "improvement" per se. Rather, with the extreme price increases in petroleum a few years ago US coatings came up with a new formula that used less petroleum derivatives. Their objective was to reduce the price fluctuations - not to "improve" the formula.

I buy Anchorseal by the drum, and had an extensive conversation with them about the change a few years back.

[Tom Albrecht]

That is exactly what I just did-- $19/ gallon that way.

And, if anyone is close to North Suburban Chicago and wants to buy a gallon or two, let me know.

[Pat Scott]

How the heck do you get free shipping? They want $52 to ship to IL.

Sign up for their email deals and watch the ads they send you. Free shipping doesn't come very often, but you can't pass it up on something heavy like a 5 gal bucket. I bought mine even though I still had a gallon or two left. I just put it downstairs until I needed it.

[terry mccammon]

For what it is worth. I was at a demonstration with Glenn Lucas who roughs out thousands of bowls a year. He also has a kiln. That said he stated that he used the cheapest white glue he could find diluted 50% with water. He did not like the anchor seal type products as they made the floor slick due to the wax. I myself always used paint as I had a lot of it around. Now I use anchorseal 1 as a result of a club buy.

[Ben Pierce]

I have not tried it, but I always wondered if diluted wood glue would work. I often squeeze wood glue into cracks before drying and it holds them from spreading. Wonder if the surface adhesion across the entire bowl might prevent cracks. Anyone with experience? Wood glue can be had for maybe 16 bucks per gallon. Diluted 50% is $8/gal. Hard to beat. Ditto the comment about Anchor Seal making the floor slippery. Re-turning the waxed bowls turns the floor into a skating rink...

I'm doing lots of roughing. I'll try the wood glue and report back.

[Bill Boehme]

Rather than rumors or speculation, just go to http://uccoatings.com/products/anchorseal/ and look at the SDS for both products. Original Anchorseal uses methanol based antifreeze and Anchorseal 2 uses propylene glycol based antifreeze.The exact percentages of wax, soap, and antifreeze is given for both formulations.

[Pat Scott]

How the heck do you get free shipping? They want $52 to ship to IL.

Sign up for their email newsletter. They don't offer free shipping very often so you have to jump on it when they do. I still had a couple gallons left of Anchorseal 2 when I bought a bucket from Baileys. I just put it downstairs where it's cool until I needed it.

[Bruce Pratt]

Ran out of anchorseal one time and used some latex paint overlayed with a single smooth layer of clear plastic wrap (grocery store stuff) which was put on while the paint was still wet. Once the paint was dry, the plastic stuck smoothly to the endgrain. Seemed to work just fine for stopping end checking, and was a good way to get rid of some old house paint.