Big pile of maple half-rounds - how to treat and store?

[Robert Marshall]

I've been cutting up a maple tree that was taken down a couple of months ago. I've cut it into half-rounds: log sections that are roughly as long as the diameter, and cut in half with the grain, for later turning. Prior to cutting it up, it was three fairly sizable sections of trunk, which spend the last couple of months outside, where it's mostly been wet and chilly here in Rabun County, Georgia. Now I've got probably 30 to 40 half-rounds, mostly about a foot long and wide.

This crotch section (below) is larger, and looks like it has some interesting figuring. Maybe I can get two blanks out of that. Lots of our maple around here has ambrosia figuring, too; I picked some up off the side of the road before Christmas, and made a nice gift-bowl out of that.

332096

Anyway, my stockpile of green wood is now more than full; it'll take a LONG time to work to the bottom of this, along with other stuff I'd like to do. So, what's the best way to treat and store these half-rounds, so that they'll be as nice to turn a year or two from now, as today?

An unrelated observation: I just put on a 3/8" woodturner's bandsaw blade that I picked up at Highland Woodworking. Oh my, what a difference in cutting something round, compared to the bandsaw's original, 3/4" wide blade. The old one wouldn't track a circle; the new one does just right!

[Doug Ladendorf]

I'd say rough turn the better stuff as soon as you can. Leaving it sit can get some spalting but rot shortly after, as well as checking. Seal the end grain with Anchorseal.

Doug

[Dale Bonertz]

As Doug said rough turn them as soon as you can. I stack my rounds into contractor garbage bags (Home Depot) and tie the top, one knot to hold the bag up (no need to anchor seal when putting them in these big garbage bags). I then slide another bag over the blanks. This will keep them for quite awhile without them checking since you're sealing in the moisture in the bags. Set a goal to rough turn one or two a night and you will have them done in no time. Stack the roughed out blanks in garbage bags until they are all done, same bagging process as the rounds. Once you have them all turned then you can anchor seal them all at once and dry with your favorite method. You may get a little mold on them if you keep them in the bags for to long but it turns out easily. White/grey mold is typically not a health risk, black mold is suspect for health concerns.

You can anchor seal them as soon as you rough them if you choose. With that many chunks I find it is easier to think in production mode and do the steps all at the same time, reduces you time spent in the overall process.

[Thomas Canfield]

I normally would suggest turning the crotch with natural edge to obtain the "angel" feather in bottom of bowl, but it looks like there is a bark inclusion line in the photo that would make the blank not suitable for that. Still some pretty blank material. Definitely need to seal/bag or turn quick and then seal to avoid checking. Down here we have been having 75 to 80F+ days lately and wood dries fast.

[daryl moses]

I do the same as Dale Bonertz and put them in garbage bags until I get around to turning them. I've also been known to throw them in my spring for short term storage.
Just an FIY, they will start to mold if left for an extended time in the garbage bags.
I'm lucky and live in the woods so I have 60 acres of trees, I very seldom cut a live tree down, I have trees falling faster than I can turn them. Most are cut into firewood but the ones I use for turning, Maple, Sycamore, Walnut, etc. get processed into turning blanks or lumber ASAP. My method is to cut what I think I can rough out in a weeks time by cutting to length, cutting in half on either side of the pith and bagging immediately. I then cut them into round blanks on my bandsaw and immediately put them back in the bag until I can get around to roughing them out.

[John K Jordan]

We have a lot of woods and trees and trees often fall down. My favorite technique for cutting, treating and storing blanks is to let some turners at the club know. Then they come with chainsaws and trucks and trailers.

Saves me a lot of work to get the tree out of the way, lots of blanks get treated and stored and turned, and I still get plenty of turning wood (and firewood). It makes people happy too.

JKJ

[Brice Rogers]

Dale Bonerz, you mentioned that after you rough turn, that you anchor seal. Do you anchor seal only the end grain ? If so, do you anchor seal both the inside end-grain and the outside end-grain? Or do you anchor seal the entire roughed out bowl ??

How long to you wait with the anchor-sealed and rough-turned blanks before you final turn?

[Dale Bonertz]

Brice,
I will share with you what I used to do when I air dried however I now kiln dry everything. The anchor sealing varies somewhat to the climate you live in. I am in a very dry climate so I anchor seal the entire blank inside and outside. When I use to air dry I would then lean the blanks against a wall and then lean more blanks against those blanks until I had a nice stack (rim on the floor and rim on the wall or against another blank). I would let the anchor seal dry and then throw a cheap painters drop cloth over the blanks for about two to three weeks (home depot sells these - make sure they are the cheap ones which are not very thick. These drop cloths allow breathing but also act a bit like a kiln holding the moisture back so it can't just take off making the blanks dry to fast. After about three weeks I pulled the drop cloth off and rotated the blanks around in the stack and let them sit like that for about another three weeks, allowing the room air to just freely flow around them. After that I moved them to my storage rack to dry the rest of the way. Stacking them on the floor keeps them in a cooler location. The drop cloth also helps keep to much air movement from going around them so they have a chance to acclimate to their new shape and environment. If you are in a very humid area you may want to check the blanks every week under the drop cloth just to make sure they are not getting moldy.

I always did lots of blanks so I could leave them sit for a year and knew they were dry. In most cases, depending on how thick they were roughed, you could probably start to finish turn them in 6 to 8 months. Remember anything dried down to 18% (very high side) and less shouldn't crack when you finish turn it. It may warp a little bit but the free water is gone and the bound water is at a point in which the stress in the wood is more stable. Having said that I would wait to return them until they hit minimum of 14% moisture. In some humid areas that may not be possible unless they are brought into the home for the last month or so. I hope that helps.

[Brice Rogers]

Thanks for the info Dale. I haven't used anchor seal but have used paraffin. I didn't know that the bowls could continue to dry when completely coated with anchor seal.