Cherry haul and engrain sealing

[Jeff Grantham]

I've had the good fortune to get connected with a local tree/firewood guy who's been more than happy to supply me with wood. He's been fantastic to me, as evidenced by this latest haul, all Cherry:
333914

It feels like Christmas!:D

It's beautiful stuff and I want to make sure I don't lose any of it. Normally I've been sealing the logs with AnchorSeal until I'm ready to cut them into blanks, but I have noticed a couple of times that the logs wind up with what looks like mildew starting to grow. Just curious what others do... do you seal logs in this form, or leave them as-is (I'd be worried about too much checking though), or is it best to just get them cut up into blanks asap and then possibly just seal the endgrain on those?

[Prashun Patel]

Anchorseal them ASAP!!!!

Don't worry about mildew. Stacking the pile as you have it should not promote mold. I would paint the ends a couple times. Looks like one of the top logs has minor checking.

[John Keeton]

If you don't remove the pith, I would almost guarantee they will crack - even sealed. I would cut the logs in half - 2" on either side of the pith. Then, you could cut two sections from the middle slab that has the pith. That would be a pretty good yield and would also provide the best chance of salvaging as much as possible.

[Aaron Craven]

You definitely want to cut the pith out ASAP. But if you can't do that right away, at least paint the ends. As long as the pith is there, they will crack, but painting the ends may give you a little more more time before it happens than if you don't.

[George Conklin]

Slight hijack
Is pith in the trunk only, or is it also in the limbs?:confused:

Hijack over.

[daryl moses]

Slight hijack
Is pith in the trunk only, or is it also in the limbs?:confused:

Hijack over.
It's also in the limbs.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I've cut a lot of cherry just ripping down the pith. If the pith is in the middle of the log I wouldn't take 2" off each side. The logs that are limbs look like the pith is way off center. On the wide side of the log I would saw enough that the log is half of its diameter. Reactionary would like a off center limb is much more likely to be problematic both in drying and turning than a well centered veneer log.

[Jeff Grantham]

I've cut a lot of cherry just ripping down the pith. If the pith is in the middle of the log I wouldn't take 2" off each side. The logs that are limbs look like the pith is way off center. On the wide side of the log I would saw enough that the log is half of its diameter. Reactionary would like a off center limb is much more likely to be problematic both in drying and turning than a well centered veneer log.

I was wondering about this, too. What I've been doing for the most part is removing a slab down the center that's about 2" wide to get rid of the pith. I found that a couple of times when I just ripped straight down the middle with a single cut, those rings right outside the pith still started splitting on me. But I haven't yet tried cutting wider than that and taking quarter-sawn pieces from the center slab. It just hasn't seemed like that would yield the most bang for your buck as far as blank size.

Looks like I'm gonna be doing alot of cutting this weekend!

[Dave Fritz]

I've found the same as you Jeff. I do as John Keeton does. The two boards on each side of the pith are quarter sawn and can be used for any number of projects. They can be used for spoons to small plates.

[Bob Bergstrom]

I was wondering about this, too. What I've been doing for the most part is removing a slab down the center that's about 2" wide to get rid of the pith. I found that a couple of times when I just ripped straight down the middle with a single cut, those rings right outside the pith still started splitting on me. But I haven't yet tried cutting wider than that and taking quarter-sawn pieces from the center slab. It just hasn't seemed like that would yield the most bang for your buck as far as blank size.

Looks like I'm gonna be doing alot of cutting this weekend!
At our club we put them on the north side of the building and cover them with a tarp to slow the drying process. I do bag a lot of my blanks and rough turn them. I'm sure the hotter the climate the more the cautions. Arizona is much different than the coast of Washington?

[Prashun Patel]

I have not had similar experience to John. I have better luck keeping logs round (and as long as possible) but anchorsealing the heck out of them. I'm not saying the center doesn't check, but if sealed well, I find the checks stay in check.

What is a bigger deal for me, is checking that emanates from around the bark region. I haven't figured out how to stop that besides re-sealing and roughing out ASAP.

I find it easier to store the logs in a pile without any mold that can happen when stacking D's. I can't corroborate this, but my instinct is that halving the logs quickens the drying and contributes to the sap region checks.

You have some nice, red-throughout wood there. Sapless cherry is easier for me to dry than logs with a sap region.

[John K Jordan]

One thing: there is cherry and then there is cherry. I have a sawmill and have cut a lot of cherry for turning and lumber. These are all the same species - wild/black cherry, not fruiting cherry.

i have seen cherry start to check and split a few minutes after it was cut down. I have also seen the opposite - the wood from one big cherry tree was so stable that it simply refused to check and split like it was supposed to! Pieces left round with the pith are still solid six years later.

A couple of days ago I looked at one I left outside with no end sealer - even after years in the sun and wind and rain there are only minor end checks!

The variability in the wood I have experienced easily explains why some people see severe splitting and checking while others don't.

The same with other species. For example, flowering dogwood is notorious for warping and splitting. I recently processed a pile of log sections I had anchor sealed and left stacked in the woods since last summer. I expected them to be mostly worthless after all that time. I was surprised that almost none had degraded.

My procedure for preparing turning wood from green if I can't process immediately - anchor seal both ends and store in open shade, never covered with a tarp. When ready to process I cut down the pith with either a chain saw or bandsaw. If the ends show a radial crack I cut down this crack. If saving as half round sections I usually anchor seal down the pith, depending on the species. Most of the time thoigh, I process the log sections into turning blanks right away, re-seal as needed, then air dry for 4-10 years before turning. I do this often enough to have a constant supply of dry wood for spindle turning, boxes, bowls, platters, etc. (i don't turn much green - I generally like my turnings unwarped.)

JKJ

[Jeff Grantham]

...and store in open shade, never covered with a tarp....
JKJ

@JKJ - Just curious as to why never cover them with tarps?

[John K Jordan]

I don't cover with tarps because there is too much chance of holding moisture and causing mold and staining and eventual rot. (the bugs and borers seem to like nice moist bark and wood too!) This is the same reason it's not good to put tarps over stickered green lumber from the sawmill and bales of hay for the horses.

A tarp ROOF is fine, to keep off the rain, if the sides are open. I do want to keep off direct sun and rain, although if the bark is still on the rain doesn't hurt anything. A cover of a piece of old tin roofing or a piece of plywood or siding set on top might be better since it could allow better air circulation at the top of the pile. When I run my sawmill I usually cover the stack of boards with old boards or tin. (For a stack of hay, I've seen people suspend big tarps by ropes to allow plenty of air circulation around and above the stack.)

JKJ

[Thomas Canfield]

If you don't remove the pith, I would almost guarantee they will crack - even sealed. I would cut the logs in half - 2" on either side of the pith. Then, you could cut two sections from the middle slab that has the pith. That would be a pretty good yield and would also provide the best chance of salvaging as much as possible.

I don't think that I am any expert on this, but a pith slab about 15% of diameter (3" thick on 20"D or 1.5" thick on 10"D) usually works pretty well for me. That pith slab is quarter sawn material when the actual pith is removed and can be used for spindle work or smaller bowls/saucers. Of course, you can cut a thicker pith slab and get some thicker slabs to get turning squares for little boxes or hollow forms. I often get more excited about the pith slabs than the bowl blanks and seal them for later. Sealing the ends or packing in heavy paper bags helps to minimize checks and then the checks are usually shallow.

[John Keeton]

i turn few open bowls, and the ones I do turn are mostly ogee bowls. But, I do quite a few lidded bowls. The larger pith slab seems to minimize warp, and 4" is plenty for a nice ogee form up to around 12" diameter. The thicker slab also has a lot more uses than a thinner one, including leaving plenty material for a lidded bowl, which typically takes a bit over 3". So, I guess the thickness of the slab has as much to do with what one turns as anything.

[Bob Bergstrom]

i turn few open bowls, and the ones I do turn are mostly ogee bowls. But, I do quite a few lidded bowls. The larger pith slab seems to minimize warp, and 4" is plenty for a nice ogee form up to around 12" diameter. The thicker slab also has a lot more uses than a thinner one, including leaving plenty material for a lidded bowl, which typically takes a bit over 3". So, I guess the thickness of the slab has as much to do with what one turns as anything.
Good point John. I've used my MacNaughton straight slicer to cut slabs because some log halves are just too deep. Many times I will core with a full half log and the turn off the top of the rim. From the largest bowl. The smaller ones don't seem to crack as much as ones above 14". I follow Reed Grey's technique and round the edges of the rim and wrap the rim with plastic wrap and duct tape. I have some ash at 23" drying in the garage that should be dry around August.