Regarding keeping green wood green

[Bill Jobe]

I have just been wondering about preserving smaller pieced of green wood until I can get to it. Does anyone simply vacuum seal it to keep from drying until a time when it can be roughed and then put through the drying process?

[Brice Rogers]

I always try to process green wood. But if I wanted to extend it rather than process it, I would try either wrapping it with poly and freezing (if it was small enough to fit in the freezer) or throw it in a tub of water. Logs that have been submerged for decades are still viable. I think that I've seen some videos (Wyomingwoodturner ?) where it was mentioned that he stored his green rounds in a tank of water. I also recall something about the water getting pretty "rank". Perhaps a small amount of bleach (just enough to stop microbial action) might help.

If I'm only trying to extend the green period by a few weeks, I'll just stick it into a plastic bag. I've also just wrapped the ends with stretch wrap or anchor sealed them.

But, Bill, if you are looking to delay the processing for months and months, and sealed in the moisture ("vacuum sealed" as you mentioned), the wood may spalt, then get punky, then rot. Perhaps others who have more experience will opine.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

I’ve never done this myself, but wrapped up good and then placed in a freezer, where there is no drying and no or very little fungal growth happening, you should be able to keep it for a while, just IMO

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

I've kept green wood in log form in a chest freezer for up to 2 + yrs with no problems.
As a matter of fact I have a chest freezer dedicated just for preserving green turning wood. Been doing this for 8 + yrs now with no problems.

[terry mccammon]

I apply a thick coat of anchorseal, then put thicker poly film directly over the anchorsealed surface. The object is to "glue" the film to the wood and provide as tight a seal as possible. Have not tried for "years" but it works for six to eight months, the longest I have tried.

[Bill Jobe]

The thought came to me that removing most of the air by vacuum would do at least as well, but I'll stick with the long held wisdom of the membership here. :)

All though, I may try a small piece or 2 just to satisfy my curiousity.

Thank you all for your input.

[John K Jordan]

The thought came to me that removing most of the air by vacuum would do at least as well, but I'll stick with the long held wisdom of the membership here. :)
All though, I may try a small piece or 2 just to satisfy my curiousity.


Maybe try it with a blank ready-to-turn, preferably with a second one cut from the same log and submerged water or the freezer (or better, both!) to see if there is a difference after a month or two. I wonder if vacuum would tend to pull some water from the end grain along with the air and cause some checking. Or perhaps water in the wood will go into vapor under the reduced pressure to create a higher humidity in a sealed bag, promoting mold or spalting. It would be a good experiment!

JKJ

[Bill Boehme]

The thought came to me that removing most of the air by vacuum would do at least as well, but I'll stick with the long held wisdom of the membership here. :)

All though, I may try a small piece or 2 just to satisfy my curiousity.

Thank you all for your input.

The problem with applying a vacuum is that would actually accelerate the drying as the low pressure draws air and moisture from the wood. Also, since the wood is full of air and moisture,it would only be a very short time until the pressure inside the vacuum sealed bag Is equal to atmospheric pressure outside of the bag.

My suggestion is to do what Joe suggested... freeze it if you want to keep the wood in its green state. If the wood will be used for making pens or other small spindle items then the wood needs to be thoroughly dry before you begin or else there will be a high likelihood that the wood will crack.