New to logs

[Burt Alcantara]

Passed by a house close to mine and saw the contents of a large tree in the driveway. I'd guess the tree was 5' across. I banged on the door hoping to get a free donation.

Guy says he cut the tree down for his fireplace. Tree was very large and healthy. I convince him to let me have a very small piece. He says sure and walks me to the driveway. I pick out a small log and he gives me 2 more. He even helps me load them into my small XB.
The logs have been sitting in the rain for at least 2 weeks so they are sort of green and very wet.

As I don't as yet have a lathe (1624-44 next week?), I'm wondering how to keep these logs safe. As they are rain soaked, should I put sealer on them rain soaked or wait for them to dry a bit. They are in my unheated garage.

Been raining a lot lately so dampness is everywhere. My shop is in the basement and has ducts blowing warm air into the room so that part of the house is probably the dryest. Should I move the logs to the shop?

Thanks,
Burt

[John Hart]

Hey Burt...

Anchorseal and the other similar wax emulsion sealers found at Rockler and Woodcraft, will do fine on your water soaked pieces, as the sealer is a water based product itself. I would suggest removing as much water as you can, prior to applying the sealer though.

[Bill Grumbine]

Burt, congrats on the wood find! I leave logs in the field for up to two years before I start to worry too much about how dry they have gotten, and even then there is probably lots of good wood left in them. I leave them in as long a piece as I can, only cutting what I need when I need it, and I try to leave the bark on as well. You will get some degradation on the ends, but just trim them back to fresh wood and you are good to go.

If you have to cut the stuff up, slab it with the pith removed, wax the end grain, and keep it out of the wind and the sun. Keeping it out of the heat will prolong its life as well. Good luck with it!

Bill

[George Tokarev]

What Bill said. As long as they stay wet, not problem with drying stress, which happens, oddly enough, when they're drying. Probably the worst thing you can do is shorten them and bring them into a heated environment without roughing them out. If they're allowed to dry in chunks, and I mean just a few days, you should anticipate they will start to develop checks on the ends. If they're in the log, simply discard the first inch or two and protect the fresh end you create as you harvest your blanks.

Since winter will soon be upon us, and things don't dry much at all in low temperatures, you've got until spring to get 'em roughed if you leave 'em outside. Protect them from the low relative humidity inside that house. Wrap, bag, anchorseal, whatever's your flavor. With me it's enough to put them in a cool part of the basement on the floor. At sixty-five percent or more relative humidity and stale air, it'll take some real nasty stuff to develop checks that grow to cracks.

Here's a chunk of maple I left in the wagon for nearly a month in the unheated garage. I trimmed a bit over an inch and a half from the ends on the bandsaw, but you can see that it was drying on the exposed surface. http://preview.mmouse8.photosite.com/~photos/tn/6953698_1024.ts1166048639792.jpg Sort of neat to see it conforming close to the annual rings.

[Joash Boyton]

I would try my hand at turning and finishing a few green pieces, and get that warped look, if you have a lot of timber to spare there.

Joash

[Glenn Hodges]

Burt, ditto to what everyone has told you I might add the following:
If you do not have Anchorseal get some wax at the supermarket, melt it to the liquitd state and paint it on the ends of the logs.

Make sure they are not laying on the ground if you live in an area where the termites are prevelant.

[Burt Alcantara]

Thanks to all for good suggestions. I expect I'll be getting a lathe any day.

When would it be safe to turn these logs? At what point is wood considered not green?

Burt

[Bill Grumbine]

Burt, I have turned wood the same day it was cut down. green wood is fun (most of the time) to turn, and you can get very pleasing results. I have also turned wood that has been sitting for 20+ years. Wood is considered "not green" when its moisture content reaches equlibrium with its environment. You can kiln dry a piece of wood, but as soon as it comes out of that kiln, it is going to start absorbing moisture (unless you live someplace like AZ) and try to reach equlibrium with its environment.

Wood is not safe to turn if it has large cracks with which you are not familiar or which obviously compromise the structural integrity of the piece, or if it has cracks running along the annular rings. It is not safe if the lathe starts jumping and shaking all over the place. But wet and dry usually have very little to do with it.

Bill

[Burt Alcantara]

Bill,
Spot on answers. I appreciate them very much.

Do you use a moisture meter? If so, which brand. If not, what is your technique?

Thanks,
Burt

[Bill Grumbine]

Burt, I have often thought about a moiture meter, but have never gotten around to actually buying one. I will go by the feel of the wood itself, and that is a little hard to describe. The shavings will give you a good indication of how dry the wood is. Sometimes they will be soaking wet - as in water being flung out of the rotating piece. Sometimes they are just damp, and sometimes they feel bone dry. A roughed blank can feel cool to the touch, indicating that it is still wet to a certain extent, or it can feel warm to the touch and thus, dry, or at least dry enough to turn to finish. Practice and experience are good at building your confidence in this matter, and the worst that can happen is it turns into firewood. There is almost always more wood to be had somewhere close by.

Bill

[George Tokarev]

Moisture meters are not really worthwhile on turnings. They are calibrated to measure along continuous grain, and with the exception of the bottom, there's not much on a turning that presents enough uninterrupted straight grain for consistent measurement.

Weigh the piece, give it a couple, three days, weigh again. if the same, it's as good as it gets in the current relative humidity. If you're curious you can look up the equivalent moisture content. Equilibrium is a more meaningful way of thinking of things than simply measuring. Fifteen percent is dry some places, but when it's downstairs as my stuff is now, experiencing 35% relative humidity, it's still got a ways to move.