Newbie - Recommendations Finishing Black Cherry Mantle

[Phil Sav]

Aquired a 6'l x12"w x4"h rough sawn Black cherry timber that would make a fine semi rustic fireplace mantle. Wood has dried about 9 months. The person who gave it to me put on Anchorseal on all sides t0 prevent cracking till I start. He said to just sand it off.

The wood is very light and fine sawn. I would like to keep it as is in shape, just sand it mantle up side to a very smooth surface and get a little bit of darker color in it with an exteremly high gloss like those tree stump tables.

I was originally going to sand and poly, poly and more poly. After reading the wealth of info here - boy am I confused. Is the wood not dry enough
and any other way to remove the sealer.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

[Mike Dauphinee]

You say it has dried about 9 months? By most formulas it needs another 3 1/2 years for it to become stable. If you know someone who has a kiln, you might have them dry it for you. Not sure if you are looking to have it check after installation though, but it is a realistic possibility if you remove the seal and install it.

[Jim Becker]

Mike is correct, it is unlikely that you'll escape cracking at this point with a timber that size if you try and process it now. The "formula" that he refers to is the "one year per inch of thickness" general rule of thumb for air-drying. It varies by species and local conditions, but is a good starting point for consideration.

If you really want to move the project along, you can try and find someone with a kiln as Mike mentions, although it's often tough to get a single board like that in a batch given it's unusual dimensions...folks like to balance the load in the kiln and anything out of the ordinary makes for complications.

BTW, you'll need to do more than sand to remove the AnchorSeal, especially on the end-grain. The wax emulsion will penetrate a little, so you actually need to remove material to be rid of it. On long and side grain, scraping will likely take care of it.

[Phil Sav]

Thankyou - it is in my opinion just what I wanted for a mantle.

I don't mind some cracking since its for a rustic look. Funny, searching on the net various ways to remove the seal. Most stated warm soapy H2O, Alcohol or sanding.

Opinions. Since I thought I could do this by 1/1/07

1. What if I were to just let it "air" dry over the mantle. Fireplace is a gas/ glass enclosed log so not much heat going up to the mantle and leave it there a year.

Tempted to put it in an enclosed closet with a dehumidifier>

2. My plan was to try a garnet shellac to just deepen the color some and then cover with waterbased fast dry poly.

Or am I just stuck with the wood for a few years?

[Jim Becker]

The endgrain may require you to cut off a little wood to clear the Anchorseal. The long and side grain is easier as you get less penetration. Try mineral spirits to scrub it off after you use a card scraper. Going right to sanding is just going to gunk up the abrasives...

You don't need the poly over the shellac. Just use the shellac. It's a traditional finish that has a lot of wonderful qualities...including moisture resistance. (Moisture resistance is different than water resistance) In that end, it will help slow the continued drying of the piece. That said, the heat from using the fireplace IS going to material affect drying and could increase cracking. You're already at risk for that just due to the green nature of the timber you have.