Log Re-sawing: Wet or Dry

[Jeremy Monge]

Hey everyone,
I just bought a small Log of Manzanita (5" Dia x 9.5"L) that is green and in perfect shape for turning. However I don't have a lathe and I want to make veneers out of it for small box projects. How do you all suggest I go about processing this piece of wood. Specifically, should I try to resaw it green and dry the veneers or dry the whole log and then resaw? Which one would cause the most damage to my stock from wood movement? Can you dry veneers in a clamped flat state, and will they stay flat long enough when they are dry to glue them up? That was what I was thinking of doing. Anyone have experience doing this?

Thanks
P.S. This is similar to what I bought.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Manzanita-Turning-Resaw-Blank-Wood-Carving-Exotic-Hard_W0QQitemZ120271595053QQihZ002QQcategoryZ71235 QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Chris Padilla]

I'm just guessing at what to properly do but I think I would do this:

Seal each end (paint, tar, anchorseal, wax, whatever).

Now resaw it into 1" thick boards, sticker it, wait.

Once dry (< 12% MC), or once you *think* it is dry, take a sample piece and slice off a veneer and see how it works for you. Maybe it needs to dry more, maybe it is ready. Maybe even slice a veneer off green and see how it does drying. Experiment a bit. I don't think Manzanita is used so much so hard to say how it will react so you may need to fly blind a bit or just follow typical wood drying regimens.

Good Luck!

[Jeremy Monge]

What are typical wood drying regimens? Harvesting stock from logs is new territory for me. Although I've read some things and have basic knowledge this will be the first time "doing" it. Thought I'd start small.:o

[Jamie Buxton]

Chris' approach is the conventional one, and it will work. It might take a year for the lumber to dry, but that's the deal in air-drying. There's another approach which I've read about, but never tried: freeze-drying. The big advantage is that it is much faster than the conventional approach.

In this approach, you slice the log into veneer while it is green. Then you sticker the stack of veneers together, and put a couple of rubber bands around the stack to hold it together. You put the stack in a freezer which has automatic defrosting. In a few weeks, you have dry, flat veneer.

(Stickers... spacers between planks being air dryed. They allow air to circulate to all faces of all planks. For veneer, popsicle sticks would do. Line up the stickers so that the rubber bands don't try to bow your planks.)

What happens is that the freezer freezes the veneer, and then the low humidity level of the freezer extracts the water from the wood. If you've ever left an ice tray for a while in a automatic-defrosting freezer, you see this process in action. The cubes slowly disappear. That is, water is being sucked out of the ice. A nice thing is that the ice in the frozen veneer holds the veneer flat while it is drying, so the process yields flat veneer.

[Jeremy Monge]

Wow that sounds interesting. I think my wife would kill me if I tried drying a log in our freezer though. :D

[Jamie Buxton]

Wow that sounds interesting. I think my wife would kill me if I tried drying a log in our freezer though. :D

What's her objection? Wood is nice clean stuff. Heck, it is organic and edible. Okay, it isn't very nutritious for humans, but it won't hurt you.

[Jeremy Monge]

I suppose I could try to talk her into it but that would mean more cooking for me and I can forget about the TV dinners!:D.....wait a minute more time in the kitchen means less time in the shop.:( Do you realize Jamie the ramifications of freeze drying lumber! You better think twice next time you give advice like that!:mad:

[Jeremy Monge]

So I've also been asking the advice of the seller I bought the piece from and I think he's got a suggestion worth sharing to those that might be interested. I love coming to the Creek and picking through the different view points. I get my best ideas that way. So I'll copy the good stuff from our email correspondences. (Is that a/the proper word?):confused:

Seller:
...Reminder** Manzanita is a dense wood and will check (crack along the grain) if you let it dry ...even one day ..soak in a bucket...work it wet...boil the final product and treat with sealer like PEG to stabilize.

Me:
...I was planning to use this log for re-sawing some veneers for small box lids. What do you suggest I should do to achieve that? I was thinking to dry the log for a while before I do the re-sawing. Is that not a good idea? How wet is the log and how bad do you think it will check? Should I re-saw while green and then dry the veneers (1/8”) in a press or something to keep them flat?

Seller:
...This will be a good piece to resaw...Alot of heartwood..You'll find when you resaw that part of the heart will be live and part cured. I'd resaw to veneer first ...since only 1/8th inch thick the pieces should cure pretty well. You could sticker stack the sheets and put a heavy weight on top of the stack. Spray the stack with water (a plastic bottle plant sprayer works good) . the trick is to not let the outside of the wood dry faster than the inside. Since this wood is so dense, it will not let water out easily. Woods become dense due to excessive amounts of lignin production...lignin being the glue that bonds wood cells together. The more lignin the denser the wood and the harder to cure. As you might expect, manzanita will split rapidly along the grain..since you will resaw along the grain, that will help. Basically, keep a close eye on the drying process and if you start to see small cracks give it a spray down. You will know when the wood stabilizes as no more cracks will appear as you let the surface dry out


Me:
...One more thing I’d like to ask. What is the ball park estimated dry time? Should I check the veneers daily, more like once a week, or every couple days? What do you suggest?


Seller:
...Drying time will be fastest in warm dry humidity but I recommend wet and cool at first then less and less. As for how long...I'd say at least a couple of weeks...It will be hard to tell by feeling weight..If you have a digital scale you can weigh a sample slab..then check weekly ...when there is no more losing weight ..your done..I think with thin pieces it should go well.