Alcohol seasoned wood

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

When I was young an old timer told me that they used to soak wood in Kero or diesel to cure it really fast. Makes perfect sense ( so long as it penetrates the cells) since they both drive water off.

But what about Alcohol~? It bonds on the molecular level with water making it evaporate really fast and burn too.

[eric auer]

Honestly, even if it worked great I have better uses for my alcohol........

[John Schreiber]

Makes sense, the water would be gone, but diesel wouldn't dry out for years. I'd hate to think what that would smell like.

I know turners use some magic elixirs to soak their blanks, maybe they can contribute.

[eric auer]

Makes sense, the water would be gone, but diesel wouldn't dry out for years. I'd hate to think what that would smell like.

I know turners use some magic elixirs to soak their blanks, maybe they can contribute.


If anything, the alcohol would evaporate pretty fast, im guessing faster than water, if not, youd at least end up with some badass firewood

[Frank Drew]

You probably wouldn't be soaking wood in diesel at today's diesel prices! :eek:

And wood soaked in kerosene or diesel wouldn't be suitable for fine woodworking and I'd think it would be an increased fire hazard if used for, say, a shop floor.

[Mike Cutler]

,

but diesel wouldn't dry out for years. I'd hate to think what that would smell like.



I removed the subfloor layers in my house last fall. The second, bottom, layer was T&G SYP pine that was installed in 1921. One section was saturated with diesel fuel. As soon as the first layer was removed the smell was incredible.

As I cut out that layer of flooring, there was a distinct change in the pitch of the saw blade when it hit the section that had once been exposed to fuel oil. The fuel oil never evaporated from the wood.

Our house was gutted and restored in 1979-80, and no fuel oil furnace was installed at that time, and still has not been. At minimumm that fuel oil came in contact with the wood almost thirty years ago.

I'm not sure about using Kero or #2 fuel oil on wood used woodworking projects. My limited experience says otherwise.

[Jim Becker]

As already indicated, some turners use an alcohol bath to help with moisture displacement in rough turnings, but I think that this would be very impractical for "lumber"...

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

Eric Said:

If anything, the alcohol would evaporate pretty fast, im guessing faster than water,

Well no. That' part of whay I wonder if it might not be a workable solution. Because Alcohol establishes a valence shell bond with water. This bond isn't broken by freezing or burning. Nor by evaoporation. The resultant solution has a little more of the properties that the individual molecules had before the bond. The flash point is way lower the freeze point is lower also - etc..


Frank Said:

wood soaked in kerosene or diesel wouldn't be suitable for fine woodworking and I'd think it would be an increased fire hazard if used for, say, a shop floor.

Yah quite true but, lots of old timers were more concerned with geting a thing done before other things such as harvest time (which could not be put off) than other issues. I had a barn in northern Maine where I kept my horses. It was a huge structure and I had it filled with hay. Talk about a fire hazard~!! You take your risks.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

One section was saturated with diesel fuel. As soon as the first layer was removed the smell was incredible.

And you just know that if there were a fire that the fire marshal would have th4e dogs and the mass spectrometer and a boat load of hard questions for you.

I have a roof like that. A flat top was sealed over one wint in January er when it was leaking badly with a couple 5 gallon cans of flashing compound and couple rolls of 70# mineral felt. Then a few years later it was roofed over yet again by a shingle applicator guy.

On the up side, I'll bet you didn't have any bugs in that wood.

[Mike Cutler]

On the up side, I'll bet you didn't have any bugs in that wood.

Nope,not a one.

The real crime is that the original floors, that were covered over in the 79-80 remodel, are some of the most tightly grained Qsawn SYP I've ever seen. They were absolutely incredible.
When the put the subsequent layers on top of the original they trashed them with nails, glue, Tar and roofing material, Linoleum etc.

With a 3 foot wrecking bar, those Qwasn SYP boards still put up a heckuva fight coming up.
It was shame they couldn't be salvaged.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

I wouldn't want to work any wood that had been soaked in diesel or kerosene. We won't use diesel heat tin the shop for fear of impregnating the smell in wood.

Not to mention the cost. If diesel or kerosene worked I'm sure woodturners would have been all over that idea years ago. They do use alcohol (dna) to displace water but it's only practical for small amounts...not lumber. I was in a local Ace Hardware about three months ago and saw a five gallon can of ethanol for a little over thirty bucks. Seemed like a good buy and although I didn't really need it at the time I bought it. About a week ago I was in the same store and happened to think and checked - this time the five gallon can was $68 and change. :eek:

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

When the put the subsequent layers on top of the original they trashed them with nails, glue, Tar and roofing material, Linoleum etc.

Been there and bled a pint all over that. I had a kitchen in a building I renovated ( while living in it) in Mass where the horrible flooring that they applied on top of the 150 year old wood flooring was nailed with annular ringed nails: The hardened kind. When I went to pop them the rusted out bit under the head caused 'em to pop off with a nasty sharp little point sticking up every 4" on center.
In the middle of the night you had to negotiate that floor to get to the head.

OUCH~!!

My home now ( another restoration) was owned by some snapperhead who used asphalt as a flooring glue to apply some awful crap over this gorgeous pumpkin pine. Took me forever to get it up.

What some people had on their minds I can't guess.

[CW McClellan]

When I was young an old timer told me that they used to soak wood in Kero or diesel to cure it really fast. Makes perfect sense ( so long as it penetrates the cells) since they both drive water off.

But what about Alcohol~? It bonds on the molecular level with water making it evaporate really fast and burn too.

Down South we call that process kindling statrer
Thats why whole families died in house fires at night from wood heat
just like a flame thrower instant cremation
houses would go up in flames quickly:(

[jim mckee]

Drying wood isn't a matter of driving off watter (and by the way- Oil and water don't mix and oil doesn't drive off water, free water in wood and bound water in wood will repel water).
If removing water quck from wood was the answer, we could put wood in an oven and in about 48 hrs remove all the water.
It don't work that way.
Wood must have the water removed at a certain rate.
The rate is a little different per species.
Read the USDA Forest Svc. kiln operators manual or Wood and how to dry it. You will lean the basics of removing water from wood and its cells.
Drying wood is easy as long as you stick to the rules.
There are no short cuts in life or in drying wood.
If you want to dry wood, learn kiln ops. build a simple kiln and use it.
Speed should not be a factor.
jim

[Peter Quinn]

Watching wood dry makes watching grass grow look exciting.:D