Wet Wood

[Steve Trauthwein]

If one cuts wood and waxes it well, how long will it stay "wet".

Regards, Steve

[Gary Max]

When was it cut---what kind of wood----how was it stored---what part of the country do you live in-----and this list would just go on and on.
Sorry there just really aint one good answer.

[Matt Hutchinson]

I could not say exactly how long, but if it's in log form you are talking a really long time. Of course, the endgrain will get fairly dry over time, but the inside will remain quite wet for years. Dunno if this helps any....

Hutch

[Reed Gray]

For boards, the rule is 1 year per inch of thickness, plus 6 months. This is pretty good for boards up to 8/4 (2 inches). Much thicker than that, and it takes longer. I don't think boards in the 6 inch thick range ever reach equilibrium. For 1/4 inch thick bowls, it takes a week to 10 days.
robo hippy

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Steve
If the wax layer is thick enough, and the wax is impervious the wood should stay wet indefinitely, though the wax is not totally impervious, and so the wood will dry, and this depends on the surrounding conditions of course, also the thickness of the wood does make a difference, as the end-grain will loose its moisture much easier than the rest of the wood, and the drying almost stops if there's enough dry cells surrounding the wet core.
So the answer is "it depends", but to give you some idea, I got a whole bunch of Black Walnut, and had to carry it out of a deep gully, so my pieces where cut to the length of the thickness and halved when bigger.
Made several trips and sealed all the cut faces well, and stored in a cool and draft-free place, after 1 year the pieces that had not been used yet started to split and a few months later the rest was only good to saw into strips for spindle turning, I think I do have a picture of two,will add if I find them.
Hope this answers what you were asking :confused:
Ya found them, picture four is what I use for wood-storing also.