Sealing Green logs

[Dahl Troy Perry]

Being new to turning I have questions which are common knowledge to you butno idea to me so bear with me till learn a little. My neighbor is getting redy to cut down a walnut ,wild cherry and a tulp tree all around 2ft across the base for fire wood and said I could have any that I want.
When I cut the logs into blanks what should I coat the ends with to keep them from drying to fast? He also cut down a sycamore tree this last summer that is about 4 ft dia at the base and 5ft tall where they cut and left it now has limbs growing out the top and is going to cut at the ground. is sycamore any good to turn?

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dahl, a lot of us use anchorseal, which is a water based emulsified wax solution. It works very well but in a pinch you can use paint - basically anything that will seal the ends of the logs.

All the woods you listed are great for turning! Get all you can!

Looking forward to seeing your wood gloat!

[Bernie Weishapl]

Dahl when I first got some green wood I didn't have any anchorseal. So I went to wal-mart and bought there cheapest latex paint. I cut my wood into bowl blanks and sealed the end with two coats of paint. I have some Elm and Ash that are 2 yrs sitting on the shelf with no cracks. Anchorseal does work better though.

[Dahl Troy Perry]

Thanks Steve sound like a trip to the store need anchor seal and
denathured alcohol . Played around a little on the lathe today made a handle for a turning tool that I like the looks of at the Rockler store Friday night and said I can make one of them have to make the tip at work Monday will post pic when done got to start somewhere.

Dahl

[Brian Brown]

Dahl,

Welcome to SMC. Steve and Bernie gave you good advice on the Anchorseal. I personally like Anchorseal better than latex paint because I think it works better, but most of all because, after you have sealed over a hundred blanks, you will want to be able to see the grain and interior wood so you can choose the best log for your project. Anchor seal dries mosly clear, so you can see the grain. You can't see through latex paint... unless you have that "S" thing on your chest. :rolleyes:

Search this forum, and you will find good information about cutting the logs so the pith is removed (use the word pith for your search). On a lot of species, the pith is where the cracking starts, and once it starts, it is very hard to stop. I have lost a lot of wood to cracking even when I sealed the ends, because I didn't cut the pith out.

Where are you located? I am trying to determine how much temperature and humidity have to do with the cracking. I just started another thread to ask about this. Please let us know in the future how well the wood stood up to cracking.

[Toney Robertson]

Dahl,

I have some Anchorseal if you need some to seal some freshly cut stuff.

Let me know.

Toney

[Cyril Griesbach]

Dahl, you may not be able to just go to a hardware store and find Anchorseal but it is available online for the maker, UC Coatings.

https://www.uccoatings.com/

[Dusty Fuller]

Sycamore, walnut, cherry... you are lucky my friend... get all you can handle, and if you get too much, I'm sure there are some turners here at the Creek who live near you who are in dire need of more stuff to pile wherever their significant other will allow them to pile it. "Near" is relative, depending on how far they like to travel! Or is that just my situation? I've used wax emulsion and paint, and I also melted some cheapo canning wax onto some wood just for fun. I try to keep my stuff out of the sun as well. Good luck!

[Frank Drew]

Dahl,

Ideally, you'll be right there to seal the log ends as soon as the tree is downed. There's more of a grace period in the winter than in the summer, but sealing the end grain asap, AND cutting the log in half down the center, is still the best plan.

If you can't find Anchorseal, some of the turning supply places, such as Craft Supplies, sell a similar product called, simply, Green Wood Sealer. I agree that it seems to work a bit better than paint, and drying clear, as Brian notes, is a plus.

Sycamore is easy to turn, and moves a fair amount when drying so leave a fairly thick wall so that there's still a circle in there somewhere. As you've seen, it's a big tree so it's not hard coming up with large blanks.