Wood Preserving ??

Dan Mosley

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1,169
Location
Palm Springs, Ca
Brother in law had come to visit and brought me quit a bit of wood for turning. I had told him that I may lose some of it even after using Anchor seal because I have to store it outside in the shade and after a period of time, and 2 coats of anchor seal on the ends they will eventually have some cracking/checking.
So, I got home from work yesterday and he told while I was gone he was bored so he cleaned up the shop and told me he had a great idea for saving all the wood. He took me around to the side of the house and showed me how he had put them into plastic trash cans and filled them with water.
I was a bit concerned about this because I have never put them under water before. His theory was that when he was watching TV and swamp loggers was on that the logs have been submerged for many years and they have never cracked....................hummmmmmmmmm
I guess I could give it a whirl...........just never submered any of my stock before..................LOL
 
That's an interesting concept, but won't you just be delaying the drying process.. you'll turn the wood wet and still have to dry it... just my thoughts.

On the swamp loggers, we don't see what the wood does after it reaches the mill... on the process of retrieving the wood from the swamp.
 
I agree - I do not mind the delay in drying because I will use the wood for vessels and turn the walls thin, put aside to dry, and I have several projects in the drying phase now. With thin walls it is not long (weeks - a month at most) and they are dried. I just don't want them so wet that it iterferes with the turning. I have had very wet wood in the past and it shreads instead of cuts - so I have to let them sit for a time to get rid of some of the excess water in them before they are any good on the lathe.

He filled 3 trash cans with long logs of maple and myrtle - so I think im going to leave one of them in water as a experiment and take the rest out and cut into blanks and seal them up. I usually do this with 2 coats of anchor seal on all cut areas and lay them on a wood bench in the garage. If they are still in log form - I seal the ends and stand them up under some trees in the shade on the concrete driveway.

I have tried different ways to preserve them but over months I still lose some - not alot but it happens....................

Ill post the same question on aaw and see what the pros say to..............maybe someone else has been this route - interesting idea i suppose
 
Seems to me it'd work, Dan.

Chuck, it's a lot easier to dry a piece with 1/2" walls than it is to dry a whole blank. Plus, the chances of it cracking are greatly reduced. ;)
 
I know a fella with an abundance of cherry burl, and he stores his whole burls and chunks this way until he's ready to turn them. He's had better luck with soaking than anchorseal for preventing checks.
 
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