Frustrated.

Drew Croy

Member
Messages
65
Location
NW Ohio
I was given some really pretty pieces of cherry that an employee of mine cut down. Most of them were 18-24 inches long and 6-8 inches in diameter. I read all the rules about turning wet wood so I cut them down on the chop saw and just turned the bark off them into some uniform cylinders. Placed them on my shelf about 30 feet away from my wood burner hoping they would dry slowly. Almost every one of them split darn near in 2 pieces after about 2 weeks. How can I prevent this before I lose whats left of the wood and what little hair I have left?
 
Drew, did you leave the logs in their full round shape, or did you cut the pith (the center part of the log) out? The vast majority of the time, a log starts splitting from the pith outward (even with sealed ends), so it's best to remove that part as soon as practical. It's also a good idea to leave logs as long as you can until you're ready to turn them. The splitting starts at the ends of the log, so if it's longer than needed, you can simply cut the split ends off and get down to solid wood. To make things worse, cherry is especially prone to splitting as it dries if it still has the pith in it.

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Sorry to see the wood split on you...is there still a chance you can get some smaller things like pen blanks out of it?
 

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Depending on what you were going to turn with them, first I wouldn't have turned off the bark, second I would have just sealed the ends with two coats of anchorseal. If you were going to turn small bowls or lidded boxes I would have did as Vaughn suggested and cut the pith out. I have some cherry and logs 4 to 6 inches in diameter that I left 24 to 36 inches long and sealed the ends. Now 2 yrs later I cut some up for ornaments, birdhouses, lidded boxes, etc. and all I had to cut off was about 3 to 4 inches off the end and the rest was good. Taking off the bark and not sealing the ends will have the wood dry to fast and split big time especially keeping it near heat. I would also suggest drying wood or blanks in a cool, dark place with not much air movement. I keep the drying room around 68 degree's or less with around 35% to 50% humidity and I stack the blanks not more than 2 to 3 ft off the floor.

Anyway keep asking and keep trying. Fruit wood can be a bear.
 
OK I get it.

Need to find me some of that anchorseal stuff.

No I didn't cut the pith out, I wanted to use it the size it was. At least now I know what a "pith" is. Was planning on making some nice shot glasses out of it (or at least try).

I'll rework my drying area...

Thanks guys you just cost me several hundred dollars and a couple days...lol. Everytime I ask you all for help I get in trouble with the LOML for spending too much money. Wait until she hears I want to build a nice humidity and temperature controlled room. I think I might be better served just to buy some dry cherry...lol
 
Yep Chuck a berry it is. Drew if you have a basement that will work. The main thing is get it away from heat. The room in my shop stays around 65 to 68 degrees and the humidity stays around 35 to 40 percent. Most of the wood that I have cut into blanks is anchorsealed and sitting in the barn. Main thing is out of the sun.
 
I don't have a barn or separate building for drying wood... I keep some blanks in the shop on some racks that allow air to flow around the wood and others I have a rack I built last summer or the year before... it has pvc pipe rails to lay the wood on...which are a little to flexible for very much weight, but works okay... it's outside on the back side of the shop and sheltered by the trees so little direct sunlight. I have it completely covered with a plastic tarp to keep the rain and moisture off... I've hd some success with drying bowl blanks on that... I have no heat in my shop and it's not air tight so the humidity varies with what the outside is. I do get some cracks, but as was suggested, I keep most of my log form woods long enough I can cut the cracks away.
 
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