Woodworkers- need some advice!

[Yooper]

I have NO experience with woodworking at all, and am a complete moron with wood.

A friend is being forced to sell his 3000 acre property and cabin, and as a momento we cut a newly downed tree into pieces.

I have two 27" slices of white pine, several inches thick (maybe 4-5 inches thick). I want to remove the bark, dry it properly so it doesn't crack, and make a table with the pine slice for the table top. I have two, but only want to make one table. The reserve is in case I screw it up!

Anyway, how do I go about getting these big thick slices of pine dry without cracking? And for how long before I wonder how I"m going to make the legs? I know it will be a while, but I have no idea how long.

If I can get both dry without cracking, I might use the second for something else.

 

[AnchorBock]

I have NO experience with woodworking at all, and am a complete moron with wood.

A friend is being forced to sell his 3000 acre property and cabin, and as a momento we cut a newly downed tree into pieces.

I have two 27" slices of white pine, several inches thick (maybe 4-5 inches thick). I want to remove the bark, dry it properly so it doesn't crack, and make a table with the pine slice for the table top. I have two, but only want to make one table. The reserve is in case I screw it up!

Anyway, how do I go about getting these big thick slices of pine dry without cracking? And for how long before I wonder how I"m going to make the legs? I know it will be a while, but I have no idea how long.

If I can get both dry without cracking, I might use the second for something else.

I'd PM Hoppopotomus (spelling?) - based on his threads he has a lot of experience with this stuff (although I think he mostly uses cedar?). We have a cribbage board made from a tree with bark on the edges, it's very cool I bet that will make a great table top.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Why am I thinking that our resident carpenter and lunatic Laughing Gnome Invisible could be of service too?

 

[duboman]

I'm no expert but have done some of these things in the past with various success:
You want to leave the bark on the pieces and allow them to naturally dry out which, in a cool, dry place could take up to 6 months depending on how fresh the wood was. Once the wood is dry you can then strip the bark and it will be easier to remove as the wood will shrink.

Then you can cut the boards to whatever dimensions you want, probably using a band saw. You will want the more center sections of the wood as the grain is much tighter and you lose the "rounded" parts of the log.

Hope that's a start!

 

[CreamyGoodness]

So what dubo is saying this is more a mead project than an ale project

God I crack me up.

 

[Reelale]

Paint both ends with regular latex. This stops what is known as "checking" where the ends dry faster than the middle portions . This checking grows into larger cracks. Make sure you stack the boards on stickers (1" x 1") spaced evenly and directly over each other. This stops warping and allows air circulation. Four or five inch thickness will take a long time to dry.

 

[Yooper]

Hmmm, I must not understand because I definitely don't want to paint it. It's a "slice" out of a big white pine. So, there is some bark around the outside edge, but it's round and I want to make it a tabletop so there aren't any "edges" or "boards".

I figured there would be something I"d have to put on it, to keep it from checking, but I definitely don't want to paint it.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Aren't there clear latex paints that work almost like clear nailpolish for wood? Is that what reele meant?

 

[delta]

Paraffin works better than latex paint.

I haven't had much luck drying slices (I call them cookies).

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Could you smoke the slices so to speak using a fireplace?

 

[TyTanium]

...am a complete moron with wood.

Guess I'm the only middle-schooler in the room.


Good advice above. Cool project! Pictures?

 

[Yooper]

Guess I'm the only middle-schooler in the room.


Good advice above. Cool project! Pictures?

Ha! You bet. I don't think I have many of the cookies, but these are pictures of us cutting/hauling it in the rain.

Some we split up for kindling, but I brought two slices home.

I still have it outside in the garage, but I have no problem bringing it inside to a cool dry place if that is what I should do.

Here's the picture of the guys cutting (the pieces rolled a bit down the hill!):






The bigger pieces are NOT the ones I saved! We just cut those up for kindling, and made them small enough to lift out of the way. They are heavy!

 

[lschiavo]

Lilac branches make nice spindles or legs when you get to that part. The painting suggested is just temporary until it dries. Troy has a dowel tool to make the legs. He's made a bunch of stools and tables.

 

[Yooper]

Lilac branches make nice spindles or legs when you get to that part. The painting suggested is just temporary until it dries. Troy has a dowel tool to make the legs. He's made a bunch of stools and tables.

Oh- the painting is temporary? Well, duh on me.

I'll have to show you the cookies when you stop over. Pretty cool. Maybe they'll dry nice and I can hire Troy to make the legs. I saw a really cool leg set up with a 4X4 coming down and the three legs going into that. I'll draw it out when I see you!

 

[Reelale]

Hmmm, I must not understand because I definitely don't want to paint it. It's a "slice" out of a big white pine. So, there is some bark around the outside edge, but it's round and I want to make it a tabletop so there aren't any "edges" or "boards".

I figured there would be something I"d have to put on it, to keep it from checking, but I definitely don't want to paint it.

Oh, I thought they were slabs. The paint is just temporary, sanded away later. Good luck with drying rounds. I've yet to see one that hasn't split after drying.

 

[clamflats]

If I remember correctly, there is a solution that they must be soaked in to prevent shrinkage, thus preventing cracks and checks. Can't remember what it was but if you search I'm sure you will find it. What you want to do is a long and involved process. Wafers that size will take a year or two to become stable enough to do anything with where they won't crack and check. Good luck. PS try looking in the old editions of Woodworking.

 

[duboman]

Ahh, now I see!

I thought you wanted to "plank" the logs but those are nice big rounds!!!

Just leave the dry naturally and if they are 4-5" thick they may take the 6 months I mentioned although your in MI and with dry winter air they should be good in a few months.

The bark should peel off at that time, might need a chisel to assist. You can use a sander to smooth the surface and a nice clear polyurethane
Finish will bring out the grain.

I'll assume its heavy so if you can find some medium size ash limbs you can make legs and using a hole saw position them for 3-4 legs. With Emerald Ash borer effecting all the Ash you should have no problem finding any as they are being removed by the thousands. It's a nice choice as its a hard wood and branches are pretty straight-think baseball bats

Fun project,should turn out beautiful!

 

[david_42]

Not much of a woodworker myself, but a friend is. He recommends boiling (rolling) the wood for an hour per inch of thickness. "The boiling water heats the lignum to allow it to realign to the existing shape of the reduced stock, thereby reducing internal stresses along with assisting the drying process. " Then paint them with Pentacryl, place in a cool, moist location. Should be dry within two years. He says a 20% success rate is doing well.

 

[Yooper]

Ahh, now I see!

I thought you wanted to "plank" the logs but those are nice big rounds!!!

Just leave the dry naturally and if they are 4-5" thick they may take the 6 months I mentioned although your in MI and with dry winter air they should be good in a few months.

The bark should peel off at that time, might need a chisel to assist. You can use a sander to smooth the surface and a nice clear polyurethane
Finish will bring out the grain.

I'll assume its heavy so if you can find some medium size ash limbs you can make legs and using a hole saw position them for 3-4 legs. With Emerald Ash borer effecting all the Ash you should have no problem finding any as they are being removed by the thousands. It's a nice choice as its a hard wood and branches are pretty straight-think baseball bats

Fun project,should turn out beautiful!

I can get ash, as my 80 acres are covered with white ash, but Bob just suggested ironwood. I have a ton of properly sized ironwood that might make good legs.

They are in the garage now, but I'm going to bring them in. I have a cool (50s) dry room that I use for curing my soaps, and that might be a great place to haul them.

 

[Yooper]

Not much of a woodworker myself, but a friend is. He recommends boiling (rolling) the wood for an hour per inch of thickness. "The boiling water heats the lignum to allow it to realign to the existing shape of the reduced stock, thereby reducing internal stresses along with assisting the drying process. " Then paint them with Pentacryl, place in a cool, moist location. Should be dry within two years. He says a 20% success rate is doing well.

I have no idea how to boil the wood for an hour per inch of thickness. That sounds like more than I"m able to do.

We live in a pretty dry climate, so the only moist location I can think of is my basement. In the winter, it's not very moist but it's more so than my house. My house is pretty dry.

Pentacryl I can get, though!

 

[duboman]

I can get ash, as my 80 acres are covered with white ash, but Bob just suggested ironwood. I have a ton of properly sized ironwood that might make good legs.

They are in the garage now, but I'm going to bring them in. I have a cool (50s) dry room that I use for curing my soaps, and that might be a great place to haul them.

Very cool! Ironwood has beautiful thin bark and would make great legs!

 

[bneal]

You might want to try a product called Anchorseal . It is used by woodturners to keep green logs from checking. You would coat all of the cut surfaces. You could also try a coating of paraffin wax. The slower that you can dry it the better as fewer internal stresses will develop. I've heard that wrapping in craft paper will help limit checking.

If you do get some cracks, you can make them into features by using a butterfly joint in a contrasting wood or fill in any cracks with epoxy.

Good luck on the project.

 

[Yooper]

Great ideas!

The bark is coming off on some of the sides (probably from the roll down the hill) so I might have to take it all off, and treat the whole thing, and bring it upstairs to the coolest spot in my house, which is one of the kids' old rooms and is all storage now. The heat is turned off there, but it's about 60 or so.

 

[jtd_419]

+1 on the anchor seal or painting..... if its not completely sealed it will crack. Also it is supposed to take about one year per inch of thickness to properly dry. I've got a large pile of maple slabs air dried the same way, it works great