# Milling a Mantle



## gtrr4 (Aug 27, 2015)

I hope this is the best place for this question. I will be cutting down a walnut for a mantle. I have someone who will mill it for me. My question is do I need to seal it right away? Am I ok with leaving it raw? Do I have multiple options?

Thanks in advance

Jason


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## Yellowbeard (Aug 27, 2015)

Go out to wherever it is and seal the ends this second! Or, anyway, pretty much. It will lose moisture a LOT faster from the ends and that can cause checking (splitting) which you probably don't want (it just costs you length of wood to cut past later).


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## Yellowbeard (Aug 27, 2015)

I just use whatever can of old paint I have lying around, usually latex, but there are more "professional" products you can use if you want. The key thing, IMO, is to get something on it sooner (much sooner) rather than later.


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## gtrr4 (Aug 27, 2015)

Ok, so seal the ends as soon as I cut it, or after it is milled?

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## Yellowbeard (Aug 27, 2015)

When I cut them down, I have a can of paint with me to seal the ends as soon as the log is on the ground. If I make a new cut before milling, I seal that before I mill. I may be overly paranoid, but that's how I like to practice. If I have a client who wants something milled, I tell them to seal it right away. If I end up milling a log that's been on the ground a while, I seal it before I start. The problem is that, because of the grain of the wood (and the way plants have evolved to move water up themselves against gravity) the water can very easily wick out the ends. It wicks REALLY fast out the ends and hardly fast enough out the sides (esp. when the log is in the round) so the ends dry way faster than the middle. Drying = shrinking, so the ends end up shrinking faster then the middle. However, the structure of the middle tends to hold it together in its original diameter while the ends are shrinking. That means a split must occur. 

I don't know the actual time it would take before checking starts to occur (though someone on here probably does), but I would just as soon not take chances.

All that said, I know of a huge red oak that's been on the ground for probably a couple of years with no seal which I may get a chance to mill. I'll probably still try it. However, I expect to lost a foot of length at least on each end when I end up using the lumber.


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## gtrr4 (Aug 28, 2015)

So do I have to worry about the rest of the piece after it is milled? If I want to leave it natural it will be ok?


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## Yellowbeard (Aug 28, 2015)

You mean the surface of the wood that's raw after you cut it (not end grain)? No - that you can leave. If you seal it, you'll never get it to dry. It's only the differential drying of the end grain that you have to worry about AFAIK. I am surprised no one else has chimed in, here yet...


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## SawmillMan (Aug 31, 2015)

I'm in agreement with YellowBeard.

I've milled several mantles and a few out of black walnut. Seal the end of the logs right away. Once they are milled the ends will still be sealed. It would obviously take years to air dry a very wide and thick mantle. Great success cutting green logs over the years has been achieved in our neck of the woods provided that after the mantle is cut to finished dimensions it is finished right away. At a minimum, finish the end grain again.

If the moisture content it too high in the mantle, finish the end grain but not the other surfaces. Let them air dry for up to 30 days and then polyurethane or water-based finishes will adhere and "trap" the moisture in the mantle. The attached mantel is six years old and has not split or checked. 

Best wishes to you. Always think because it's free!


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## gtrr4 (Oct 2, 2015)

So I cut down the walnut tree today for my mantle it is not milled yet the logs are just sitting in the back of my truck and now there is rain forecasted will they be okay getting rained on or should I move them and get them covered

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## Runknpap (Oct 2, 2015)

Question I have had for a while now. It would be way easier to seal the ends of the log before you mill it. To seal them I use roofing tar. My question is would it dull the blade cutting into and out of the log.


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## BigOakAdot (Oct 3, 2015)

Rain won't hurt a log but as said before it's easier to just paint the whole round that way when it's milled you don't have to paint individual pieces.

As for roofing tar I'm sure that would be fine in terms of dulling a chain but I don't know. I personally use latex paint and I've had walnut logs that haven't really checked at all and have sat for over a year in the elements.


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## Josh Long (Oct 30, 2015)

I just use whatever cheapo leftover paint that isn't needed for touchups that we have collected over the years, I believe it has been latex, and it's worked really well. I put it on AS SOON AS POSSIBLE on the ends after I get it home from cutting. I find if they are around 4-6 foot pieces of log I can stand them up on one end and just pour a fat dollop into the center and smear it around with a paper towel. It normally absorbs a little as it dries, and while I am unloading the rest of my score. I come back later and another one on until its mostly uniform in color. Which reminds me I should pour a second coat on the cherry I scored....

I wouldn't worry about the rain, but I wouldn't let them sit on a soaked ground for days without rolling them to a new side.

I had some really straight pieces of oak that were completely unchecked; they sat in my buddy's truck for a day or two and checked severely on the ends. I was turning those very pieces into a box for kindling today as my first project, gonna retire the ol' cardboard.

Cutting and using "free" wood is addicting, especially after you've spent $560+ on kit.


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## gtrr4 (Oct 30, 2015)

I actually got them milled last weekend. Got 1 7 foot piece and 2 6 footers. They are 3.5" x 6.5".

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## Josh Long (Oct 30, 2015)

Awesome!

I realized after I posted that this thread was a month old.

Did you use the roofing tar, and did it prevent cracks on the ends?


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## gtrr4 (Oct 30, 2015)

Here are the before, middle and after pictures so far. Go in to let them dry for about a month and I need to get more spacers to keep them from warping.


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## gtrr4 (Nov 2, 2015)

Pics


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## Runknpap (Nov 2, 2015)

What o have found with the roofing tar. The slabs I have done with 1 coat did ok still spilt around the heartwood. That's where it prone to spilt anyways. But I found if you let the first coat dry then apply a heavy second it really does make a big difference.


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## gtrr4 (Nov 2, 2015)

Runknpap said:


> What o have found with the roofing tar. The slabs I have done with 1 coat did ok still spilt around the heartwood. That's where it prone to spilt anyways. But I found if you let the first coat dry then apply a heavy second it really does make a big difference.


I just used a latex spraypaint. A few coats

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## Runknpap (Nov 2, 2015)

Yeah when I first started milling I would use old ass pain I had in the garage. That will work too. For some reason I just like the roofing tar


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## Mad Professor (Nov 3, 2015)

You want to use anchorseal for end coating as soon as you buck the logs


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## Runknpap (Nov 3, 2015)

I won't spend the money for anchorseal. But I guess if you got it like that go for it.


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## gtrr4 (Apr 19, 2016)

So over the winter, these have been in the garage drying. One has split almost from end to end on both top and bottom. Can I use a wood filler? Do I need to? Will I still be able to hang and not worry about it?

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## Josh Long (Apr 19, 2016)

I have a 2.5" cherry slab that did that as well and I think I am going to use this guys technique (video link below) to save as much wood as possible. Mine is almost split near in two, so there's no wood filler option for me. 

Basically you table saw it apart to get rid of he cup, crack, and stress on the piece, then you can glue it back together and it'll be maybe a saw blade kerf or 3 thinner but flat.


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## ChoppyChoppy (Apr 19, 2016)

[QUOTE="Yellowbeard, post: 5510331, member: 111813"I may be overly paranoid, but that's how I like to practice. I.[/QUOTE]

Yes.


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## redoakneck (Apr 19, 2016)

Live edge Eastern Red cedar , 3 years old sitting in an outside shed


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## redoakneck (Apr 19, 2016)




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## redoakneck (Apr 19, 2016)

After finishing


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## gtrr4 (Apr 19, 2016)

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## gtrr4 (Apr 19, 2016)

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## BigOakAdot (Apr 19, 2016)

Seems like a lot of work to cut out the crack. I would just tape the bottom and fill any cracks with epoxy.

My first time doing this the tape didn't stay and bubbled and leaked on the bottom. Probably just cheap tape and didn't do a good enough job prepping the surface before taping. 

Would consider using some reinforcement in the form of plywood next time I have a large crack to full.


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## gtrr4 (Apr 19, 2016)

Could you just fill one side with epoxy let it dry then flipped over and fill the other side with epoxy let it dry and be good to go

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## BobL (Apr 20, 2016)

gtrr4 said:


> Could you just fill one side with epoxy let it dry then flipped over and fill the other side with epoxy let it dry and be good to go



The first time I did that the epoxy eventually found its way right though the crack and glued one end of the plan onto my WW bench.
Now I use duct tape to seal the underside.

BTW to remove tha bark and still retain a natural edge use an angle grinder with a soft wire brusk on it and gently swipe at the park with the brush running parallel to the bark. It takes the bark off and leaves a very natural looking edge.


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## jrhannum (Apr 20, 2016)

Wait a while
I cut a California Walnut out of our creek and CSMed it into 3-inch slabs 12-to-14 ft long (very heavy); dried it with stickers under tin roof for 3 years to make "Claro" out of it. Then used 13-inch surface planer to remove chainsaw washboard marks from a 10x3x75-inch portion of it; then chamfered one side and ends of it to make the mantle shown in the pic. I believe that end-painting to minimize checking is over-rated (especially in our dry climate -- but I do it anyway) and like BobL says: allow for each end which has checked to be sawed off. Nobody told the OP that he'd hafta wait a long while nor that end-painting won't guarantee no checking.


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## redoakneck (Apr 20, 2016)

I think I used a pressure washer on that cedar to get the loose stuff off???


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## gtrr4 (May 31, 2016)

Any suggestions on a type of epoxy? About how long does this have to cure?

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