antifreeze drying?

[cowboyvet]

Has anybody sprayed antifreeze on the whole stack of hardwood lumber to slow the drying time and therefore reducing any checking? This comes from an old premier gun stock maker. He said it helps wood checking and an added benefit is it also brings the grain out in the wood so it looks better on the finished product. I know it might not be a recommended EPA use but just asking. This was done air drying and the cut ends used an end seal. Is there any other tricks out there for air drying hardwoods controlling checking?

 

[cowboyvet]

Here is another drying method used by the Indians. Submerge the wood under moving water for several months. Then take it out and let it air dry. It will cut the drying time significantly. They used this method for drying cants to be made into bows. Go grab a piece of driftwood and see how dry it is after you take it out of the water for a couple weeks. It will darken the wood though. This was based on drying wood is drying the sap and not water. The water helps get the sap out. Water then dries quickly. Try putting some tree sap on the cement and some water beside that. See what dries faster.
I still want to hear about the antifreeze thoughts but also some other imput on methods. I'm looking for outside the normal ways that do work. Some have good benefits/bad side effects. "Outside the Box" ideas with good and bad points listed.

 

[gemniii]

PLEASE PLEASE REMEMBER

ANTIFREEZE IS POISONOUS

Many animals find the taste to their liking and death.

http://www.2ndchance.info/antifreeze.htm

One to two teaspoons full will poison a cat and three tablespoons-full is enough to kill a medium size dog.

 

[BobL]

Has anybody sprayed antifreeze on the whole stack of hardwood lumber to slow the drying time and therefore reducing any checking? This comes from an old premier gun stock maker. He said it helps wood checking and an added benefit is it also brings the grain out in the wood so it looks better on the finished product. I know it might not be a recommended EPA use but just asking. This was done air drying and the cut ends used an end seal. Is there any other tricks out there for air drying hardwoods controlling checking?

I've heard of this but in practice it's no different from using standard hydrocarbon based "end check". If you spay "end check" all over your lumber you will get the same effect and you won't poison the place out. Cost differentials will depend on local prices and specials.

 

[cowboyvet]

I wouldn't use antifreeze where anything but maybe some rats could get to it. I have a dog I'm quite fond of myself. I'm just asking what kind of difference it makes and also if there are other tricks people are using. I know there are many "Old Timers" out there who had tricks up their sleeves which have sadly been lost over the generations. I know the old Indian trick of submersing the log under water does work pretty well but not always very feasible.

 

[treemandan]

I have dried wood by keeping it wet before, works good. The only thing I would use antifreeze for is to put in the radiator.

 

[discounthunter]

for all practical purposes all the wood you treat with antifreeze is no longer able to be used for anything.

 

[twoclones]

Anti-freeze and it's close relative polyethylene glycol {PEG} are sometimes used as a preservative for small wood carvings and waterlogged wood. This article may answer some of your questions about anti-freeze.

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/crl/conservationmanual/File6.htm#Polyethylene%20Glycol%20Method

 

[discounthunter]

Anti-freeze and it's close relative polyethylene glycol {PEG} are sometimes used as a preservative for small wood carvings and waterlogged wood. This article may answer some of your questions about anti-freeze.

http://nautarch.tamu.edu/crl/conservationmanual/File6.htm#Polyethylene%20Glycol%20Method

2C good article. the problem is once it it used on something it very important to know where it will be going.i would loose sleep knowing an PEG treated carving was sitting on a shelf being eye balled by a 2 year old thats teething.

 

[cowboyvet]

Thanks for the article twoclones. A very interesting read. Boy people can't get over this question. Like I said, I wouldn't use it to endanger my dog. I also do not intend to let any of my kids eat 5 lbs of wood to ingest a leathal dose. And yes I know antifreeze in small doses will make you sick until your body passes it through. I was just asking about how it works and if anybody had any other old time tricks which work. The gun stock maker who does use it makes some of the most expensive stocks in the world for his living. He knows what he is doing.

Am I the only one (and 2C) who finds some of these old ways interesting to learn about. Of course they may not be the best anymore, but the old ways may still hold valuable lost insight.

No wounder these old ways are lost forever. Todays people cant see past their fears.:bang:

 

[betterbuilt]

You know there is the old ways that make sense and there is the old ways that was just are not the right way to do things. I have always heard that a gun stock maker will cut wood and sit on it for 60 years before using it. I guess what I'm saying is if you can't wait a few months for a kiln to dry your stock material you might want to look at that old timer patiently waiting for his lumber to dry for is Kids to use. Really any carpenter know if he sticks 1000bft in to his kiln, He isn't gonna get a 1000bft out of it. We always have loses. That's how we heat the shop in the winter.

 

[twoclones]

Have you ever tasted anti-freeze?
I was under my van prying out a pretty stubborn freeze plug. When it finally gave way, I was right under it with my mouth open! As I scrambled out from under the van, spitting and coughing, I remember thinking how sweet it tasted. A few seconds later the taste turned kind of nasty. That was so long ago I can't remember if it was bitter or sour but it made me spit a lot more. LOL

I like many of the old ways and cannot pass up a good deal on an adze but have trouble imagining how old craftsmen got by without Gorilla Glue.

Butch

 

[cowboyvet]

Yes it turns bitter. Been there and didn't like it either. I know many of the old ways are not the best but I did get a chance to learn many old carpenter tricks from my grandfather years ago. Those when combined, or even the theory, with modern techniques can result in impressive results. If the antifreeze makes the grain become more pronounced and that is the goal, maybe looking at the makeup of it and find what part is making the grain come out. This may lead to a less deadly way to get the same result. That is my whole point and why I also asked if anybody had any other old tricks they knew about. The article Twoclones linked explains alot about why antifreeze would bring out the grain and based on that, alcohol mixed with sugar may be a good starting point to bring out grain ( I would need to study it more) with no poison.

 

[rarefish383]

I'm always interested in the old ways of doing things. There is a lady on one of my old UPS delivery routes. She lives in a beautiful log house made in the 1930's. It was built from Tulip Poplar logs on the property. She said 2 old timers from West Virginia built the house. That is, they were old timers, when the house was built in the 30's. They cut the logs and treated them with a secret formula, then built the house. Right now all of the bark is still on the logs and tight. There are a couple spots where something hit the house and knocked small chunks, fist size, of the bark off. The bark around the damaged areas is still tight. All the Poplar I've ever seen gets a stinking slimy layer just under the bark shortly after it's cut, and the bark will peel right off. Any idea how these logs were treated? Joe.

 

[betterbuilt]

well I find it a seasonal thing. If the tree is cut in the spring the bark falls off with little effort and if its cut in the fall It takes a chisel and a mallet to get the bark off.

 

[rarefish383]

well I find it a seasonal thing. If the tree is cut in the spring the bark falls off with little effort and if its cut in the fall It takes a chisel and a mallet to get the bark off.

Interesting, I never thought of that. Do you think the bark would hold tight for the 70 plus years this house has been around just by selective cutting, and no secret formula treatment? Wouldn't be the first time an oldtimer claimed a "secret formula" when all it was, was a knowledge of his craft, Joe.

 

[betterbuilt]

There might be more to the story. I was peeling some bark off locust awhile back and it wasn't coming off to easy. Later in the day it started to rain and the bark was coming off a lot easier. I got the idea that if I peeled the bark of the top of the log and hosed the logs down maybe the bark would come of easier. On those logs it definitely helped but I've had varying success since then. I really think there are a few factors to what keeps the bark on.

 

[rarefish383]

The home owner told me the process used only worked on Tulip Poplar, and after 70 to 80 years, this bark is tight, you can't pry it off. There is a spot on the back of the house where they ran out of Poplar and had to use pine. All of the pine was debarked, the logs are preserved just as nice, just no bark, Joe.