Keeping an Ash Round from Cracking?

[StihlsawuserMS361]

This might not be the correct forum, apologies if necessary.

I recently dropped a very large ash tree, over 30+" at the base, which was dying due to EAB. My neighbor asked for a cookie of the trunk so her daughter could paint it. Cut a (round) cookie, about 3" thick and put it in an unheated garage. I expected it to crack somewhat, but it really cracked in several directions in a very short time. I'd like to try again, but I expect the next one would do the same. I thought of sealing both end grain surfaces with oil to slow cracking down, but I believe that would interfere with her painting.

Any of you experts have any idea on how to let it dry without severely cracking again?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Pjohnson]

I've never used this just remember reading about it in woodworking forums. Its a wood stabilizer called pentacryl. Wood turners use it to turn green wood and keep it from cracking. Ive never used it so do a little research on it.

 

[Mad Professor]

I don't think it's going to happen.

I've heard of soaking in ethylene glycol.......

Let it dry and fill the cracks with fine sawdust/glue.

 

[Glenn50]

The AAW Forum Is where your question should be. Tons of knowledge there. I would use anchor seal, And several Coats. I would also strap around the outside tight, And keep tightening is it shrinks. The more knowledgeable people on the AAW forum will tell you Why it cracks, And how do prevent it.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Your biggest problem is it's EAB wood, not structurally sound at all. That's why they're such a hazard

 

[StihlsawuserMS361]

Thanks to all.

I may be blind, but don't see an AAW forum. Do you mean wood turning and carving?

The crack I'm speaking of is about 1 1/2 inch, less than a month after the cut

 

[Woody912]

This might not be the correct forum, apologies if necessary.

I recently dropped a very large ash tree, over 30+" at the base, which was dying due to EAB. My neighbor asked for a cookie of the trunk so her daughter could paint it. Cut a (round) cookie, about 3" thick and put it in an unheated garage. I expected it to crack somewhat, but it really cracked in several directions in a very short time. I'd like to try again, but I expect the next one would do the same. I thought of sealing both end grain surfaces with oil to slow cracking down, but I believe that would interfere with her painting.

Any of you experts have any idea on how to let it dry without severely cracking again?

Thanks in advance.

soak it in 1000 molecular weight polyethylene glycol which would probably cost a fortune.. maybe better to cut some slits to relieve the stress

 

[Glenn50]

Thanks to all.

I may be blind, but don't see an AAW forum. Do you mean wood turning and carving?

The crack I'm speaking of is about 1 1/2 inch, less than a month after the cut

Yes. If possible, you may want to cut a new cookie. Coat immediately with something (anchorseal, oil base paint, wood glue, etc. Water base paint breathes too much). One fellow cuts the cookie into "pie slices", lets it dry, then glues it all back together.

 

[StihlsawuserMS361]

Thanks Glenn

Interesting idea about cutting into slices, coat, then dry and reglue. i have some industrial water based roof coating that adheres to pressure treated wood excellently. I may try both methods.

 

[iowa_jim]

Been there, done that. The extreme amount of movement and the fast drying suggests that it's as good as it gets. I used deep pour epoxy to use a round for something. The only other way I can think of is to dry the log first and then cut a round.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Been there, done that. The extreme amount of movement and the fast drying suggests that it's as good as it gets. I used deep pour epoxy to use a round for something. The only other way I can think of is to dry the log first and then cut a round.

It's EAB, not going to get much dryer than that... it's just junk wood.

 

[StihlsawuserMS361]

Jim, Jolly, thanks for your ideas. I plan on cutting two more cookies this weekend, coating one and pie cutting the other.

As you wrote, I'm probably fighting an impossible losing battle. Maybe I'll rip a slap too, just for the hell of it. Hate to disappoint a 9 year old , you know?

 

[iowa_jim]

It's EAB, not going to get much dryer than that... it's just junk wood.

In my case the tree wasn't dead but it was beyond saving. The EAB only attacked the producing branches, so the trunk provided some excellent pieces that might become furniture if I can dry it right.

 

[StihlsawuserMS361]

This tree was infested, and starting to drop injurious size limbs. My contact at Cornell advised when they start dropping sized limbs, drop them before they become too dangerous to do so.

I'm thinking maybe a slab instead of a round

 

[scottr]

This might not be the correct forum, apologies if necessary.

I recently dropped a very large ash tree, over 30+" at the base, which was dying due to EAB. My neighbor asked for a cookie of the trunk so her daughter could paint it. Cut a (round) cookie, about 3" thick and put it in an unheated garage. I expected it to crack somewhat, but it really cracked in several directions in a very short time. I'd like to try again, but I expect the next one would do the same. I thought of sealing both end grain surfaces with oil to slow cracking down, but I believe that would interfere with her painting.

Any of you experts have any idea on how to let it dry without severely cracking again?

Thanks in advance.

Hello StihlsawuserMS361 , I have used paper grocery bags and newspaper to slow dry the cross sections of Eastern red cedar and ambrosia stain red maple .
Three layers of grocery bags or newspaper worked . Two years in the garage then one year in the house .
Scott

 

[Coralillo Lo Pro]

This tree was infested, and starting to drop injurious size limbs. My contact at Cornell advised when they start dropping sized limbs, drop them before they become too dangerous to do so.

I'm thinking maybe a slab instead of a round

I don't think a lot of people understand how borer beetles kill trees. They infest the bark and destroy the tree's ability to pass water and nutrients up the tree via the bark, killing the tree. They don't bore into the heartwood. As long as the tree isn't dead for so long it rots, the trunk heartwood of the tree is usually unaffected. I've done large cookies as coffee tables w pecan, accepted the cracks, and filled with black epoxy, or sometimes gold. But I got a beautiful 32" cypress round the other day I leveled even to 7" thick, and wanted to try to prevent it from cracking so studied up on other ways than Anchorseal or latex paint for sealing end grain.

Anchorseal is the standard, but expensive. Titebond glue is a cheaper non-breathing seal, but a little messy. Completely gums up sandpaper trying to sand it off. One guy who tested nearly everything said mineral oil and beeswax was as good as Titebond and was very effective on the small cookies he tested at not cracking at all. I blend my own mineral oil and beeswax pellets already for a fine natural sealing finish on a lot of my woodworking, so seemed a good idea to go with that. It's the waxy aspect of Anchorseal that makes it effective, so a heated liquid oil wax painted on the wood (it cools to a soft solid) makes sense it would work extremely well. I mix about 1 part beeswax pellets to 4 or 5 parts mineral oil usually. We'll see how it works out. There were already a couple of outer cracks in the sapwood and expect there will be some more, but just hoping to minimize the size of them. But yeah, slabs are usually a lot easier to dry without cracking than cookies, and I'm rarely a fan of the look of end grain, so I don't bother with cookies all that often. Usually just from already sawed up tree service dropped trees like this cypress, or the big flare at the base of a trunk that is no use to me in a slab.
Most wood turners seem to use the paper bag method Scott mentioned, but less practical with huge cookies (maybe wrap them in Home Depot paper lawn leaf bags?)

 

[Lightning Performance]

Drill out the center.

Or...
The sapwood dries so fast the loaded tension cracks them. Dry the heart first to get it all shrinking evenly.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Drill out the center.

Or...
The sapwood dries so fast the loaded tension cracks them. Dry the heart first to get it all shrinking evenly.

That actually makes pretty good sense

 

[Lightning Performance]

That actually makes pretty good sense

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while

This has got me thinking about it... almost like control joints in concrete... we always used to say, concrete is guaranteed to crack, the question is where...