Preserving a shagbark hickory cookie question

[zogger]

My girlfriend snagged up half a cookie I had the other day from a sloppy double cut I made cutting off rounds from a whopper we have down. I promised her a full nice one with a bit more care in keeping the cut straight

My question is, what is the best way to preserve it, drying then treatment suitable for a cutting board? Or is this dumb, will it just crack too much? I plan on taking the cookie right immediately after the next full size firewood round comes off, then both sides will be fresh. (pic is approximate size of the next ones off the log, the largest one there is red oak, the other three are from the hickory)

She already has two smaller cutting boards I made years ago from various hardwood scraps and butcher block gluing, they are "daily drivers" in the kitchen here, but she wants a larger one for doing bigger tasks once in awhile.

Man, I know this thing will be heavy as well, even at just two inches thick.

So, how do I deal with this right after it is cut? I've worked in woodshops that did their own milling and kiln drying, etc, from logs to make their own lumber, but that wasn't my job there so I didn't pay the required attention. The other experience I have with big heavy "cookies" is a huge dutch elm I made slab tables from, and frankly, they only cracked a tiny amount even after a long time, they got no special preservative from my end. Just cut, fabbed, delivered. Those were at least twice as big as these and cut with a crosscut. Man, that got to be a *lot* like work...but the cuts came out almost polished looking....

thanks in advance!

Bwa! I use a heavy plank as a ramp to roll them bad boys up to the block, and they are about my limit what I want to handle like that. Those four in that picture were one load toting back in my tractor box and it was heavy.

Anyway, I roll them to the lower chopping block. Then I have to knock them into sizes to fit inside the truck tire on the adjacent slightly taller block, for final processing with the fiskar's biodrive. Each round is making one really heavy overloaded wheelbarrow of firewood splits, or two more manageable loads. So each round is really pretty dang close to two day's worth of firewood for us, especially that it is hickory.

 

[SDB777]

I'd put AnchorSeal on the end grain and hope.
It works pretty good!




Scott

 

[olyman]

band the outside of the cookie,,with a steel band,,like what they band things onto pallets with--and,from what ive read,,all cutting boards..are being used with the side grain,not the end,,but that being said---make sure to seal that board with something real well..ive read more than one place--if you dont seal it right, before use--there will be germs get into the grain--

 

[zogger]

band the outside of the cookie,,with a steel band,,like what they band things onto pallets with--and,from what ive read,,all cutting boards..are being used with the side grain,not the end,,but that being said---make sure to seal that board with something real well..ive read more than one place--if you dont seal it right, before use--there will be germs get into the grain--

ya, doing it with a cookie with the grain running wrong is proly a bad idea. I think I will just do some freehand cuts off one of those big chunks and cut a slab with the grain. I've done home made sealer before just with hot/warmed up wood glue, stir in some real hot water, and painted it on.

Got plenty of that wood, so I can experiment some.

 

[zogger]

I'd put AnchorSeal on the end grain and hope.
It works pretty good!




Scott

Thanks, never used it but I'll check it out!

 

[discounthunter]

paint both sides with latex paint,put at least one if not more ratchet straps around it,you'll have to periodically tighten them.

 

[BobL]

None of those methods are likely to work on cookies thinner than about 4" thick.

If you want "one" to survive then I would cut 10 or maybe 20 and place them under water for at least 12 but preferably 24 months. If you don't have a big enough container dig a hole in the ground and line the hole with plastic and embedded the cookies in at least a 6" layer of wet sawdust for the same period of time and make sure you keep the sawdust wet (not just damp). This process exchanges some sap for water and in doing so shrinks the wood cell wall in a much slower way than any form of air drying

Then they need to be air dried slowly in a humid environment. All this has a high risk of fungal attack but that's the way it is.

 

[betterbuilt]

Then they need to be air dried slowly in a humid environment. All this has a high risk of fungal attack but that's the way it is.

:agree2:

 

[zogger]

Well, I cut my first slab instead!

Freehand, gonna need some serious planing and then sanding, but came out good enough to please ye aulde laydee here. First I determined my best cut missing some center rot. Laid out two guide lines for a three inch slab with a magic marker. Chose from my selection of debarkerizer tools I had handy, the mechanic's pickle fork worked by far the best. Then, had at it!

Man, it do not cut good like cross cutting, just using the stock safety chain that came with the saw. I see why you need powerful saws and the appropriate chain to do this a lot. It was a little longer than my 20" bar so had to cut from both sides, meaning the cuts are a little raggy

Got a slab, turned it 90 to trim it a little, got some nice noodles then. Straight down though it was more dust, and this was a sharp chain.

Brought it in and used woodglue mixed with a little hot water and painted the open edges with it. Might do another coat tomorrow with straight glue, I see where some cracks had started.

Now what? How long does it have to sit before I can start working it down to an even thickness and smoothness? Of course this means I have to go haunt pawnshops and craigslist looking for a plane now, my older one is missing pieces and defunct. Still have a good functional belt sander though.

 

[mtngun]

We misunderstood your original question. What you cut is not a cookie, it's just a flat sawn slab. Treat it like any other board. Let it dry for a couple of years.

 

[zogger]

I just changed my mind

We misunderstood your original question. What you cut is not a cookie, it's just a flat sawn slab. Treat it like any other board. Let it dry for a couple of years.

I was going to cut a cookie when next I went down to cut on the log some more, but reading the replies and seeing that this was impractical for the intended purpose, I then decided to try and freehand mill a slab from one of the rounds here, and did so this morning. It's technically my first slab/board.

 

[olyman]

zog,,your going to have to band that to another thicker board with stickers[spacers]... as it drys-- or it COULD,, or will,, warp wayyyy out of shape--

 

[SDB777]

I was going to cut a cookie when next I went down to cut on the log some more, but reading the replies and seeing that this was impractical for the intended purpose, I then decided to try and freehand mill a slab from one of the rounds here, and did so this morning. It's technically my first slab/board.

I cut cookies all the time....mostly for pen, bowl, or bottlestopper blanks. And to tell you the truth, I've never needed to dig holes, soak in water for two years, or strap ratchets around them. Just Anchorseal the end grain, allow them to dry for a short period and then whack 'em into useable pieces.



Scott

 

[zogger]

Yes, I was going to experiment some more

I cut cookies all the time....mostly for pen, bowl, or bottlestopper blanks. And to tell you the truth, I've never needed to dig holes, soak in water for two years, or strap ratchets around them. Just Anchorseal the end grain, allow them to dry for a short period and then whack 'em into useable pieces.



Scott

Sounds like a plan there. I think I am going to cut some cookies off some more logs, thin ones, just go ahead and let them dry fast being thin with so much end grain being exposed, then butcher block them back together and cut to what I want then. Glue and home made putty made from the same wood sawdust should work for any crackage encountered.

I have some experience building passive thermosiphon solar heaters,(and other sorts of solar projects, big hobby and interest of mine since the 60s), so I designed in my head last night a self air moving solar heater kiln I know I can build from scrap stuff I have kicking around. I like the idea of no fans and still speeding up the process. Then there's the attic in the summer here on this tin roof cabin, it gets reasonable warm up there. That would need a fan though, need one anyway soon as we lost some shade and was going to finish it this year and add an attic fan anyway.

I was reading last night about vertical stacking as opposed to horizontal with stickers separating the pieces. I can do smaller pieces like that with ropes, make a little suspension assembly there and hang it from a nail.

 

[zogger]

Well see how it goes

zog,,your going to have to band that to another thicker board with stickers[spacers]... as it drys-- or it COULD,, or will,, warp wayyyy out of shape--

I got wood a-plenty here to try out different techniques on. I definitely want some actual milling chain though. Been keeping an eye out for an acceptable larger dedicated saw just for milling. Found a couple old timey 70 something CCs locally to me, but proly wait for something larger. I got enough saw rebuilding projects as it is right now.

Started on a 2000 poulan last night, right off the bat after I air blasted off the outside then started taking it apart I noticed severe lack of fuel line..that might have something to do with it "not running".

 

[discounthunter]

go to your local box store or lowes or hd,and get some miss-mixed latex paint to seal with. a quick drying time frame is 1" per year. so a two inch thick piece will take 2 years and so on. also cutiing short pieces like that as stated will curl and or crack in half while drying.

your off to a good start though,keep it up.

btw where in n.georgia you at,it sure id pretty up there.

 

[zogger]

go to your local box store or lowes or hd,and get some miss-mixed latex paint to seal with. a quick drying time frame is 1" per year. so a two inch thick piece will take 2 years and so on. also cutiing short pieces like that as stated will curl and or crack in half while drying.

your off to a good start though,keep it up.

btw where in n.georgia you at,it sure id pretty up there.

Ya, pretty. The mountains are real nice, just spendy to live there.

I used to live in ellijay way outta town down multiple dirt roads, I liked that, and for a short time outside helen in the mountains, but now more down in just hill country in NW area, around dalton/calhoun. Still good enough rural and the farm we are on got it all, woods, pastures, big private ponds that are well stocked, streams, etc.

 

[Hillbilly3995]

Zogger, if you can and have the time cut ya a fresh cookie and bury it in sand in a dry corner of the barn or somewhere similar, leave it as long as you can without disturbing it to "check" on it. 5 years sounds about right for a two inch disk...

oh and you aint far from here...Calhoun is about an hour.

 

[zogger]

Zogger, if you can and have the time cut ya a fresh cookie and bury it in sand in a dry corner of the barn or somewhere similar, leave it as long as you can without disturbing it to "check" on it. 5 years sounds about right for a two inch disk...

oh and you aint far from here...Calhoun is about an hour.

OK, I'll try one like that for grins..buried treasure! heheh time machine... I'll stack some stuff on it. All I got fir dirt though is real hard packed clay in the barn. I know it is hard packed because I ran the roller vibrator whomper thing (hi tech lingo there..what the heck you call those pieces of equipment again?? I have a brane lock on it for some reason) all weekend, back and forth and back and forth, before the barn was built on top of it. Boss just kept bring me more loads of clay with the dump truck for one day, I packed them down, then spent another day packing it down even more. He rented that thing. I'd call it a steam roller but it ran with diesel, it was big.

I was glad to be done with that chore, but it is like rock in there now. Maybe I'll pick a different spot where it ain't so hard, chicken coop maybe...it's real dry under the shavings level, dug down there once to check on some metal I hit with my metal detector..more ancient farm junk. Rusty nails and old steel beer cans and chunks of long ago busted and discarded mechanized whatevers. I have yet to find anything cool with that device, few old pennies and not even wheaties, that's it. Although it is useful to help not hit barbed wire in fence line clearing.

 

[Hillbilly3995]

OK, I'll try one like that for grins..buried treasure! heheh time machine... I'll stack some stuff on it. All I got fir dirt though is real hard packed clay in the barn. I know it is hard packed because I ran the roller vibrator whomper thing (hi tech lingo there..what the heck you call those pieces of equipment again?? I have a brane lock on it for some reason) all weekend, back and forth and back and forth, before the barn was built on top of it. Boss just kept bring me more loads of clay with the dump truck for one day, I packed them down, then spent another day packing it down even more. He rented that thing. I'd call it a steam roller but it ran with diesel, it was big.

I was glad to be done with that chore, but it is like rock in there now. Maybe I'll pick a different spot where it ain't so hard, chicken coop maybe...it's real dry under the shavings level, dug down there once to check on some metal I hit with my metal detector..more ancient farm junk. Rusty nails and old steel beer cans and chunks of long ago busted and discarded mechanized whatevers. I have yet to find anything cool with that device, few old pennies and not even wheaties, that's it. Although it is useful to help not hit barbed wire in fence line clearing.

i dont know if clay will work but its worth a try.