Sealing endgrain

[Sawyer Rob]

Where did anyone talk about hardwood vs softwood?

After you goop roofing tar, old paint, etc you still have to cut a cookie off each end right? At least I'm assuming most on here are just using a chainsaw to cut lumber vs a band or blade sawmill.

Where did anyone say this was ONLY about softwood???

I use Anchorseal, and with it, you can saw right through it, no problem at all...

SR

 

[Pauls_Workshop]

Shawn, thanks, some really great information in your post. As I learn more milling, I'm finding some slabs just want to check and crack due to tension regardless of what I do. Some of my English Walnut I'm doing the last year really wants to check. Some with Anchorseal, some with paint, some with primer, nothing really great. I've also had real bad luck with fruit trees like Plum and Apple I'm drying. Now some Maple, doesn't seem to want to check no matter what. Easy. I may start trying 2-3 coats of paint. Anyone know though if primer is useful at all over just paint? Oil base primer sucks in quite a way into the wood. I'm wondering if this would help resist the checking, combined with paint coats on top of it? - Paul

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

Where did anyone say this was ONLY about softwood???

I use Anchorseal, and with it, you can saw right through it, no problem at all...

SR

We cut soft and hardwood. While it may not be super expensive rare wood, I doubt most on here are milling that either.

 

[IyaMan]

Is there any difference in wood checking if milled quarter-sawn?

 

[Shawn Curry]

Yes, quarter sawn is much less likely to check. (Unless it contains the heart, but then you can't really call it 'quartered')

As the board dries out, it shrinks (in width, not length). When that shrinkage does not happen in a consistent way throughout the board is when you have checking.

 

[Mad Professor]

Anchorseal is the stuff to get, paint may make YOU feel good, but it's a POOR replacement for real end sealer.

Wax is good too, just harder to use...

End seal your logs ASAP and then cut right through it when you mill the logs... That way the boards are already sealed...

SR

What he said

 

[Mad Professor]

Sawing immediately to remove tension is the key for me. I use a knockoff product from my local specialty woodworking store that has very similar properties to anchorseal (Rockler green lumber end sealer). I thought it would help prevent checking in some logs I wasn't able to saw right away. It may well have reduced or slowed it down, but the internal tension was still there and they checked anyway.

I have some other lumber that was sawn right after bucking the logs, and from there was immediately stored in my garage. I never sealed it and it hasn't checked. It was also very straight and clear and the heart was sawn thru 2 ways. Nowadays I save it for the pieces that I know contain tension like crotch slabs.

Also note, products like Anchorseal and the knockoff that I use dry almost clear. This is important for me so I can see the center of the log and the orientation of the growth rings. I would not use paint for this reason.

Also note that hard and softwoods differ location of stress. Softwoods have compression wood (downhill side/lean) and hardwoods have tension wood (uphill side/lean)

 

[Sawyer Rob]

We cut soft and hardwood. While it may not be super expensive rare wood, I doubt most on here are milling that either.

You don't have to read on this site very long to read about guys milling oak, maple, walnut and other hardwoods and lot's of it, they are valued tree's... ALL of which dry out (end check) differently than the softwood that Alaska is full of...or even the softwoods in the lower 48.

Even the birch in Alaska end checks differently from the spruce... I've sawn and used quite a bit of it up there...

And then there's the climate differences between the lower 48 and Alaska too, that also affects end checking greatly.

SR

 

[Mad Professor]

For hardwoods we always stack and sticker in the shade with a top cover to keep rain off.

 

[Pauls_Workshop]

For hardwoods we always stack and sticker in the shade with a top cover to keep rain off.

One more question for you guys: Who has tried other ways to stack and dry the wood? Anyone try setting the slabs vertical and not horizontal? I've heard this can work but have not tried it. Also, what about horizontal but on its side rather than flat, like dominoes but on their long side instead of their short side when put in a "domino" row? The reason I ask is that stiffness is proportional to height cubed. So, as the wood is drying, on end or side vertical vs flat would be much less likely to bend in the vertical direction due to much higher stiffness in that direction. Anyone tried such things? - Paul

 

[BobL]

Once dry I store some vertically.

 

[Mad Professor]

One more question for you guys: Who has tried other ways to stack and dry the wood? Anyone try setting the slabs vertical and not horizontal? I've heard this can work but have not tried it. Also, what about horizontal but on its side rather than flat, like dominoes but on their long side instead of their short side when put in a "domino" row? The reason I ask is that stiffness is proportional to height cubed. So, as the wood is drying, on end or side vertical vs flat would be much less likely to bend in the vertical direction due to much higher stiffness in that direction. Anyone tried such things? - Paul

I always stack horizontal and put some large pieces on top to keep things from twisting. When I worked at a mill we had banders and all the stacks got banded for the same reason.

 

[Iron.and.bark]

What minimum quantity amounts can you but. When I looked into getting some I had to get a 200L drum plus freight from the east which made it very expensive.

20l drum was last perchase. Will confirm for you if you like?

 

[BobL]

20l drum was last perchase. Will confirm for you if you like?

Yes please.

 

[KiwiBro]

I use PVa Glue or normal white carpenters glue and brush it on nice and thick. It does the job for me.

I'm surprised nobody has replied to this. I do the same and am still experimenting with different dilution (with water) rates to find the differences. I'm happy with it. Hasn't been bettered by anything else I have tried and is darn cheap.

 

[Pauls_Workshop]

I'm surprised nobody has replied to this. I do the same and am still experimenting with different dilution (with water) rates to find the differences. I'm happy with it. Hasn't been bettered by anything else I have tried and is darn cheap.

That's interesting on the glue option. But that isn't really cheap. A gallon of glue costs alot. How much can you water it down and still work? - Paul

 

[Pauls_Workshop]

I always stack horizontal and put some large pieces on top to keep things from twisting. When I worked at a mill we had banders and all the stacks got banded for the same reason.

The idea is if stacked vertically, it shouldn't want to twist or warp much at all due to gravity effects. It might still want to due to tension effects though. The reason you have to put weight on horizontal stacks is because the wood is not stiff when laid out horizontally and will bend that way without the weight. Vertically, very very stiff and doesn't need any weight on top of it. I'm going to try some of this, but I don't know how it works in practice, which is why I'm asking. - Paul

 

[KiwiBro]

I found a deal a year or so back on pva glue, 20l for $25. On stable drying wood I have gone down to a 50:50 mix with OK results. On the more temperamental woods I stick to undiluted, or just a small amount of water. Have also used red or blue food colouring so it's easier to see at a glance the ends have been sealed. Like Rob, I seal logs straight away if can and don't have to mess with individual bits after milling unless docking bits.

 

[Pauls_Workshop]

I found a deal a year or so back on pva glue, 20l for $25. On stable drying wood I have gone down to a 50:50 mix with OK results. On the more temperamental woods I stick to undiluted, or just a small amount of water. Have also used red or blue food colouring so it's easier to see at a glance the ends have been sealed. Like Rob, I seal logs straight away if can and don't have to mess with individual bits after milling unless docking bits.

thanks Kiwi, very interesting. Have you had your wood dry several years so you know the results with the glue vs. other methods? I don't think I could ever find that much glue that cheap where I'm at in the US though. - Paul

 

[KiwiBro]

[QUOTE="Pauls_Workshop, post: 5839639, member: 123080]Have you had your wood dry several years so you know the results with the glue vs. other methods? [/QUOTE] only some species, from real stable to highly tensioned, cypress to some eucalyptus. Still experimenting with other ideas too, including no sealer, no stickers, piled tight and in shade for a year before sticker in. Lots of different ways to try yet.