sealing green wood

[Gordon Beehler]

I've been purchasing green wood blanks from various vendors.

Some seal only the end grains with wax - and others seal the entire blank.

I had thought that only the ends were sealed in order to let the moisture escape thru the unsealed sides.

Doesn't sealing the entire blank trap all the moisture.

Getting mixed responses as to why the difference.

Can anyone advise ?

Thanks

Gordon

 

[john lucas]

Gordon I discussed this with Pete Kekel of Bigmonk lumber and he said you should scrape the wax off the sides if you want it to dry. If it comes completely covered in wax treat it as green wood. I use a scraper to remove all but about an inch or so from the ends and then put these up to dry. I don't have a moisture checker so these will sit on the shelf a pretty good while. If I decide to make boxes from them I will probably rough them out and either let them dry further or microwave them and measure the weight to determine if they are dry.
I don't know what the best solution is for people who buy wood like this and don't want to wait 6 months to a year. Larger blanks can of course be roughed out and then dried but if you want a totally dry blank of 2 to 4" for boxes then you need to be patient.
I've been experimenting with saving my green wood using wax. I don't go through green logs fast enough and lose a lot of the wood. I started cutting it up into 4x4, 3x3, 2x2 etc, usually cutting around the checks that are starting. I seal the ends with paraffin wax that I melt in a used electric skillet. This has worked extremely well. I store them on the floor of my shop for a good while and then move them up to a shelf. The smaller pieces, 2x2 or so I simply put on the shelf.
Just for fun I've tried saving bowl and hollow form blanks by covering them totally with the wax. It works wonders. I've had one for over a year and it's just now starting to crack a little and this is cherry which I have always had a problem storing. These are still totally green and turn just like fresh cut so apparently the wax does seal in the moisture.
It will be good to hear what others are doing.

 

[MichaelMouse]

I've been purchasing green wood blanks from various vendors.

Some seal only the end grains with wax - and others seal the entire blank.

I had thought that only the ends were sealed in order to let the moisture escape thru the unsealed sides.

The person selling the blank is not interested in drying, but buying. So dipping the whole thing allows packing, shipping and storing a blank that won't split. If it did, who'd buy it? Add this to the unknown of sending some tropical twisted mess out to a dealer in Arizona in the summer, and it makes good sense to dip entire.

Turn Dry Turn works on anything if you do it properly, even small boxes. Since it allows you the shortest possible time from purchase to finished product, it's certainly the way to go.

 

[Wayne Spence]

The person selling the blank is not interested in drying, but buying. So dipping the whole thing allows packing, shipping and storing a blank that won't split. If it did, who'd buy it? Add this to the unknown of sending some tropical twisted mess out to a dealer in Arizona in the summer, and it makes good sense to dip entire.

Turn Dry Turn works on anything if you do it properly, even small boxes. Since it allows you the shortest possible time from purchase to finished product, it's certainly the way to go.

With tropical woods that are sealed with wax on the sides I remove that wax but keep the end grain coated. I then season the wood for as long as possible, keeping a close watch and turning the pieces in the stack until I need them. I initially turned spindles with all the wax on and had them crack before I got them off the lathe. Denver might be better than Arizona in that regard but still a dry atmorphere. You can discount this past February.

 

[MichaelMouse]

Denver. Would that be the mile-high vacuum dry city? Think vapor pressure.

 

[Wayne Spence]

MM - Yup, I have started putting lead in my coffee to keep it from evaporating so fast.

 

[Barbara Gill]

Since large blanks will not dry without degrade I always coat the end grain with 2 coats of Anchorseal and the sides with one unless I will be turning or selling quickly. If you want the wood to dry correctly and hopefully without cracks, it needs to be turned as soon as you can.

 

[odie]

The short answer is.....Yes!

Wood will continue to dry, even if all surfaces are covered with wax.

The rate of moisture loss will be slow, but the wood will still dry out.

This is easily verified if you have a scale, and can monitor the weight over a period of time.

ooc