Anchorsealing end grain, or "ends" ?

[Phil Landwer]

Assume I'm working with green, fresh wood.

When I cut pen blanks, or duck call blanks from a piece of wood, such that the grain runs the length of the blank, I dip the ends of the blank in Anchorseal, to slow drying, and prevent checking.

If I cut my blanks, such that the end grade is on the sides of my blank, rather than the ends, do I need to dip the ends in Anchorseal? Instead, should I dip the two sides that are end-grain?

 

[john lucas]

I don' t turn pens, or at least not very many. When I need to save very special pieces of wood I coat all then end grain areas. Anchorseal doesn't totally seal the wood the way wax does. You could coat the whole blank and it will eventually dry anyway. It will just take a lot longer. You can weigh it. When it stops losing weight it will be dry.

 

[Phil Landwer]

My question is actually for duck call blanks, which are larger, but the gist of the question is the same.

My desire is to seal it properly such that it won't check, but yet allow it to dry as quickly as possible.

 

[Odie]

My question is actually for duck call blanks, which are larger, but the gist of the question is the same.

My desire is to seal it properly such that it won't check, but yet allow it to dry as quickly as possible.

Sealing the wood to reduce warping/eliminate checking, and drying as quickly as possible are opposing objectives! For the best results, slow drying is the key to success.....but, waiting for drying wood is what bugs many turners, up until the point he (she) accumulates a "working inventory" of wood for future projects.

For your purposes, you can probably seal the end grain and leave the long grain bare. Wood prepared for spindle turning is more forgiving to the effects of seasoning than thick stock used for bowls......which is what I mainly do. Note that not all species of wood dry at the same rate, or are equally subject to warping and cracking.

ooc

 

[Joe Greiner]

Water and sap enter and exit via capillary tubes in the wood, aka "end grain." The AnchorSeal retards the coming and going to allow more even drying. So end grain is the proper target, wherever it's located, including the sides. On long grain blanks with knots on the sides, the knots are also end grain and they benefit from treatment too.

The dry tubes are what makes wood float; sawdust eventually sinks.

 

[MichaelMouse]

If I cut my blanks, such that the end grade is on the sides of my blank, rather than the ends, do I need to dip the ends in Anchorseal? Instead, should I dip the two sides that are end-grain?

You'll have a fragile final product. With a pen you will be able to reinforce with the tube, but for a call, a twist will likely separate the wood. It can even be a problem to turn with conventional presentations.

The purpose of sealing is to somewhat equalize the rate of loss as wood cures. Wet comes out through the vascular structure ~10 times faster than it can wend its way out through face grain, or ~15 times faster than through quarter. Don't bother to seal a 1x1 or 1.5x1.5 cutoff, just make sure it has open access from both endgrain faces. It's going to dry pretty fast, and it's under no extra stress caused by shape as in a bowl-turned piece, nor will the middle of the long grain lag the two faces by enough to do damage. It's difference that destroys.

Don't expect to use pieces where the annual rings are tightly curved- near the heart. They will distort the final cured piece quite a bit, and might even pull open at the heart. If you look at this diagram, you can see what to avoid. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/LogEnd.jpg other danger is use of wood with strong ray figure. Little stress from tighter curved annuals might split it along the plane of weakness created by the rays.

 

[john lucas]

Phil You might consider microwaving. The same is true for pen blanks. It will take some experimenting with times and temps but it works. I dry box blanks every now and then. In a sort of very simplistic nutshell, wood checks because as it drys is shrinks. The outside drys first and shrinks and the inside is still wet and large, something has to give.
Wood loses moisture fastest throught the endgrain which is why sealing the endgrain helps, but is not a cure all. Slowing down the drying time by sealing the ends, keeping air movement to a minumum and of course keeping it out of the sun all help.
Microwaving heats the wood from the middle out. consequently if done properly the wood is dryed fairly even so it all shrinks at once, thus in theory, preventing checking. However, dry it too fast and too hot and the inside checks.
I've had good luck using the microwave by starting slow and building. I start with a 30 second burst at full power and then feel the wood. It should feel quite warm, not real hot. In other words you don't want it anywhere near too hot to pick up but much hotter than what we call warm, thus the term quite warm (pretty darn exact ain't it). Well that's the best description I can give. Anyway, I let it cool 5 or 10 minutes on something as large as a box blank. Then I repeat but may increase the power if the wood doesn't feel hot enough. It varies a lot with species and size of the wood. I rarely get over a minute but if it's a species I've used with success I might shorten the cooling time. What I usually do is much less structured. I plop it in the microwave and pull it out and go do something else. Next time I'm in the vacinity I hit it again. It used to take all day to dry a piece but now I have a microwave in the shop so it goes a lot faster.
I would think pen blanks and duck calls would go a lot faster. Get some scales and weight it. When it stops losing weight it's dry but it's too dry. Let is sit for a while or in my case since box lids really need to fit well I let them sit for a day to pick up moisture from the shop and equalize.

 

[hockenbery]

If you microwave the duck call blanks they will go a bit faster if you drill them first wiTh an under sized hole.
I have done the microwave dry to make hollow ball Christmas ornaments. When people give me a nice tree in November, I can gift them an ornament the first week in December.

I turn a three inch ball on one inch tenon attached to a chuck mount tenon that is at least a half inch oversize.
I drill a half inch hole all the way through.
I have never wanted to microwave anchor seal. So when the piece gets warm I rub the end grain with a little bees wax.

I would generally avoid the long grain running perpendicular to the long axis. Some wood like walnut are quite prone to splitting along the grain lines. The bigger issue is you show the end grain on two sides of the piece. This is generally the ugly side of the wood.
In woods with strong grain lines like china berry or ash cutting the blank with the long grain running at forty-five degrees off axis can make a great pattern.

Have fun
Al