I want to make a clock, I have a walnut log that is about 12" diameter. It was cut in November 2025 after the leaves fell and I have it off the ground. Of course it's been frozen most of the time since then. My question is If I cut some cookies from it about 1 1/2" thick what would the best way to dry them and keep cracking to a minimum. Wax sealing isn't something I want to do because of finishing it later. I do have one laying on my basement concrete floor and I put a piece of wet wood on top of it and it hasn't cracked so far. I'm probably talking about 4 of these. Seems like keeping air off of it is part of the solution.
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Drying Walnut Cookies
- Thread starter Vincent Vogel
- Start date
Denatured alcohol, cardboard boxes, paper bags, wrap in dry towel and put it into a plastic bag and change the towel everyday, white glue on the end grain - both sides, surround with dry wood chips and put in a paper bag (change the chips out every couple of days, cat litter.......etc.
What works for drying wood in your environment?
What works for drying wood in your environment?
Jim McLain
Artist
Pentacryl is a great for seasoning cookies. I use it on most of my turnings but it was developed specifically for cookies.
Find someone with a vacuum kiln
Well, if the pith is still in the "cookie", then it will eventually crack, guaranteed. If you take the pith out, MUCH better chance of success!
robo hippy
robo hippy
What about boiling it before allowing it to dry?
I may end up trying that. I see the pentacryl is $80 per gallon and I don't want to buy a gallon to do a few cookies. There's a guy local that has a vacuum kiln but I've emailed, called, and Facebook messaged him and get no reply. For rough out bowls I use either the paper bags for leaves or a cardboard box and get pretty good results with that in my area. As far as removing the pith I don't think I can do that when I want to make a clock. I just have to find a pan big enough to hold them to boil them. Anyone here that does boiling have advice? I'm not going to cut the wood into cookies until I decide how to dry them.
An aluminum roasting pan that goes in the oven, of course spouse consenting. Cover with water, then foil and set it for 350. And you get to dispose of pan so no cleanup.
Basically it is impossible to dry without cracking. Walnut shrinks about 50% more tangentially than radially. The only sure solution is to substitute something else for the water. Pentacryl is one choice.
You could coat the heart crack with CA glue right after you cut it. Then dry the way you choose.
One possibility that works is to split in half before drying and then glue together. Example here with end grain bowl. Splitting in quarters may look even better and keeping it more circular.
This is similar to what Lennart suggested.
I cut these small cookies off of a small tree about 4" (100mm), spilt on the pith, than dried them and most of them dried without checking. The center near the pith had the least shrinkage and the outside ends shrank the most. The halves were straightened on a disk sander and glued back together.
I cut these small cookies off of a small tree about 4" (100mm), spilt on the pith, than dried them and most of them dried without checking. The center near the pith had the least shrinkage and the outside ends shrank the most. The halves were straightened on a disk sander and glued back together.
A lot of good ideas here, I will probably use a lot of them and see what works. If I use pentacryl can I buy a quart and just paint it on?
Just when I thought I'd seen it all. Cookies crack. Ive boiled them, sealed them, vacuum kiln dried them and 90 percent will crack because of the natural shrinkage of the wood. I even tried cutting the pith out with a fortsner bit with the idea of putting a plug back in but even those cracked. Your idea of splitting them and gluing them back is pretty inventive. The grain wouldn't be a perfect match but I can see how it would work.