Seal the wood

[Gary]

I'm going to attack my log cache before the snow flies and cut turning blanks; Does the complete block of wood need to be coated with a sealer, or just the end-grain portions???


I plan to cut the logs in half thru the pith, or, if I miss the pith with the chain saw, cut out a thin slab containing the pith and give it to the neighbor for fire wood.

Then stack the halves in my shed, flat face down, with spachers between the layers so the cold winter air can circulate

 

[Ed_McDonnell]

My approach is to seal any cut surface if I'm not going to work on the piece right away. I include any area where bark has been removed even if I didn't cut that area.

Ed

 

[David Somers]

I have always been told only the end grain counts for sealing. The bulk of the moisture loss is in the end grain, and since the goal is slow, even moisture loss rather than no moisture loss that makes sense to me. I do coat branch ends as well, but those are end grain so it seems to make sense to me.

Dave

 

[Frank Kobilsek]

Gary
I am assuming you are going to take you logs, slab them out and baw saw them round so you are ready to rough them into bowls at your leisure this winter. I believe what has already been said about only end grain needs to be sealed but I coat everything round. So where the bandsaw hit it coat it. Sealer is cheap, use it!
Frank

 

[Brian Hahn]

I only seal the ends of the logs and half-logs. For longer term storage or drying, I'll usually seal the flat cut face with shellac to minimize checking on the surface and to slow down the invading bugs.

 

[DeanGThomas]

So where the bandsaw hit it coat it. Sealer is cheap, use it!

I think this is good advice. Bandsawing rounds exposes LOTS of end grain that didn't used to BE end grain!

 

[Bill Boehme]

The extra effort of messing with a chunk of wood and deciding what part needs to be coated and what part doesn't is ...... uh ...... extra effort. I get Anchorseal cheap enough (our club buys it in 55 gallon drums) that I just coat the whole thing and be done with it. The argument is that wood loses very little moisture through the side grain so coating with Anchorseal is not necessary. But, by the same rationale, if very little moisture is passing through the side grain, then coating it won't make any difference other than I am assured of not missing any end grain and I can get the job done faster. Besides, I never saw a cut that was made perfectly parallel to the side grain. When cutting blanks from wood like mesquite, it is next to impossible to cut a blank with any side parallel to the side grain because of the nature of the wood.

Bill

 

[Gary]

Besides, I never saw a cut that was made perfectly parallel to the side grain.

Obvious!!! but I never saw it ---- there is end grain everywhere; except possibly if the cuts are exactely parallel to the grain


Thank you all for the responses!

Gary