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Storing green wood in water

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After watching Bruce Campbell's demo on Managing Green Wood I want to try water. Just happened to find a barrel on FB yesterday. Now for the question, 1. How long can wood be kept in the barrel?
2. How often does the water need to be changed or can it be treated?
3. Does the wood need to be air dried before placing on lathe?
 
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I used a barrel of water a couple years ago for temp storage of apple that blew over in a June thunderstorm. Probably stored the apple around two weeks while I was working through it cutting blanks and roughing out pieces.

Don't know about treating the water. But in mid summer temps it starts getting pretty rank smelling in a couple of days. I just tipped the barrel over to dump it, stood it back up and refilled every 2-3days.

Didn't dry anything before putting it on lathe or bandsaw, other than letting it drip dry so no free water was on surface.

Noticed no differences at all between wood that was soaked and that which was processed fresh off the downed tree.
 
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I use this technique to store blanks all the time with great success. I bandsaw the green wood into blanks and plop them into 55 gal barrels filled with water and then I squirt some dishwashing liquid (just a cup or two) into the water to cut down on the crud. It is the best way that I have found to cut down on cracks when you have a bunch of wood that you just can't get to right away. I've stored blanks this way for about a year and found them to be just fine to turn. I just pull it out of the water and go to work...don't dry it off or anything else as prep. I do this to stop cracking in what I consider valuable wood and I don't particularly care if it stinks or gets a little slime on top of the storage water. It works.
 
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I did email Bruce and I do not think he will mind me posting the answers here:


1) The short answer is a long time - years, if you take care of it. There are oak logs being recovered from 200 ft down in the Great Lakes that have been there for 150 years and are still quite usable. But, at 200 ft it is cold and there is little oxygen making it perfect for preservation. But if you keep the water clear of bacteria and bugs you can certainly get months and even years of storage from a barrel in your back yard.

However, if your barrel is steel then you need to consider rust but only for wood with high amounts of tannin - like oak. The rust will "ebonize" the tannin turning the wood black. If that is what you want it is great but if not then you have two choices - paint the inside of the barrel very well or get a plastic barrel.

2) The very best situation is if the water is kept "fresh" all the time but that is not practical unless you have a creek nearby. The "nose test" is probably your best indication. If it smells a little "off" change it. If you don't want to change it regularly (any yes that can be a pain) then a cup of household bleach every 10 days or so. It will keep organic growth down and kill any insect larva - mainly mosquitoes and you need not worry about discolouring the wood with the bleach.

3) Now this question has me a little confused. Storing billets in water is usually done before you rough them out. You certainly can store roughed out bowls this way but I don't see any advantage unless you are not able to treat them right way before starting the drying process.

The billets will waterlog pretty quickly. That is, they will reach their CSP (complete saturation point) so they have as much water in them as they can hold. You could rough turn them at this point but you and your shop will get pretty heavily "showered". I would suggest letting them sit in a cool, dry place for a 5-10 days before rough turning them - especially if you can figure out how to stand them in the direction they grew. This can be hard but if you can at least sit them with the grain running up and down then gravity will actually pull a lot of water out for you. But, like all green wood, there still is a lot of spray as you turn.

I hope this help and do let me know if you have other questions. I also give this demo remotely via ZOOM. If your club would like that do let me know and we can schedule a time.

Happy Turning
Bruce
 
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I use this technique to store blanks all the time with great success. I bandsaw the green wood into blanks and plop them into 55 gal barrels filled with water and then I squirt some dishwashing liquid (just a cup or two) into the water to cut down on the crud. It is the best way that I have found to cut down on cracks when you have a bunch of wood that you just can't get to right away. I've stored blanks this way for about a year and found them to be just fine to turn. I just pull it out of the water and go to work...don't dry it off or anything else as prep. I do this to stop cracking in what I consider valuable wood and I don't particularly care if it stinks or gets a little slime on top of the storage water. It works.
Clarification: Just to be clear, if I have time I bandsaw the green wood into blanks and put them into the water or, more than likely, I go straight from the chainsaw into the water. You will be surprised how many chunks of wood you can fit into a 55 gal barrel. Also, I use plastic barrels (not steel) for storage outside and I don't care if the water gets skunky. Another benefit to this storage technique is that it stops the bug and mold action.
 

Randy Anderson

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I've considered trying this and will start looking for some old plastic barrels. I often walk out to my log storage area and "shop" for what strikes me to turn that day. If you have a barrel of logs in water I assume you just take what's on top and go. Likely not going to take them all out, look for one that you want, then put them back in. If you mix species then some sort of notebook and inventory chart would be handy. I would certainly forget what's in the bottom of the barrel.
 
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Well, my area has lots of mill ponds. We have lots of water, and summer is very dry. At least, the logs have sprinklers set up on them to prevent cracking. If I was going to store logs, I would want to have fresh running water on the logs.

Not positive, but I think that with long term soaking, the 'bound' water is changed at the cellular level. The log is still saturated, but the cell walls rupture, or at least that barrier is gone. The wood can still crack and split when drying, but I think there is less movement/warpage as it dries.

robo hippy
 
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If you are looking for plastic barrels of any size look on Facebook Marketplace. You will find 55 gallon from 10 to 30 and even some with removable tops. Warning some may have had caustic materials in them and need a good cleaning. Got mine with top removed for 20.
 
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I got mine for my sanding hood locally at a place that makes honey products. White food grade. Bottling companies also have them.

robo hippy
 
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A popular local turner in my area puts some dawn dish soap in his barrels of water & wood but I can't remember the amount per gallon. Anyone else do something like this?
 
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