Tupelo Sealed and Waxed

[watereerat]

Since my husband is a woodturner, he's accumulated a lot of different woods over the years but all are "waxed and sealed." He has a nice block of Tupelo I want to confiscate, but don't know how to remove the wax, and if removing the wax will make the wood dry too quickly and split? The tag on this block (6x6x12) says moisture content is 18%.

Most of his other pieces are smaller hardwoods but are also waxed and sealed. If the Tupelo is so large that removing the wax will damage it, what about smaller pieces, say 2x2 or 3x3 sizes?

Advice please.

THANKS!

[brent]

Ok, the first thing is, how old is it. or how long has hed had it?
Second, Can you tell if it has a pith or center ring in it?
Now, in there appears to be NO center pith, you would probably be ok, provided the wood has been around awahile. Also, are you in a very humid climate? If so, wait until winter or at least cooler weather. Wood usually takes on average 1 inch per year to get down to about 10-12-15% MC. 12% is uaually average. You can take the wax off and place the block in a plastic bag with apple peels after each session with it if you want to be sure. You can carve the piece from the sides and leave a thin layer of wax on the ends to allow more moisture to escape a little faster. a good many variables can factor in to this. I took a lignum vitae mallet and started scraping the wax until I found out that I was making a mistake. The only assect on it was for the handle to cant or lean a bit but not enough to really cause concern. Sometimes it actually seems to help....ergo nomically....or whatever!!!!
I don't feel that the block will distort much if any, the biggest problem will be checks but I also don't think that they will be to much of a problem either. VAriables, variables .... vartiables.Sorry for the rant, hope this is of some help.

Good luck!!

[watereerat]

Hi Brent,

Rant? What rant? I really appreciate you taking time to offer all your thoughts and suggestions.

Hubby has had the wood for about six weeks, purchased from a guy in NC. SC, where I live, INVENTED humidity! My husband's wood storage area is in our metal-building garage, and we've been in the 100s+ since June with humidity at around 90% most of the time (I keep pushing to move to a cooler climate). It's a wonder the wax hasn't melted off the wood in the garage-temps have to have been around 125 in there on sunny days!

Definitely will wait until fall before attempting to do anything at all with this piece--October is usually a dry month for us, unless a hurricane decides to visit our coastline. I like the idea of leaving the wax on the ends as long as possible. I checked online for "drying wood in your oven" articles but don't feel I can trust the info, especially since the wax would need to melt off before the wood could begin to dry. From experience, I know wax will burn.

I checked another question from a member from some time back about carving green wood and it seems everyone was on the same page with that..."don't bother." I just hate to see a nice piece of tupelo get chucked into the lathe when it may have good carving potential! I think I'll hide this wood under the bed for now.

Thanks again for the reply!

[Robert Cahill]

I have a lot of senior moments but would certainly miss a 6x6x12 piece of tupelo even if it was mixed in with my other woods. If my wife were to hide it under the bed that would be great because I would definately find it there..Think you need to be more creative as to where you hide it.
The above was said jokingly

[watereerat]

My husband never looks under the bed--he's afraid of giant dust bunnies!

[Mike L Hasler]

I've carved in the upper part of a tupelo tree, nice hard wood, but the guy I got the wood from also gave me a quarter section of the base of the tree. It weighed about the same as balsa wood but sucked up water like a sponge. That is the wood decoy carvers use for their ducks. Don't know which you have, but the wax should peel off if chilled. Good luck

[watereerat]

Thought I'd post "the rest of the story" about this large piece of Tupelo that had been waxed and sealed. After reading a LOT of articles on the web, I decided to put this piece of wood in my oven and sort of kiln-dry it. I set the oven on its lowest temp which was 170 degrees, let it preheat, then put the block of wood on a cooling rack over a foil-lined cookie pan and placed it on the middle rack of the oven. I let it sit in the oven for about 8 hours, checking it every couple of hours.

When I considered it "done," I turned off the oven and left the wood in it overnight to cool.

No splits, no checks (so far), and the wax is gone from the sides but some still clings to the ends where the wood is porous, of course. I consider that a good thing at this point.

So now, if I were just good enough at carving to actually carve something from this big block of Tupelo, I'd be in great shape. Perhaps in another year or so. . .

Thanks to everyone who offered help with this issue. Y'all are wonderful!

[susieq]

Hi Waterrat,
I am going to assume that you will be "power carving" the tupelo? It doesn't lend it self to traditional gouge carving that well....at least the wood from the lower part of the tree where most carvers prefer to get it from.

It may be that the guy your husband purchased it from was with the "Cape Fear" outfit. They specialize in selling tupelo and if he bought it from them, it's dried and ready to go. If it was marked 18%, that is the moisture content of the wood and after your little "baking adventure" the moisture content of the wood is probably lower than that now. It should be fine to start carving at this point. Have fun. Tupelo is wonderful carving wood....for power carving.

[watereerat]

Hi Susie Q!

I do plan to power carve the Tupelo when I get over my "fear of perfect wood" and feel it's okay to mess up such a nice piece! I've got a lot of practicing to do first but so far, no checks or cracks have developed in this chunk of wood. YAY!

I moved to the "dark side" (power carving) after major shoulder surgery last summer, but I refuse to relinquish my Pfeil tools in hopes I'll be able to put them to good use again in another few months. That's IF the arthritis in my thumbs doesn't worsen.

This getting old is a challenge!

BTW, I still have not worked up the courage to use the bandsaw. It's a 14" monster machine that--in my opinion--is the biggest waste of money in our entire woodshop. Hubby mainly uses it to resaw wood, and it's great for that. It does straight lines fine but the finesse required for carving blanks is still beyond the two of us.

[susieq]

LOL.....I went to the dark side gradually when I saw the extreme detail I could do with power....but like you, I have not given up my gouges. I still use them quite a bit on basswood. I do have arthritis in my hands now and am glad I learned power.

Sorry to hear that you still don't use the bandsaw..... Not being in a hurry is the best way to use it. On sharp curved areas of the pattern, I come in from the side, up to the pattern line and back out....several times in a single curve.
Then, when you are following the line and make the curve, the pieces just fall away and you don't get stuck trying to back out of a curve to try again... A healthy dose of fear/respect is needed so as to keep all your fingers, but I hope you get up the courage to work with it on your own..... One thing that helps keep from "drifting" off the pattern, is to keep the upper blade guides only high enough for the wood to pass through without hitting them.