Green wood - curing

[rickm]

I see several posts regarding folks who carve from green wood from a apple tree or something, I am wondering how long you let the wood cure before carving? I have always heard a inch a year for fireplace wood, and have never tried carving green wood. thanks/

[Donsexton]

I carve mostly green wood and so can you or anyone else. I allow it to just start to dry makes removing bark easier and shows me where the main cracks will be. If you want to apply just a clear finish over bare wood the surface will need to be dry. Logs will crack no matter what you do but the cracking can be minimized.

[JRWilliams056]

I've heard that you must let the wood dry for six months before carving on it? Is this true? Also, if you carve green wood and it cracks or splits what is the best way to fix it, or should I just throw the piece away?

[John_C]

I have a lot of wood that sits for a while I usually seal the cut ends with Anchorseal this is like a waxed waterproof seal it prevents the ends from cracking.
made by US Coatings
Anchorseal 2 Hybrid End Sealer - UC Coatings

[Ursinos]

I've just been using regular old candle wax. melt it onto the ends and then use a lighter to help spread it around. It's worked on all but one of my carvings so far, and I think that one had issues because I left it out in direct sunlight (or I didn't give it a good enough dose of wax.

[naomilawson12]

Single most important thing you can do is to seal the ends of logs with wax emulsion type of sealer like end coat that US coatings , or Baileys sells. Will save a foot of wood at each end. If you are carving, there is a product called PEG, that you dip the partially carved blanks in, it replaces the water in the wood with itself, Woodcraft, others sell it. If you are talking about insects, the best treatment is to get the wood to about 150 degrees for 4-6 hours to kill bugs. I suggest you go over to Woodweb, and do a search on this topic, its about half of what they talk about over there.

[Claude]

Here's the info about PEG
http://owic.oregonstate.edu/pubs/peg.pdf
Claude

[Don Schneider]

If you have a large enough chunk of whatever wood...cut the heart out (if at all possible) and dip ends and brush newly exposed surfaces with anchorseal or any heavy latex based product that will dry fast. Some turners/carvers swear by the product called Keraply used in "thin set" mortar mix for laying ceramic tile. There are as many methods as there are craftsmen/women working with wood. Experiment for yourself and see what works best. If you have a chain saw and the energy, cut out the heartwood 1st and cure blocks separately . Heart and sap wood loose moisture to the air at different rates the "additives" and "heartless" work helps minimize checking .

[Woody1961]

Originally Posted by Ursinos

I've just been using regular old candle wax. melt it onto the ends and then use a lighter to help spread it around. It's worked on all but one of my carvings so far, and I think that one had issues because I left it out in direct sunlight (or I didn't give it a good enough dose of wax.

I also use paraffin (candle wax). What I like to do is get a metal coffee can and melt some paraffin (you can find this in the canning area or household part of most any grocery store and it is dirt cheap - like $1.50 a pound) and then I have a 'special' brush that is just an old cheap brush and once the wax is melted, I take it out to where I am cutting the wood and coat the ENDS ONLY. The reason for doing only the ends is that if you coat the whole block of wood, then NONE of it will dry. The goal is to decrease the release of water through the end grain (comes out most quickly from here), and allow the release from the rest. I have gotten blocks of wood that the guy at WoodCraft said had been in the store for a year or more, and when I stripped the wax off to turn it, the wood had water coming out of it on the lathe.