New cut Wood

[tm5825]

How long do you wait on using the wood out of a tree that has just been cut down say about 1 month be for you can use it for carving ? Say cottonwood.
Tony

[Eddy-Smiles]

Tony... I'm not familiar with Cottonwood but it would probably depend on the diameter of the wood and if it's sawed up. If left intact large logs would most likely need at least a year. Walking stick material under 2" in diameter perhaps a month or more. Sawed wood, where more area is exposed might cure out faster...six months or so. It also depends where you stack it and how it's stacked.

[PaPa Smurf]

down here on the gulf..it would not take long

[Donsexton]

Woodcarvers spend too much time fretting over curing green wood most of the wood I carve is fresh cut green and wet just carve it.

[Robert Cahill]

I found a downed cottonwood tree that looked like it had been down for quite a while. Most of the main tree had large splits in it so I cut a branch about 4 inch in diameter and a month or so later carved a couple of pieces and after painting they both had minor spitsl. The carving were suppose to be folk art so I just figured it added to it.

[davidinsarasota]

I seal the ends with wax and wait a year or so.

[Claude]

The general rule of thumb is to let the wood dry one year for each inch of thickness. There is an opposing view that says to carve it green and wet quickly, then let it dry. Quite a few wood turners will rough turn a bowl, say, until it has about 1 inch thick sides, then put it in a bag with the wet shavings for a while to allow it dry slowly. Some hurry the process by putting the cut wet wood in a black trash bag, sealing it, and putting it in the sun. Every day they take it out of the bag, turn the bag inside out to get rid of the moisture inside the bag, and put the wood back in. After a month or so, it's pretty well dried out. Still others will carefully microwave the piece of wood for a minute or so, take it out and let it cool, then repeat...several times. This is best done when the person who does the cooking in the house is absent. Safety note: do not walk away from MW when doing this. Do not do more than one minute at a time. Wood will burn in a microwave and melt the inside, and that's probably difficult to hide from the cooking person... When doing this, it's best to have an accurate scale and weigh the wood at the start, and then record the weight again each time it's taken out of the MW or the plastic bag. When the weight stablilizes and doesn't change, the wood's "dry".

You can build your own kiln to dry wood also...just Google "home made kiln" or "wood drying kiln" or similar. Everything from a closed cupboard with a small fan, to elaborate buildings you can drive a forklift into.

Claude

[tm5825]

Gentleman
Thank you all very much I mite try to build a kiln to dry it. I did try a piece of the green cottonwood , I cut a 1 1/2 piece off of a 14" log but it split all in the middle. The information is great here. Thank you all very much. Tony

[Eddy-Smiles]

Claude...

If you live down here in sunny Florida all you have to do is put it out back in your alluminum shed. It'll cook it in a heart beat! Ha! Ha!

[sashadoc]

Originally Posted by Donsexton

Woodcarvers spend too much time fretting over curing green wood most of the wood I carve is fresh cut green and wet just carve it.

Ditto. I don't know about logs but for my canes and sticks I leave about 5 inches on each end and carve while it's easy to carve. If there is any checking after I'm done I just cut off the ends to length.
Tim