I have just received several 'fresh' basswood rounds, and am trying to get them dried, without having them crack, or have the bark crack off. They were just cut late this fall and are still quite frozen.

Any suggestions on a sure-fire way to dry these without cracking and checking?

Al

[Colin_Partridge]

Al,
If its in the round you I dont think you will be able to stop it from cracking. I have tried many times I have used many things but when it dries out it always checks. Certainly you can slow down the checking but it is my experience that it will always crack. Even when I dry it for a few years and there are very few checks once you start to take wood away it checks further. I have heard that by soaking it in anti-freeze that it will stop the checking but that sounds like dangerous to me. If you ever find out how to stop it please let me know. Wood drys from the inside out so that why it checks so when the heart wood drys out it shrinks and so contracts and pulls on the sap wood cracking it.
Colin

Thanks for the input, Colin, but I guess I didn't explain this well enough......these are 1 1/4' thick round sections of a basswood trunk, meant for relief carving or placques. I know they can be dried, because you can buy these darn things in hobby stores, taxidermy supplies, and carving supply sources. I've dried a bunch of small birch rounds up to 4' diameter (1/4' thick) with limited sucess......some crack, some don't, so I haven't figured out what the relevant factors are.

I know drying whole round section of logs without cracking is darn near impossible, but these 'rounds' should be 'dryable'.

Right now I've got them stacked & stickered, and am hoping fore the best, but was wishing someone had some ideas on this. If my way works, I know the answer, but it's all up in the air till the drying process is done (probably a month or more).

Al

Hi Al,
Haven't tried this with Basswood, but I have dried rough turned bowls with sides about 1 inch thick in the Microwave.
Using 15 - 20 second shots. Let cool completely between cooks. I over cooked one and the outside became very hard. There was some warpage.

Heard of drying in a frost free refrigerator.

Ron A.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

haven't tried drying anything, just put in shop and leave them alone! but I did coat the ends of some aspen with polyurethane to seal and they didn't crack, also hear you can coat with wax to seal to slow the evaporation of water in the wood...I think thats what causes cracks! if you do find out for sure...please post! thanks

Thanks, everyone......I just emailed the USFS wood products lab in Madison, Wisconsin with this question and for some information on the dynamics of drying wood of all shapes, sizes, cuts, etc. I've asked them before on some other issues and got pretty comprehensive reports back (far more than I needed to know) so I figure in about a week or so I'll get a good sized packet in the mail. If there is anything in that worth passing along, I'll either post it directly here or post a link.

thanks again

Al

[Kenny_S]

ALA, I have dried sassafrass, hickory, williow walking sticks using parraffin(SP) wax on the ends with success. However, they were usually 6 foot long. Melt the wax down and give it a try. May work on that thin of wood.

Best to you.

[kitt59]

I live in the Mountains and harvest a lot of my carving stock directly from the forest. I usually bring along some Parafin wax and a small stove to melt it. The smaller pieces I dip the ends in the melted parafin to seal the ends. this seems to slow the drying process and reduces cracks. However I have had a lot of larger stuff crack even before it gets home. I Have not yet found a tried and proven method. I think a lot depends on the type of wood and how much moisture is in it. I rarely get a chance to cut a green tree because the forest service frowns upon it. sometimes I run across a neighbor trimming trees from a yard. If I catch it soon enough I can seal the ends with wax. but once the cracks start they usually run their course. I'm also looking for ways to fill small cracks to blend in with existing grain. Basswood is easy with a clear wood filler or elmers glue mixed with sawdust but the stuff I'm always looking for is wood with colors and grain that can only be made by Mother nature. Multi colored wood gets tricky. Any s? I'm always looking for ways to stop cracks. or use them to enhance my piece. Hmmm.

[BobD]

I'm sure Wade will weigh in on this, but I know he uses Anchorseal quite a bit...and it has worked for him!

Bob

[Bark Boy]

I used to dry basswood ovals for woodburning a number of years ago and I plan on doing so again when I retire. I live in Northern Minnesota where we seem to have extended winters. The procedure I used is as follows:
I cut 10" basswood logs in late December when the tree is frozen. The reason for this is that the bark is less apt to be damaged. Once the tree is cut, I cut slabs with a jig on my bandsaw to attain approximately a 40 degree slab. These slabs are usually cut about 1 1/4" thick. Once they are cut, I stand each one up vertically on wooden shelves in an unheated building with the bark touching the bottom and back of the shelf. This step is very important as basswood will stain if it touches any other species of wood other than basswood. So, it's important to me that just the bark touches the shelves. You probably could use stickers made from basswood as they wouldn't stain that way. Once they are all stacked, just leave them dry on their own. As the weather warms the building on a sunny day, they start to dry very slowly. You may develop a few tiny hairline cracks from the freeze, thaw cycle but they normally will disappear when the piece is dry. You will get some warpage in the piece once it's dry but that's easily sanded out using a sander. I've done this quite a few times with quite good success. I never cut basswood in the summer because the sap is too high in the tree and I only use veneer logs for this procedure. If you use saw logs or limbs, there's just way too much waste as you find alot of flaws in that type of log. If you're doing butternut, it makes no difference if you cut summer or winter but in the summer it's difficult to dry without checking. Anytime that you log basswood, do it in the winter and make sure not to saw it until late April or early May in this part of the country. If you saw it too soon and sticker it, the larger pieces will crack due repeated freezing and thawing so it's best to wait and catch it in early spring. I also have tried this in a cool spot in a basement in the winter but haven't had quite as good success that way. A tin shed or an old grainery would be ideal for drying your wood.

I normally sand these ovals starting with about 80 grit paper and going down to about 300. Some of the wood burners like them sanded to a 600 grit, but it's too tough for me to do that and make any money at it. It just takes way too much time. Hopefully this answers a couple of your questions.

Rick Jensen a.k.a. Bark Boy