Knotty Weeper

[MattRaby]

I have a "found" piece that I cut from a fallen weeping willow. The tree fell in my yard late last week and I "rescued" a piece before my landlord comes to clear the deadfall. I have a log about 10" diameter and it has a knotty formation that is best described as a mass of nodules that form a 20" diameter dome. The log is cut at an angle that places the center of mass over the foot. It makes a beautiful upright piece. My hopes are to strip it, cure it, then finish it and make it a display piece at my retail store. Not much carving, but everything leading up to carving will be employed.

I have never done any carving or woodworking, so I have general questions about curing this piece.

Stripping the bark-
It is very old section of the tree. The bark is 1/2"-1" thick on the log section and the knotty section is strange. Some areas of the "knot dome" have bark and other areas look spongy (yet I can't push into it with a knife point.) From other posts I've read, removing willow bark is recommended for curing. Whats the best way to remove the bark before storing for a cure?


Prepping for storage-
There is some soft, easily removed, but not rotten heart wood in the log section. I plan to dig it out to deter interior rot. Should I do this then apply parafin to the inside when drying has begun?

Long-term storage-
I have an area where I can store under roof, open-air. I live in northeast TN where we have four distinct seasons, yet none are extreme. Should I periodically apply any oils to help stop cracking. Also, how long will curing take?

If it would help, I can take a picture of the piece and post it to my blog.

Any and all advice will be greatly appreciated.

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

the willow we have here in arizona is called navajo or globe willow....it peels very well when green, but has a slight pitch like substance under the bark, if you seal the ends with parafin wax, it drys pretty well without cracking much....but the longer it sits, the harder it gets! So do your carving up front...for canes, its ok you need the strength when dry, but for carving its a pain lol, not sure about weeping willow if its the same...this just for info Dave

[Kenny_S]

I will say pretty much the same as Hi Ho! You can use any substance that will seal the ends, Hi Ho's suggestion is the best I have found but have used paint before. Put it up off the ground and allow air to flow all around it. In my opinion, the harder it gets, the stronger it is for canes. But the draw back is, a bear to carve in the harder it gets.

[Kenny_S]

Dave, I forgot to add we have several varieties of willows here in SEK and the most is what we call weeping Willows as the branches hang towards the ground and most do touch the ground. They May be same as yours .

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

I guess originally the navajo willow looked like a large bush..saw some in new mexico, but here they are trimmed as a tree and get huge and shaped like a large globe, beautiful shade tree, but the limbs grow up, not hanging like a weeping willow....Good Lord has an amazing penchant for variety.....thank God !

[wade clark]

Matt,
There is a product called "ANCHORSEAL". It's an end grain sealer. It's a water soluble wax that paints on white and dries nearly clear. I use it on all green wood that I want to dry slowly without cracking. I check it every week or so and look for signs of cracking, and add more sealer if I see any.
the general rule is, most woods dry at 1" per year. If it's 10" thick it should dry 1" on all sides the first year, so could take 5 years to be fully dry. I don't like those numbers and would prefer not to believe them, but a friend of mine who has been sawing logs at his commercial sawmill for 20 years says it's a fact. The exception is kiln drying...and Arizona! If you're in a very dry climate it will dry faster. It will only dry to the relative humidity where it's stored in any case. A kiln dried piece, dried to 13% moisture and then stored in a climate with 60% humidity won't stay at 13%, it'll suck up the humidity like a sponge.
What you want to do is prevent rapid drying, rapid change in the moisture content. Typically the outer wood will dry faster for many reasons, while the inner denser wood dries slower. If you can get them to dry evenly at the same time, it won't crack.
Do a few searches on here for past threads about drying wood; there have some very informative and educational threads!
Willow's a beautiful wood; I think you'll like it whether it cracks or not!
Good luck!
Wade

[Thomp]

matt,

i cut a willow down from the back yard, we have what they call creek willow. its soft even dry its pithy smells of aspirn even dry..
i kept the butt cutt, painted the ends and put it aside for a year and still it was wet inside when i had the time to carve it.

all the best advice i had at that time was if your carving wet wood, cover it with a damp cloth at night when your not carving it and wrap it in plastic to keep the moisture loss to a minimum, once started carve it to finish soon as possible and give it a coat of sanding sealer when your done.. it will dry in time slowly...

well that was the intention..
i had a really nice knealing gnome started or near 1/2 finished when i had to have a bypass operation, when i got well enough to envistigate the damage it had a 1 inch wide crack running from one end to the other.

im still wondering how to cut the log down through the split and work it flat enough to reattach it with glue and pegs if necessary as it was promised as a wedding present 3 years ago...

if left to redoo it.. i would have painted the ends and stored it in my barn/shop loft where these hot louisiana summers could work on it for 3 years or so..