[Treecutter]

I have an interest in chainsaw carving. I have just had a Maple tree cut down, it is cut up. Is it suitable for carving, if so how do I store it for future use and how long will it take before I can use it for carving? Thanks for your help.

[GeorgiaCarver]

There will be others input on this subject but here is my input.

I would carve it as soon as possible. It will start to crack as it dries so keep any big cracks in the back of the carving. Many carvers actually cut open a crack in the back to give relief to the carving.

I keep fresh logs covered under plastic to try to keep them from drying too much. Dry is ok but it is much harder on the chainsaw and on you.

After carving for a day I spray some Thompson Water Seal on the carving to help keep moisture out of the wood to prevent rot.

When done I coat the carving with 3-4 coats of water seal and 3 coats of spar varnish (marine varnish from Lowes or other hardware stores)

Hope this helps.

Bottom line, green is easier to carve. Secondly, keep it out of the rain, water will rot the wood prety fast (2 months in the outdoors for pine will start the rot process)

Greg

[Treecutter]

Thanks for the comments. A couple of pics of what I have to work with.

[GeorgiaCarver]

That will work! Stand one up and begin wacking away. Remember.... Only remove the wood you don't need

Greg

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

If the large wood is like my smaller stuff......you can coat the ends with Anchorseal and slow the drying time......being in the desert...they really dry fast....not sure about Ohio? that maple makes beautiful pens too! You could make a few bucks selling 3/4 x 3/4 x 5 blanks on ebay to pen carvers!

[Alice in Wonderland]

How good for you to have this wood to carve ,I have carved a lot of Maple ,living in Ontario,I love it and I have never worried how to store it ,I have carved it green and any stage in between rotting.
Maple getting old and rotten developes beautiful spalting patterns I would not want to miss ,so just put it into a corner and you will have it forever I carved out an old log 20"+about 30" ,out came a piece of maybe 15+18 but so much spalting ,after the loose stuff cam off, so ,my point, just use it.
Alice
below is a piece of old Maple , "Ducks feeding"

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[Colin_Partridge]

Great advice from Greg he is right on. Only thing I can add is if you can carve it fast and get that coat of spar varnish on right away the checks wont be as bad. If you cant finish the carving in one day wet it down or put old towels on it (wet towels) and cover it with a garbage bag until you can get back at it. Some wood will check as soon as you take wood away but maple is pretty good. Just some of the things I have learned and I am still learning so anyone else has some suggestions I am all ears.
Colin

[Treecutter]

Thank you for your reply Alice in Wonderland. I was considering giving away the wood to be used for firewood. I was wondering if chainsaw carving was a little over my head. I guess I have enough wood to carve that I could afford to lose some pieces practicing carving. 30 years ago I made some one of a kind wood cars from Maple, mainly cutting shapes from wood and sanding them to shape, adding axles & wheels, came out very well. Not necessarily carving? I might try making them again before attempting chain saw or some other kind of carving. Hope this acceptable to this board. Please let me know.

[Treecutter]

Just checked the wood today, end of logs are starting to show cracking, what should I do?

[Hi_Ho_Sliver]

coat the ends with "anchorseal"