[Mike_B]

When allowing a stump or round of wood to dry would it be better to rip it into 2 pieces to take some of the pressure off so it won't split as much?

Mike_B

[wade clark]

Mike,
Probably so, and seal the entire piece with the bark removed, in Anchorseal, an end grain sealer. Some use paint, but end grain sealer is far better.
Wade

[Mike_B]

Thanks Wade. I Have tried coating the ends with Latex paint before, but don't feel that it did much. I'll look for some Anchorseal.

[wade clark]

Mike,
I buy Anchorseal from Highland Hardware out of Atlanta. If you do a search on the net for Highland Hardware and you'll find them. They sell at the best price I've found...found it cheaper on ebay but they gouged you on the shipping.
Highland Hardware has in internet catalog too; good Folks!
Wade

[Mike_B]

Thanks again Wade!

[workinforwood]

remember that latex paint is water soluble and water permiable. So the water in the wood breaks down the paint, and water in the wood is able to escape through the paint as well. The proper paint to use would be an oil base. the idea is to keep the bark on and paint the ends so that water escapes very slowly in all directions...the bark acts as a sealer for the outer log. The oil paint though is best used on the ends of planks and you are better to spend the money on the anchorseal for an actual large log. A small log like a branch is one thing, but a big log will have so much stress it's rediculous. In that situation, I'd split the log in half to relieve the pith stress, remove all the bark and go heavy with anchorseal around the entire log so that moisture leaves slowly and evenly. Even shrinkage is the key, and the slower the better. Expect a year for an inch, but thicker than an inch takes up to a year and a half per inch. Anchorseal is a great product, the pentacryl is the best. Soak your log in pentacryl and you can start carving it in about a week when it dries. The pentacryl limits your choices of finishes, but you can still paint it. I'd suggest reading about that product, available at woodcraft.
See your small town local hardware shop for old junk oil base paints to paint ends of boards. I get mine for 25cents a can. Last time I scored big time, they had hot pink and lime green ! lol.

[pallin]

You might consider cutting it down to the blank size you will eventually use. I recall talking with the craftsmen at the Myrtlewood factory in Oregon. They allowed the rough cut 2" boards to dry for a year or so. Then they band-sawed the rounds they planned to turn into bowls and set them aside for months. Then they rough turned the bowls and set those rough shapes aside. After many months they would finish the bowls and oil them. No wonder they were so expensive!

[Mike_B]

Thanks guys!

I'm keeping the pieces as large as I can because I don'y know what I want to carve yet.

I'm going to try the Pentacryl for some that I want to start now and Anchoseal for wood that can wait and see which works the best for me.

[susieq]

for sealing the ends of wood before drying, you can use old candles.... I used melted candle wax very successfully on a hundred board feet of basswood that started out 8x8 when it was green. After it cured it had shrunk down an inch or so but no cracking or splits.

I just melted a bunch of old candles in a pot (not a good one of course) on a hot plate, grabbed an old paint brush and thoroughly coated the ends of the basswood. Most were 6 foot long pieces. After coating the ends, I stacked the wood with wood spacers between all the pieces to let air circulate around the wood. It dried for a couple of years.

The sad ending to this story is that I wasted my time and effort on this wood and it was no good. I had bought a bunch of North Carolina basswood and it doesn't get cold enough for long enough in the winter there. Good basswood comes from much farther north. Illinois, Michigan, Maine, Canada.....but not the middle of the country where it just isn't cold enough to form a nice tight grain...... I burned most of it in our wood stove over the last few years...sigh....
susieq