Slow Drying cut wood

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Sammy-2016

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Joined
Oct 27, 2016
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53
Location
San Antonio, Texas, USA
Hi Group,
Please see the attached picture.
Please tell me if I am doing this properly:
For a good price, I bought a 1.5 thick Mesquite slab which was not dry yet. I cut it up on my table saw into 1.5 x 1.5 x (between 5 & 16" depending on the area of the slab.
I dipped both end grains of each piece into Shellac hoping to slow dry this wood.
Please tell me: should I also paint all the sides since they are freshly cut?
Thank you in advance for any advice :)
Sammy
 

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Looks good to me. Never used shellac before so I can't comment on how effective it is for sealing the ends. Paint, Anchorseal, and diluted wood glue get used a bunch.

You don't say anything about dehumidification in your garage, but living in San Antonio, I'm guessing it stays pretty dry there.
 
I agree with Derek - never used Shellac. BUT, the method you are using I have also followed: Cut to blank size - paint/coat the ends - let dry 1-2 years+ :eek: . I have way too many blanks in my garage with this process. These are cut from my yard: Beech, Oak, Hickory, Yew, Cherry, Crabapple, Sycamore, and several others. I have and OLD gallon can of Anchorseal (12 yrs+) that still is good. I dip each blank/branch in the Anchorseal, stack with spacers, and let to dry. I then test every 6 months with a moisture meter. My biggest problem is how to get rid of many hundreds of blanks I will never use. I post free blanks for postage on IAP occasionally, but there are not many buyers.
 
Derek, I don't do anything to dehumidify the garage. Here in SA it is very humid in the summer and gets dryer in the winter.

Mark, even at my pieces cut to 1.5 x 1.5 x 5-16" will I have to wait that long before it is considered equalized to my environment?

How about painting/sealing all the fresh cut surfaces? is that needed?

Thank you both
 
Mark,
I am still new to woodturning and I don't have or can afford buying wood from the wood stores. For the last couple of years I have saved branches from my yard (don't laugh) all I have is Oak trees. I have even used some cedar logs given to me. I have also bought some dry hardwood firewood bundles locally which turned very nicely
How much is shipping for your unused blanks from Medina, Ohio to San Antonio, Texas?
Thanks
 
Last edited:
Hi Sammy!
I would be a little worried about using Shellac. Shellac hardens, and as the wood "moves" as it dries, it could crack and break the seal on the end grain, which will lead to the wood checking. I have used all the methods Derek mentioned about, and the only one I have found close to 100% reliable is Anchorseal. I buy 5 gallon buckets from the manufacturer about every 3 years.

Jason
 
Jason,
Thank you for the advice. I didn't think about it that way. The reason I am using shellac is cause I had bought couple gallon cans and I liked how it dries quickly. I will avoid shellac from now on.
How about sealing the freshly cut surfaces also?
Thanks again
 
Sammy-2016 said:
Jason,
Thank you for the advice. I didn't think about it that way. The reason I am using shellac is cause I had bought couple gallon cans and I liked how it dries quickly. I will avoid shellac from now on.
How about sealing the freshly cut surfaces also?
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Since your question has not been answered yet, I would recommend that you only seal the endgrain with Anchorseal, or other endgrain sealant, Shellac is not a green wood sealer, and the other surfaces do not need sealer unless you see visible endgrain, which can occur where a branch or past injury to the tree was present. The only time I will seal all the faces of a blank is with Burl wood as the grain travels in all directions. I've experimented in the past sealing straight grain and it was a huge waste of sealant. Hope that helps!
 
I live in the hill country outside San Antonio so I'm familiar with what you're going through. I have various pieces of wood drying everywhere as well. Unlike Mark from Ohio, the only trees we have available here are oak and cedar. There is a pen turning club in San Antonio called Alamo Woodturners. It would be worth your while to look into meeting up with these folks. They can give you lots of advice and ideas about where you can get blanks.
 
Sammy-2016 said:
Derek, I don't do anything to dehumidify the garage. Here in SA it is very humid in the summer and gets dryer in the winter.

Mark, even at my pieces cut to 1.5 x 1.5 x 5-16" will I have to wait that long before it is considered equalized to my environment?

How about painting/sealing all the fresh cut surfaces? is that needed?

Thank you both
Click to expand...
No, you don't want to paint all surfaces as you'll trap moisture in the wood. As Mark points out above, it already takes a year or two to dry out enough to not worry about warping/twisting, etc.

It gets pretty humid here in Northern WI so I run a dehumidifier in the garage year around. If I don't the concrete sweats during the humid times so you can imagine how much the various slabs and dimensional lumber I have stacked can soak up.

If you have the ends sealed in Anchorseal, stacked on stickers. Other than dehumidifying during the summer, that's about all you can do.

Good luck!
 
Sammy-2016 said:
Derek, I don't do anything to dehumidify the garage. Here in SA it is very humid in the summer and gets dryer in the winter.

Mark, even at my pieces cut to 1.5 x 1.5 x 5-16" will I have to wait that long before it is considered equalized to my environment?

How about painting/sealing all the fresh cut surfaces? is that needed?

Thank you both
Click to expand...
The wait time is dependent on the moisture level in the blanks - pen, bowl or otherwise - not just the time. While I have read some guidelines of 1"/year, get a decent wood moisture meter and test every 4-6 weeks and note the drop in misture in the blank. Yes, the humidity in your location will make a difference. You can also promote drying with dehumidifiers, storing in hot/dry locations, not enclosing in sealed tubs that will retain moisture, having a good cirulation of air, etc.
 
Sammy-2016 said:
Mark,
I am still new to woodturning and I don't have or can afford buying wood from the wood stores. For the last couple of years I have saved branches from my yard (don't laugh) all I have is Oak trees. I have even used some cedar logs given to me. I have also bought some dry hardwood firewood bundles locally which turned very nicely
How much is shipping for your unused blanks from Medina, Ohio to San Antonio, Texas?
Thanks
Click to expand...
I can easily fill a LFRB with Ohio backyard blanks! $19.90 for about 120+ pen blanks, or larger blocks. PM me and we can get you set up. (No charge for the wood - postage only.).
 
derekdd said:
No, you don't want to paint all surfaces as you'll trap moisture in the wood. As Mark points out above, it already takes a year or two to dry out enough to not worry about warping/twisting, etc.

It gets pretty humid here in Northern WI so I run a dehumidifier in the garage year around. If I don't the concrete sweats during the humid times so you can imagine how much the various slabs and dimensional lumber I have stacked can soak up.

If you have the ends sealed in Anchorseal, stacked on stickers. Other than dehumidifying during the summer, that's about all you can do.

Good luck!
Click to expand...
Thank you Derek, I appreciate your advice. I have seen a few videos on microwave drying. I think i will try a couple of pieces to see how they react :)
Sammy
 
mark james said:
The wait time is dependent on the moisture level in the blanks - pen, bowl or otherwise - not just the time. While I have read some guidelines of 1"/year, get a decent wood moisture meter and test every 4-6 weeks and note the drop in misture in the blank. Yes, the humidity in your location will make a difference. You can also promote drying with dehumidifiers, storing in hot/dry locations, not enclosing in sealed tubs that will retain moisture, having a good cirulation of air, etc.
Click to expand...
Thank you Mark. I appreciate your reply and explanation.
Sammy
 
It shouldn't take 2-3 years to dry 1.5x1.5" thick pieces of wood. The general rule of thumb is that it takes ~6 months to dry per inch of wood thickness. If you wax the entire piece of wood (common with bowl blanks), then THAT can certainly make the drying process take a lot longer, and you might indeed be looking at years...however, that is in fact a desirable thing if you have a large, thick piece of beautiful hardwood with interesting grain. Slowing the process down limits the amount of warping and cracking that will occur.

For a 1.5x1.5" square piece of wood that is only sealed on the endgrain, however, it should take around 9 months to dry. How dry it ends up getting, will depend on you ambient humidity. If you live in a high humidity area, your wood might not get entirely dry, as wood will equalize with the relative humidity of the environment. If you live in an arid place, the wood should dry pretty darn thouroughly, and may even warp a little bit by the time its done. I've dried a ton of 1-2" thick pieces of wood, though, some even with the bark still on branches and engrain sealed...and it usually doesn't even take 9 months in an arid place like Colorado, where I live. For cut blocks, it usually takes 6 months or thereabouts if they are 1-2 inches thick.

If I cut something larger, several inches thick, and fully seal it, then it might take a couple of years. However that is also kind of the express goal as well, as allowing a large piece of wood to dry any faster will usually result in checks or cracking, if not an outright split. Controlling the rate of drying and ensuring even moisture loss around the blank (i.e. by sealing endgrain but not long grain) will help manage cracking. You will usually still get warping, even with a well waxed, slow-dried piece, but you can prevent a lot of the cracking that would otherwise occur.
 
Sammy-2016 said:
Jon,
Thank you for the reponse and the very clear explanation :)
Sammy
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There are some books you might want to look into. One of them, is "Understanding Wood" by R. Bruce Hoadley. It has a section on how wood dries and drying your own wood, but also a ton of other useful knowledge about wood. I bought this book, oh, I guess it was early 2021, and it taught me a lot!

There are a number of good ways to dry wood. Kiln drying is another good way. You can build your own kiln out of an old refrigerator or even dishwasher. Kiln drying is a means of drying wood carefully by controlling the humidity in the kiln, and managing the reduction of humidity slowly over time. With proper technique and proper measure of working down humidity, kiln drying can dry wood pretty quickly, and generally in less time than air drying waxed blanks.

There are some good videos on how some people built their own kilns out of old refrigerators (which they usually picked up for free by searching Craig's List an the like), a little bit of manual work, and some light bulbs and electronic devices to manage the humidity and airflow. If you want to dry wood carefully but quickly, kiln drying is a good way to do it. I have an old dish washer I've been working on to turn into a small kiln. Its good for both raw blanks, as well as "first turned" items that are rough turned thick and left to dry (although normally air dry, which can take a year or so) then "twice turned" after they dry and warp, to get them to their final proper shape.
 
I'll throw another option at you.... I have an old Montgomery Wards microwave in my shop... on small pieces, pepper mill blanks and bowl blanks that are pretty wet, I run them through the microwave oven at about 3 minute intervals... don't get the wood too hot or you will get checks... let it cool completely and repeat as necessary to reach you desired moisture content. It may be time consuming but you can dry a piece of wood in a couple of hours that way.... just don't forget and run the MW too long... MW burned wood stinks to high heaven....BTDT.
 
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