How can a full slice of log be seasoned?

[RichardLaw]

1 inch thick slices of log are useful for all manner of things. It shouldn't be possible to season slices like that without splitting, but it's obviously possible as they are widely used. How the heck is it done?

[robin wood]

1 inch thick slices of log are useful for all manner of things. It shouldn't be possible to season slices like that without splitting, but it's obviously possible as they are widely used. How the heck is it done?

Depends on species and size. Yew and laburnum are particularly good for this as are many tropical hardwoods, end grain laburnum was sometimes used in 18th century cabinetmaking. You can do it with anything by using PEG or similar, using natural means I suspect it is a question of experimenting and getting the right proportions between thickness and diameter then drying slowly, cutting across on a slight angle to give ovals rather than rounds helps too. I make copies of viking drinking cups out of roundwood and according to our modern western understanding they should not work but they do. Russian khokhloma ware is turned the same way on a larger scale. What this tells us is that our modern western understanding of wood is very limited and sometimes wrong.

[RichardLaw]

You can do it with anything by using PEG or similar, using natural means I suspect it is a question of experimenting and getting the right proportions between thickness and diameter then drying slowly, cutting across on a slight angle to give ovals rather than rounds helps too. I make copies of viking drinking cups out of roundwood and according to our modern western understanding they should not work but they do. Russian khokhloma ware is turned the same way on a larger scale. What this tells us is that our modern western understanding of wood is very limited and sometimes wrong.

Thanks Robin, in that case I think I'll have an experiment with the sugar/water solution mooted on the loose handles thread recently. I wonder if ponding would help too http://www.bodgers.org.uk/bb/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1481&start=15

[arth]

Sanding sealer works. Maybe soaking it in a bucket of cooking oil would work?

[SeanHellman]

I use to make didjeridoos, and found a lot of branch wood that had seasoned without any splitting. I would suggest this route, find or season timber in the round and then cut into slices, at least you know it has no splits in when you start sawing. No need for any solutions or chemicals this way. In my experience the larger the diameter the more likely it is to split.

[RichardLaw]

Thanks Sean, I'll have a go at that. Maybe it is species dependent as well. Recently I've been hearing a crack as I saw through the centre of ash logs, but not others. With this dry Spring this year's small diameter felling seems pretty much dry already. I wonder what the science is of the tensions that presumably are created in the middle of seasoning timber. I'll have a hunt around on the 'Net.

[RichardLaw]

Here's a very useful piece all about seasoning by Peter Child. Mainly aimed at bowl turners but good general advice too: http://www.peterchild.co.uk/info1/green.htm

[forestwalker]

I haven't done any tests, but how much does the time of year make? I know that when I make shrink-pots there appears to be less shinkage for stuff taken in March (i.e. in the end of the sub-arctic winter) than stuff taken i July.

[Donald Todd]

I believe the splitting occurs partly from the fact that the body of the log is wetter than the ends where the moisture escapes, so there is a moisture gradient and stress lengthwise as well as tangentially at the ends. "Thin" sections have no effective bulk and dry relatively rapidly without the axial stress.
I have small sections of a a variety of trees for demo purposes, 2" diameter, cut 3/4" to 1-1/4"thick. Only one has split after several years!
Bruce Hoadley discusses this in one of his books.