Green Wood seal ?

[Ed Wood]

I have some wood that was cut 1 maybe 2 weeks ago. large branches 3-6" most look ok no splits, can I seal them as is or should they be trimmed a little to get fresh wood and then sealed. They are going to be sealed on the ends as logs for now.

wood1.jpg

[Brice Rogers]

3-6" seems awfully small to bother with, unless you are going to make something small like a pen or an inlay. Most turners cut the logs lengthwise (to make a half-round or "d" shape)to remove the pith. The pith is probably the most likely part of the tree to crack - - that is why most remove it.

I suspect that it might be slightly better to trim to fresh wood and seal.

[Ed Wood]

I know small just trying to see how sealing green wood works out so with this nothing to loose and maybe make a few garden tool handles is all goes well. Thanks

[Joe Meirhaeghe]

Personally I would re-cut the ends before I would seal them. I'm sure there has to be some cracking that has started by now if they've been cut for a few weeks already. Even if it's only small minimal cracking, I've found that trying to seal over them is not going to help any & is a waste of sealer.

[Brice Rogers]

I think that putting a sealer (like anchorseal) helps but is only a temporary delay in the process of processing wood. Make sure that you don't think that anchor seal is something that you can apply, wait an extended period and expect that there won't be cracks. As long as there is pith, you risk getting cracks and checks. Part of this depends on the wood species and some are more or less tolerant than others.

I have given some fellow turners some nice (and big) fresh wood only to have them do the worst possible to it: (1) Do nothing and then complain that it cracked badly (2) put it is a plastic bag and then complained that it got punky. etc. etc. I no longer save wood for them.

I have learned from my past mistakes (at least a little). I now treat fresh cut wood like fresh apples. When you get it, put it into a plastic bag or wrap stretchy plastic over the end grain. This is only a temporary "fix" - - certainly less than a month at most. Ideally, within a couple of weeks, slice in half, remove the pith and either rough turn it or wrap the end grain with plastic until you can rough turn it.

YMMV

[Peter Blair]

I second this but can only speak from my personal experience