Timeline for How to finish a section of log for outside?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
17 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 2020 at 8:31 | history | edited | CommunityBot |
Commonmark migration
|
|
| Sep 9, 2018 at 14:02 | comment | added | Graphus | You haven't specifically asked about this but one other thing worth noting is how difficult it can be getting a surface like this very flat and then smooth. End grain is notoriously challenging to work with and without the ideal tools for the job it'll be basically impossible to get this dead flat (hand sanding is just not an option unless you have the patience of a hermit). | |
| Sep 9, 2018 at 13:54 | answer | added | Wex | timeline score: 1 | |
| Sep 9, 2018 at 10:05 | history | edited | Godwhacker | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 202 characters in body
|
| Sep 9, 2018 at 9:51 | comment | added | Godwhacker | @Wex having asked my neighbours if any of them have a band saw I can use and getting a negative I think that's what I'll be doing in the short term! | |
| Sep 9, 2018 at 8:13 | comment | added | Wex | If it's 25cm thick then you could always carve a number in it now (assuming it's not overly deeply carved) and then if it splits/warps the number in the future and you don't like it - slice off the face of the piece and carve it again after the wood has settled. | |
| Sep 8, 2018 at 20:29 | comment | added | Godwhacker | @Graphus thanks, I read the link that you posted. I think I'm going to saw it in half, seal one half, and create a temporary sign with the other with the understanding that it'll crack. Who knows, maybe it'll be a nice effect? | |
| Sep 8, 2018 at 17:01 | comment | added | Graphus | No it wouldn't be good to dry this in a cupboard, not enough airflow to dry properly, and the wood will put out a lot of water which will make the cupboard damp and could easily lead to a mildew problem. If you want to dry it and see how it goes put it on sticks in a well-ventilated spot. If you leave the end grain unsealed in any way it'll only take a couple of months to dry (that speed of drying is one of the reasons disks usually crack). Generally when air-drying wood you want it to dry as slowly as possible, this is the reason the end grain is sealed, to slow moisture loss. | |
| Sep 7, 2018 at 19:34 | history | edited | Godwhacker | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 43 characters in body
|
| Sep 7, 2018 at 19:27 | history | edited | Godwhacker | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 184 characters in body
|
| Sep 7, 2018 at 19:23 | comment | added | Godwhacker | Thanks for the comments so far- the piece is about 25cm thick, and I don't really want to leave it drying for ~10 years if I can avoid it. The idea is to put it next to my doorstep- it'll be mostly open to the elements. Would the best thing to do then be to put this in a cupboard and buy another pre-dried section? | |
| Sep 7, 2018 at 17:18 | comment | added | Graphus | "what's the best way to finish the wood so that I can keep it outside?" There's rarely one best way to do anything. Apart from having to pick between various options in terms of looks, many add significant colour that you may find unattractive. You also need to provide more details about the setting — in the open fully exposed to the weather and just outdoors but under cover are different enough to warrant completely different choices. | |
| Sep 7, 2018 at 17:12 | comment | added | Graphus | Just to echo what @Ashlar has said, successfully drying cross-sections of log, either thicker chunks like this or slices/cookies/disks, is very much hit and miss and the majority will crack badly. If you ever get this chance in the future it's much better to get a plank or slab of the tree and then let it dry as slowly as poss, see tips on drying in this Answer. | |
| Sep 7, 2018 at 15:50 | comment | added | SaSSafraS1232 | @Ashlar I'm not sure if the "1 year per inch" rule applies to cookies. Water should be much more mobile since there is so much endgrain... | |
| Sep 7, 2018 at 15:37 | comment | added | Ashlar♦ | Welcome to WSE. I would hold off on doing serious carving on the piece until it is full dried. Odds are that your trunk cross section will develop one or more large cracks from the perimeter to the center as the wood dries. There is no way to stop the shrinking process as the piece dries over the next year or so (The rule of thumb is 1 year curing for each inch of thickness). | |
| Sep 7, 2018 at 12:15 | review | First posts | |||
| Sep 7, 2018 at 14:14 | |||||
| Sep 7, 2018 at 12:14 | history | asked | Godwhacker | CC BY-SA 4.0 |