Preserving wood

[Cutter/Climber]

I have a client that wants me to cut some disc's out of limbs. They are looking at trying to treat them so that they don't split as they dry. I was wondering if there is anything that I can put on them to help keep them from splitting when I cut them and they are still green. Any information will be greatly appreciated. Thank you and have a nice day.

[scsmith42]

Pentacryl is made for this purpose.  Smaller limb slices frequently turn out ok when soaked, but main trunk cookies will usually crack anyway (depending upon the species).

[Magicman]

Saw them at a angle making them as oval as possible.  The rounder they are the more possibility of splitting.  Also the dryer the wood is the less possibility of splitting.  Sawing them green, you will probably have most if not all of them split.

[Den-Den]

First thing is to expect some failures.  Sawing them at an angle, controlling the drying rate and magic potions will help but nothing will get 100% success at this.
Species of the wood is a big factor in the success/failure rate.  Also partially dry and spalted wood will be more likely to stay intact than fresh cut.  I cut some for a neighbor from Hackberry (told her that most likely all would crack) and was surprised that about half of them had only minor cracks.  It was a standing dead tree and there was quite a bit of spalting.  Had it been a live tree; I would have been surprised to get one success per 50.  Cypress is much more forgiving.

[LeeB]

There is a chemical called PEG 1000 that will work but it's expensive and time consuming. One option is to cut more rounds than you need and cut a wedge out, let the disc dry, cut a wegde from the adjacent disk, and glue it in place. Also time consuming.

[buzywoodliff]

I dropped a 14" black oak late winter/early spring.  Around the middle of June, cut it into 2" cookies and immediately coated them real good with anchorseal.  A week ago I removed the anchorseal with a sanding disc on the angle grinder, being careful not to remove all the saw marks because I wanted a little rustic look.  They got a quick bath in warm soapy water and then denatured alcohol.  I then gave them 3 coats of polyurethane and was really happy that they didn't split and held onto the bark.

They're for my niece's wedding decorations this Saturday and she seemed really happy with them.

Someday I'll figure out the picture posting thing...

[5quarter]

Hi buzz...That's cause your cookies are still wet inside. the alcohol displaced enough surface water for the poly to get good adhesion. That may be the best way to finish them for centerpieces. let us know in a year what happens to them.

[Cutter/Climber]

Thanks for the information. I am going to talk to her about the Pentacryl see what she wants to do. I know that it is going to take a while. I guess the wood is birtch that has been laying since January. Have to go meet with her to see what it all looks like.

[buzywoodliff]

Yea..... I have my doubts about long term success.  i was just hoping they could have something with the bark still intact.

She has a friend that wants to use them in a couple of months, we'll see how they hold up.

I try to learn something everyday, spending a little time on the forestry forum is a good way for me

[bkaimwood]

Saw them at a angle making them as oval as possible.  The rounder they are the more possibility of splitting.  Also the dryer the wood is the less possibility of splitting.  Sawing them green, you will probably have most if not all of them split.

I have sawed plenty of cookies this wY, ovals...not intentionally, just gathering sides from interesting logs for clicks, taxidermy mounts and such...I was always pleased with the way they dried. I know why, but only since you pointed it out....just never put 2 and 2 together... Thanks!!