Checking problems...

[Paschale]

Hi everyone,

It's been awhile since I posted anything to the forum, but I always know when I have question, someone on here will have an answer for me!  I'm in the middle of my first attempt at milling and drying my own wood.  My dad, a friend and I milled an ash tree this summer.  I stacked it at my dad's place, and I was there on Monday to check on it.  I've noticed from the very beginning some slight checking, and from reading other posts on the forum, I understand that's to be expected, to a certain degree.  I found on this trip, though, that there is much more checking taking place than previously, and in one board, it's a pretty wide split down the board.  For most of the boards that are checking, the checking only goes a few inches into the board, though I understand this tendency can go further into the board than it appears.  Incidentally, I'd say about 20% of the boards have checking in them, which is really disappointing of course.

I've got a couple questions.  Some people on the forum recommended that I put Anchorseal on the ends of the logs after I cut them down, and prior to milling them.  I noticed that it took quite some time to dry, and in the handling and moving of the logs, some of the Anchorseal came off, but it still looked to me as if there was a good coating.  I'm suspicious that actually isn't the case, so I'm wondering if those of you who are experienced sawyers would recommend me putting another coat on.  Also, are there any advocates of Duraseal, another product I've read about?  Or any other endsealers for that matter?

The other question has to do with what you guys usually do with the wood that does check on you. Most of my boards are quite wide, too wide to be used in a six inch jointer, so ultimately, I'd have to rip them anyway, so it seems to me that those boards with checking won't be wasted.  My thought is just to rip them shy of where the checking is taking place and avoid the problem hopefully.

A further issue regarding the whole checking thing is that I plan to kiln dry this wood too.  An article I read in WOOD magazine about checking and kiln drying said that the way to take care of checking boards is to cut them several inches above where the visible checks are, and then thoroughly cover them with an endsealer, and then send them into the kiln, which hopefully will eliminate further checking.

Any thoughts on this?  

Thanks ahead of time!

Dan M.

[woodmills1]

checking or end splitting.  just so we talk apples, do you have small surface openings all over the faces of your lumber that do not go all the way through the thickness? if so that is checking.  If what you have are cracks that pass completley through the thickness, mostly on the ends then you have end splitting.  both of these conditions can occur in boards from any part of the tree.  you may also have boards cut from the center of the tree that have split or cracked at or near the pithy center of the log.

checking once it occurs is hard to deal with, it may or may not plane out.  sometimes it gets worse and even sometimes the checks will close.  I see this condition on the surface of lumber that dried to fast, like the ones on the top of a stack exposed to sunlight.

end splits can be cross cut off if not too long.  or treated like the following.

for lengthwise cracks joint the outside edges and then rip to smaller widths to retain the non split lumber.  I treat lumber cut from the center of red oaks this way and get some nice quartersawn pieces

[Minnesota_boy]

I'll not be of much help for this time, but the next time you mill, start your pile of boards with supports as near the end of the pile as you can.  Put a sticker under the pile to minimize the contact area on the bottom board.  Place your first row of boards with one end even with the sticker, the other end as close as practical.  Make sure that you keep the stickers lined up as you build the pile.  On the last layer, spread the boards to make the edges even with the edge of the pile.  Place stickers on top of the pile.  Place one or more layers of slabs on top to protect the top of the pile from the sunlight and provide weight to hold down the pile.  Put anchorseal on the ends of the boards.

 If they still check, blame the tree. :D

[GarryW]

On the board that checked down the board, was that one take from the center of the tree? If so then the pith is whatsplit on you.

What I do with checked wood, is to look at the board and see what I can get some it before I try to make it pretty.   For example, if I have a wide piece that has splits on the ends, I'll try to get a panel or top out of the center and then maybe rails or stiles out of the rest. I try to keep boards as large as possible until I need to use them.

And with ash, I've had similar problems on the logs that I did not use AnchorSeal on them.

[Paschale]

Thanks for the comments already.  I guess I did have my lingo confused.  It sounds like what I'm dealing with is end splitting instead of checking, so that seems more promising than if it's checking.  What Woodmills1 described as checking isn't anything that I've seen, so I guess it's just end splitting.  And the worst cases definitely involve the pithy part of the log, so I guess this is all to be expected to some degree.  I liked Woodmills1's suggestion about jointing one side of the split wood--that's exactly what I was thinking myself.

What about putting this wood in a kiln at some point?  Should I cross cut the pieces that have endsplitting, or just let it ride and deal with whatever may happen after the fact?  And is it advisable to reapply Anchorseal to the ends?  Or do some boards which have an endsealer on them still endsplit?

[Frank_Pender]

In the winter months I let the lumber air dry for at least 60 days before  it goes into the kil.  In the summer months I let it set at least 30 days before the kil.  this provides the wood a chance to begin colasping its cell structure without beging forced by man.  Being in the Pacific Northwest, we usually hve a great deal of moisture available to help slow the process.  Good luck in your quest to dry lumber. ;D

[flhtc]

Ripping the boards down to get rid of the end splits is fine if the splits are too long to crosscut off.  If you want a wide panel that is going to stay flat it is a bad idea to use any board over six inches any way, four inches is recommended.  When gluing up wide panels be sure to alternate the growth rings to avoid warpage.

[Tom]

About re-applying end sealer.  once the endsplits start, they are almost impossible to stop.  You would have to trim the ends back severely to try to get back to wood that was not split and had even moisture.

The best procedure is to paint the end of the log so that all boards will be sealed. If you want a second coat, do it right after sawing, perhaps as you sticker stack the boards. I don't think the second coat is necessary usually if the first coat was applied properly.

Once the lumber begins to dry, it's too late to mess with it.

Of course, the other option is to cut boards to excessive length so you can end trim them after they dry.