Another Newbie Question - Anchorseal

[bee_pipes]

Hi! Another Newbie here.

Just ordered some anchorseal, working on bush hogging space for drying piles and slecting trees for first cut.

How long can logs last before sealing ends? Don't want to waste the wood with endchecking, but don't want to waste the anchorseal if it can wait till the wood is stacked in drying piles. Will the logs check that fast?

Thanx in advance

Regards,
Pat

[Ga_Boy]

The best bang for your investment of Anchor Seal is to seal the logs as soons as possible.

The purpose is to prevent end checking the longer you wait the greater the possibility of checking.

Equate end checking to loss of profit. 

Seal them NOW!

[ohsoloco]

Not only what Ga-boy said, but it's much easier to  slap anchorseal on the ends of logs instead of painting the ends of each board  :P

[DonE911]

The sooner the better...

Some logs will check if wait long enough to eat your lunch.

Don't give away money .....  seal'em up as soon as possible.

[bee_pipes]

The sooner the better...
Some logs will check if wait long enough to eat your lunch.

Exactly what I was looking for - that fast, eh?

Now, will the boards have to be sealed again? From what ohsoloco said - seal the logs and forget the boards?

Thanks

Regards,
Pat

[Ga_Boy]

Yes, once you seal the logs the resultant boards from the milling process are end sealed.

The only exception to this is if you have crotch wood, then you must coat the crotch grain after the milling process.

[flip]

I've noticed that even a week without anchor seal lots of cracks already start.  Do it the day they are cut, you won't regret it.  I use a common garden sprayer and give it a couple of good coats. ;)

[Tony_T]

If your cutting white ash do it quickly as possible, checks a lot and VERY quickly. 

Put a coat on any boards you end trim after milling too.

[rebocardo]

Hickory I did not cut even three days ago is end cracking vs. pine cut two weeks ago still is not cracking. Good thing I cut the logs an extra foot long.

[ohsoloco]

Ga-Boy, do you coat the entire crotch?  I've never sealed any crotch boards that I've cut.  Never had any problems with walnut, but every cherry crotch I've cut has at least two boards that have a split in them, but it's off to the side where the grain (not the figured stuff) runs diagonally across the board.  Do you run anchor-sealed boards through the planer  ???

[Norm]

Something else I do with woods that like to check easily is to let the anchorseal dry for an hour or so and put a second coat on. Jeff I run boards with anchorseal through the planer without any problems.

[ohsoloco]

Never really thought of doing that, I'll have to try that if I cut any more cherry crotches...so, do you coat the whole board or slab  ???  Also, would it take significantly longer for the boards to dry?  Not that it's much of an issue, I have slabbed crotches sitting in the basement that I cut at least three years ago...still waiting for the right projects  ;)

[Norm]

Yep they take alot longer, cherry crotch wood is one of the worst that I cut. Paint the whole slab sticker it and let it air dry. I've got some walnut ones I did that to that are almost dry after two years. Even with anchorseal I still get some checking but not as bad.

[ohsoloco]

That's interesting about the walnut.  I'll have to go back through the couple piles of walnut crotches, but I don't recall any of them checking much. 

[Ga_Boy]

Hey Norm,

Thanks for answering the question about crotches.

I did some Black Walnut crothches for a cusotmer about a year ago, they turned out real nice, coated the ctotch grain for him, they air dried real nice.




Mark

[ely]

is this anchor seal actually used for sealing logs or it just what you use it for. i have 5 gallons of latex paint that i just paint on the ends of the logs, it seems to work ok as far as sealing them ie no more checks after i painted them, plus mom said they look nice in that pile compared to some that were not painted.

[Tom]

It's one of the commercial "water based waxes" that is made specifically for sealing logs.

Latex paint is better than nothing but you will find that it doesn't hold a candle to a true sealant.

[ely]

thanks tom

[bedway]

hey folks,,where can ya get this anchoreal ?,,,bedway

[Tom]

The website of the manufacturer of Anchorseal is:
https://www.uccoatings.com/

[Mike_Barcaskey]

the problem with paint is you wont be able to see where the pith is if you want to quarter saw the logs. dont make no difference if you are going to slab 'em.
AnchorSeal dries clear.

[gary]

I have tried anchorseal, latex paint, and oil base paint. The price of anchorseal and shipping doesn't seem worth it to me. I didn't notice a big difference in any of them. Now I don't put anything on to seal the logs. The big mills don't use it .

[tcsmpsi]

That's interesting, gary.  Certainly, one of the 'out of the ordinary' responses.

Do you think you lose much wood?  Any wood? 

I had thought of slapping something on the ends of my hardwoods when I was stacking, but the end of daylight catches me gathering and putting up tools somehow DanG near every time.

Of course, by morning they were already checking, and I had/have gobules of other stuff to do...and there we ago again, scurrying to try and get tools gathered as the sun, not so slowly, sinks into the west.

I thought I would have a mill there a rendering those logs a bit sooner than has developed. 

[Tom]

The trick is to seal the log before you saw.

[Larry]

I use a lot of Anchorseal on quality logs...try to get it on within 4 hours of cutting the tree or bucking logs.  Next day put on a second coat.  I see a big reduction in end checks...but is it worth the price and expense of putting it on?

Now I don't put anything on to seal the logs. The big mills don't use it .

I see the same as gary in my part of the country....big mills ain't using it.  Guessing, but think one reason may be a disconnect between the logger and mill.  Comments?