Best recipies for log end sealers that really work?

[Kelvin]

Howdy all,
well being cheap and all i'm always asking around for what people have found to work well.  I just called Bailey's the other day, who i like to support, and found that the anchorseal is pretty pricey and shipping is awful expensive now too.  I think it made the cost something like $70+ for 5 gals.  In the past i've used up old 1 gallon jugs of simple wood glue that made a pretty good sealent on the end, but didn't quite do any testing.  I've heard of a few...
Wax toilet bowl rings?  Just smear them on.  (i'm wondering if maybe you could thin them up with mineral spirits and paint on?)
Parifin wax, pretty cheap, but heating all the time is a pain, but maybe worth the savings in shipping and what not.  Local craft store sells in big blocks and has 50% off all the time.  Maybe this also could be dissolved in mineral sprits and painted on?
Paint, but everyone says this one is too thin.  Latex or oil?
Maybe thompsons water sealent?  I'm thinking of something you can get in quantitiy cheap enough, apply easily enough, and not pay $30 shipping per bucket.  Anyone got some seceret reciepies?  How about tar anyone?  Roof sealent (white stuff for mobile homes?)  Of course anything that reeks havoc on the further processing of the lumber is a problem (tar?)
Appreciate any ideas,
kelvin

[Brad_S.]

IMO, skimping on sealants is a false economy. Get the Anchor Seal. Still only works out to $14 a gallon. That's not bad and a little seems to go a long way. Easily saves you that much in ruined lumber and, IMO, works as claimed.
I used to get a lot of logs from customers who thought they were smart and covered their logs with paraffin. It's a complete waste, the stuff doesn't adhere well and flakes off before it's even sawn, leaving the wood bare again. Mobile home roofing cement is the only other product I've heard "experts" say was anywhere near as effective as Anchor Seal.

[WDH]

I have used the aluminum roof paint, Kool-seal I think (Lowes), and it works very good.  However, it is horrible to clean up, and all things considered, it does not cost less enough to hassle with it for what I do.  When I used my first anchorseal, I thought that I had died and gone to heaven.  I found regular paint, oil or latex, to be a waste of time.

I decided that life was too short, so it is anchorseal for me .

[woodhick]

Have you tried to find it locally.  Check out there website and look for local dealers.  I found three in MI. 

https://www.uccoatings.com/

[rfalk]

Our local woodturning club buys 55 gallon drums of Anchorseal and transfers into old milk jugs for sale to members.....we cover our costs at $10 gal.....wasn't too many years ago we could do it for $5....you might want to think about partnering with a couple other sawyers or with a club (if there's one in your area). bob

[Dale Hatfield]

Not my mix but a disgruntaled walmart employee. I have been using Mckloskeys  deck sealer for carvings . SO anyhow I needed some black .
Aske If she could mix this into colors  yes pick a color. I said black . she wheeled around pumped some dye into can mixed  and said their ya go.
I took home and started painting bears. Much to my horror  it was black but it was a bad mix.  I had oil based sealer and she put in latex to make a real nice wax based sealer. That did dry but not when i needed it .
Id say it was prolly about 8 oz of black latex to a gallon of oil based sealer that she wrecked.

[TexasTimbers]

Kelvin, when I get to the shop I will give you the phone number of my representitive at ACI. Associated Chemists Inc.

I have mentioned them several times here in the past. I will give you an example of what kind of customer support to expect.

A couple weeks ago I was spraying some turning blocks with the sealer and noticed that since it was so hot, the sealer was not as thick as I wanted for this species. The flame boxelder I sell. It is extremely prone to checking and needs a real thick coat of wax to keep it from splitting apart.

I called and told my rep what was going on. We discussed the solution back and forth and he said he would get some thickener in the mail right away, no charge. In a couple days I got some kind of polymer and added it to a 5 gallon bucket of sealer and stirred it like a bucket of paint with my drill and agitator.

He had told me on the phone, and sent a post-it note reminder with the free polymer, "Be careful and add slowly as this is very active!" Well it was only a little 2 pint container, but I used a little less tahn 1/4 of the polymer and m,an that stuff is almost too thick for me now. In fact it will not even spray. Lesson learned. I will thicken one of the other 5 gallon containers more slowly when this oine runs out.

I am now dipping my blocks in a vat and the stuff is dynamite. Talk about sealing the turning blocks in wax. I can make my own recipes with this stuff all at no charge.

I got a letter from them - one of those "Dear valuable customer...." type letters like a month ago or maybe 2. They regretfully informed eveyone that they are goig to have to have a price increase. They did not suddenly raise prices on the next order, they detailed why they had to do it. It was a staggering 2 or 3% increase I can't remember, but they were sincerely apologetic about it.

Now, I believe with the new pricing structure, I can only buy about three to three and a half 5 gallon containers of their sealer for every one of Anchorseals.

I know I made the satement that I still use Anchorseal on some really special items, but now that I have this ability to use the sealer as thick or thin as I want, I don't see a need for it anymore.

Just my preference. YMMV. If you, or anyoine else  want more details let me know I will post the info agaiun.

[Kelvin]

sounds interesting.  What was the sealer used for intially?  I'd like to get some info on it, but the big problem for me is the shipping is about as much as the product.  Maybe they are closer.  I emailed a place thats about 2hrs away that is an anchorseal dealer, but with gas prices thats about a $100 drive in my truck, so not much savings there.  Maybe i'll keep one bucket of anchorseal for the high end logs and experiment with the others.  Its good if some one has experience with multiple types so they compare.  That way when someone says "paint works fine" well... compared to what?  I'll have to price the mobile home roofing stuff.

The post about the mixed paints was interesting   Did you use it for log end sealer then?  THats what anchorseal looks like.  latex and oil mixed together!  Did it work as a sealent even though it didn't dry?  I'm game for trying things. 

Thanks all, anymore ideas out there are welcome!!!!
Kelvin

[TexasTimbers]

. . . but the big problem for me is the shipping is about as much as the product. 

Shipping and product cost will probably be less than AS by itself or not much more. I buy it by the skid so I end up getting it cheap, don't know how it would turn out just ordering a single bucket because I don't know the price structure that way, and I get great pallet rates. They allow me to use my own carrier so I don't have to pay any of their handling fees. Another plus.  I really appreciate companies who allow me to send a truck to pick up my goods. Saves me alot of money usually. One of the reasons i tout this comany is because I like to scratch the backs that scratch mine. I get no commissions or anything when others order because of my referrals.

Maybe i'll keep one bucket of anchorseal for the high end logs and experiment with the others. 

I was using AS on some stuff but I finally came to the point where I use the ACI for everything. And now that I can thicken it as much as I want, I won't be reordering anymore AS.

I use alot of sealer. Not counting logs and other species I use alot just on the boxelder. These are orders being processed so I have to know that my sealer will work. i recently got my first request for a refund from a guy who was unhappy with the quality of the wood. But it was my fault.  I had gotten his order mixed up with a guy who buys my lower grade woods and resaws into other stuff like pen blanks and reel seats and duck call blanks etc. But I have never had anyone call and say "This wood is cracked!" So I am happy with it even before I started using the thickener.


Here's a picture of a board that I needed to seal the whole thing because it had a little pith left on one side, and i want to minimize cupping and try to save the board in tact. Time will tell but I have had pretty good results doing this. But you can see how clear the product dries. it's thicker than the picture can convey. This is after adding the thickener.



Call the 800 number on the container and ask for Scott. Tell him you're interested in the K-7002 Clear Wax Sealer.

[shinnlinger]

Hi,

I have never sealed my ends as it seems I mill mostly pine when I need to use it and well, I never seem to find the time.  

That said if I was milling up some special hardwood I can see the value of a good seal and this post has caught my interest.  When I was a wee lad I needed to put a bumper on an old jeep and ended up using a 5x7 oak floor joist left over from a timber frame job.  

Anywhoo and old timer told me to melt parafin (use a double boiler, trust me) and mix it 50/50 w/ kerosene.  THis mixture penetrated well and gave good protection as I abused that bumper in more ways than I care to recall here.

I would think it might make a good end sealer as you will still be able to see the grain, and no, you dont need to heat it up to use it.

Hope this helps.

[TexasTimbers]

That's interesting shinnlinger. Wonder where a fella would get alot of parafin wax on the cheap? I am always willing to experiment.

[Kelvin]

Great guys, thanks for the input.  I'll call the sealer guys tomorrow and find out about shipping.  Cheap place for parifin is where you would get canning supplies, or craft shops.
Kelvin

[trapper]

pariffin wax - hobby lobby at times they have large sheats on sale

[WDH]

TT,

Nice negundo .

[tcsmpsi]

Candle making suppliers sell an assortment of wax blends in bulk quantities. 

I get mine, generally in 60 lb boxes, from Lone Star Candle Supply.

[Larry]

A couple of north Missouri mills that saw a lot of gunstocks have dip tanks filled with say 50 gallons of paraffin.  I think they heat the tanks with steam to keep it melted.  No idea where they get the paraffin.  On a smaller scale one miller that saws osage orange turning blocks uses a double boiler with paraffin.  He tried Anchor Seal but got a thicker coating with the paraffin.

I tried ACI couple years ago.  The sample I got was a Valspar product.  Worked ok in the DH kiln but in the much hotter solar kiln it flaked off, I suppose from the heat.  Are they using the same formulation today?

[Left Coast Chris]

One thing I noticed about the Anchorseal is that it penetrates a little.  Something you would not want for imersing a gun stock since you would have to plane to get past the sealer.  Parifin sounds good for low penetration but it seems that hotter would be better to get a thin film and not use too much of it.   

[woodbowl]

How about a plastic garbage bag taped to the end? Never tried it, always wanted to. It would seem that it would make a little green house effect and possibly dry faster. So, why not apply contact cement to the log end and the plastic to make the seal. I would think also that a piece of plastic, a 1/2" piece of foam rubber, then a short board nailed to the end would slow things down a lot. Let me know if this sounds too cheep. 

[Dan_Shade]

anchorseal evaporates when you run the high temps at the end of your kiln schedule.

[Fla._Deadheader]

 By then, I wouldn't think you would need it