drying cookies and blanks

[shampjm1]

I've read here about people cutting cookies and blanks so does anyone have a way to dry them without any cracking or splitting without it costing a ton of money? I've heard antifreeze works but would think the color would affect the wood. There's PEG but that's way to expensive for me. Any suggestions?

[tule peak timber]

The type of cookies will determine the amount of success , but you might try stacking , stickering, and burying the entire pile in dry sawdust. Of course you must keep rain , snow,  etc, off the pile . If the pile is big , coral the sawdust in with scrap wood. Let us know how you do.  Rob

[drobertson]

It can be tricky, I like the saw dust idea, never thought of it, all I have found is finding the right trunk that has died, but has the bark still on, these have dried without cracking,, the green ones not so lucky, thickness is also a factor I've found,, thicker than 2"  I have air dried for a spell, then a light spray of poly, one side only, then after another spell, a light spray on the back side, nothing very scientific on my end, just trial and error,  bugs are another issue, the last batch had the powder post bugs I think,, little dust piles once they came in,, these were not coated with anything,  good luck,, hope it goes well,,

[kelLOGg]

Here is what I am trying with pine cookies. Yeah, pine, it has very dense growth rings so I thought it might be nice end tables. They are about 18" dia.


 

I replaced the stickers with 1" cubes and turn a fan on the stack for 0.5 hour every 3 hours. One cookie is 1.5 years old and the others are 5 months old. Some have very small cracks and slight blue mold. So far, I will continue with this attempt and report back in 3 years. ;D
Bob

[kelLOGg]

It's been 18 months since my last post on pine cookies so here is an interim report. So far so good - only 2 cookies have cracks and they are small - the other 5 did not crack. They range in diameter from 16 to 18 inches and the bark is largely intact. Here is the setup where the fan has been periodically blowing on them.


 

and here are the results:
(Unfortunately, when the tree as felled a small portion of the heart was pulled out leaving a small hole.)



  

  

 

[WV Sawmiller]

   I have not tried the sawdust trick yet. I have some I coated with Anchorseal right after cutting and they have held up well. Also some with holes in the center did well - it seems that relieves much of the stress. Ovals are more stable than straight cross-cuts.

[Don P]

A friend that turns does the sawdust trick, he keeps greenwood bowls in process in bins of dry dust, rough turning and drying them in stages. I guess sort of the same thinking.

I've used antifreeze, ethylene glycol, in borate mixes without discoloration. That was dilute, I'm not sure at what strength it would stain, if it does, worth experimenting. It is also a paint retarder/ flow control, you can get it clear from a real paint store. it evaporates but ever so slowly compared to water. polyethylene glycol, the wood stabilizer, is basically frozen at room temperature it isn't evaporating. in other words PEG reduces overall long term shrinkage, EG, antifreeze will not.

however having something in the surface that evaporates slowly keeping the shell cells bulked while the water migrates up from the core of the piece. I don't discount the reports about antifreeze, I can see it. I'm a carpenter not a chemist, feel free  :D

[drobertson]

After reading this again, I will say and if I can get some pictures I will,, my son in law liked the look of some bigger pine butts we sawed off,, well I still have them in the shed,, been rained on, covered with dust, just a mix of nothing perfect at all, they are still solid,,so the answer to the question really still remains,, wood types, conditions, and luck??? who knows, cut a pile of them,,, hope for the best,

[OffGrid973]

I have some honey Locust that I put paste wax (normally used on lathe turnings) and it held up except where the bark fell off.  I am thinking of spraying the next with a clear poly (light covering) that can be sanded off after the piece fully dries.

The idea of mold growing is a concern but I can't imagine cookie thickness will be able to retain moisture.  Definitely don't bring them inside and change humidity too quickly, might want to brown bag and sawdust, that keeps 1" bowls from cracking before final turning after they dry.  25% cracking rate seems about average.

[moodnacreek]

Back in the 1960's, in Ellenville, N. Y. there was the nut bowl co. They bought hand logged ash bolts in the fall and winter. These were buzz sawed into discs [bark on] and turned into bowls.  I have been told they had strict grading and cutting season rules.  Because the stuff was fresh cut, live and bark on in the dormant state I believe it didn't. crack

[kelLOGg]

It has been 4 and 6 years since the pine cookies in the original post were cut. Since then they have been drying in the barn and kiln, been sanded, polyurethane applied, pedestals cut from old dry cedar posts, bases cut from sweetgum and rubbed with tung oil and assembled with screws. Thicknesses range from 1.5 to about 3 and heights 16" to 20".



 

 

 

 

 

[Haleiwa]

I've had pretty good results with applying polyurethane within a day or two of sawing.  After it hardens, you can sand the surface smooth much easier than if the wood is still wet from sap, and then apply another layer of whatever finish you want.  I've done it with boxelder and birch, both of which are fairly fast growing trees with fairly wide growth rings.  In my experience, boxelder will crack pretty fast if it gets half a chance.

[John S]

They came out great, beautiful work!

[tule peak timber]

KeLOGg,
 PURDEE !! 8) 8)Nice work !

[WDH]

Very Good!