I know the Japanese sometimes kerf posts in a timberframe for aesthetics.
Would kerfing cookies up to the pith help them in drying?
Anyone do that? After drying you could then cut the kerf clean and insert a pie wedge from another cookie? Or do an epoxy fill?
Thoughts?
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/16191/Ash_cookies_1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1575510160)
Sure, Gene has suggested that a number of times. It looks like you already have an internal check started at about 8:00
You could leave them alone and let the cookie decide where the crack will be. Then, you can insert or fill it.
if you create a check or let it happen, you can then follow that check and cut on though the cookie. joint the edges of the two halves, and glue them back together. most of the rings will line up.
Brad, I've kerfed cookies before with mixed results. In some instances they still checked rather badly in other spots. I've had some that opened up like a pie wedge as they dried, and others where the kerf actually stayed tight on the perimeter, opening up a bit more in the middle, while other checks developed on opposite sides of the cookie.
A few things that I've learned.....
1- checking is directly related to the species, and correlates with the listed radial / tangential shrinkage percentages. Species with low shrinkage rages can be more successfully dried as cookies versus species with higher rates (such as oak).
2 - Drilling relief cuts on the bottom side of the cookie can help reduce the potential for full cracking. What I've done is to use a 2" Forster bit, and drill 75% or so of the way through from the bottom. As an example, if I have a 24" diameter cookie, 2-1/2" thick, I'll drill 15 or so holes from the bottom, approximately 1-3/4" deep. The cookie tends to dry a bit concave on top, but they are less likely to crack all of the way through. This works very well if you pour pentacryl in the bottom side too.
Scott, let me throw another into the mix. Have you noticed checking to be greatest with woods that have high shrinkage rates or high T/R ratios?
My experience is that cookies from logs that have laid out for a while and aged some crack less than cookies from fresh logs.
I tried to cut a kerf into a live oak cookie once with my shop bandsaw and could not remove the blade so I made cookie halves. The cookie closed up behind the blade as I cut.
Quote from: Don P on December 09, 2019, 12:57:18 PM
Scott, let me throw another into the mix. Have you noticed checking to be greatest with woods that have high shrinkage rates or high T/R ratios?
High T/R ratio's.