i ve got a question , how important is it to seal the end of the boards after i cut them , for instance i just cut some red oak and stacked and stickered it , just wondering if i need to seal it or not ,and how important it is and why . i made some 11 inch wide and some 24 inch wide by 1 inch by 8 ft long any input would be helpfull.
jim
Hi,
Seal the log first, then boards are already sealed, or only need a touch up. I find that it can make a pretty big difference in the quality of air dried wood. Others here will speak to kiln drying.
Best of luck,
jay
Most of the moisture in wood comes out of the ends of the boards or logs. You'll slow the air drying time by sealing the ends. I don't think that is necessary on many different species.
In oak, it may help by lessening the surface checking in the boards. But, the only time I've had problems with that was when there were lots of air moving over it, like in the springtime. If you put it in the kilns, those surface checks often close back up.
Stickering is important, and you should have your stickers on top of each other, and close to the end. If a board is going to split, it normally only goes to the sticker, unless there's a lot of stress.
24" boards look nice, but they have a tendency to have a mind of their own.
Quote from: jmouton on February 15, 2013, 12:13:37 PM
...just wondering if i need to seal it or not ,and how important it is and why .
Yes, you need to seal it and as Jay noted, it's a lot easier to seal the end of the log than it is the individual boards after they are sawed out.
The boards will loose moisture through the end-grain first. The ends of the boards shrink and that shrinkage eventually exceeds the strength of the wood, causing it to check (pull itself apart). You can lose several inches of lumber on each end. This is not as big a concern for an individual stack but for large operations, it can be a significant loss in lumber and profit.
Sealing the end-grain slows down the moisture loss through it and lets the board dry more evenly which eliminates a lot of the end checking.
Seal the ends with something like Anchorseal and also place a sticker close to each end as end-checks will often not progress past the first sticker.
Quote from: Tree Feller on February 15, 2013, 12:46:03 PM
Quote from: jmouton on February 15, 2013, 12:13:37 PM
...just wondering if i need to seal it or not ,and how important it is and why .
Yes, you need to seal it and as Jay noted, it's a lot easier to seal the end of the log than it is the individual boards after they are sawed out.
The boards will loose moisture through the end-grain first. The ends of the boards shrink and that shrinkage eventually exceeds the strength of the wood, causing it to check (pull itself apart). You can lose several inches of lumber on each end. This is not as big a concern for an individual stack but for large operations, it can be a significant loss in lumber and profit.
Sealing the end-grain slows down the moisture loss through it and lets the board dry more evenly which eliminates a lot of the end checking.
Seal the ends with something like Anchorseal and also place a sticker close to each end as end-checks will often not progress past the first sticker.
I see Ron beat me with his post. The grandson was calling me. ;D
On the other hand, if you've already milled the boards, end sealing is still useful, provided the boards have not already started to end check. Latex paint isn't as good, but it is better than nothing. If some old-timer recommends using tar, just nod. I tried sawing some logs that the customer had sealed with tar. Never again!
I wouldnt bother with red oak if you already have it cut up and stacked. As long as the wind isn't real high you shouldnt have much end checking. I have a bunch of fresh cut oak drying right now and the red oak is looking good.
I like clear end sealer
so I can better determine grain orentation ,
5 galons of anchor seal goes along way ,
5 gal of white glue from the big box stores watered down works well too.
for exotics I use melted parafine ,
A friend of mine uses old cans of varnish .
also need to keep ends shaded .
the saying goes
It dont matter when you seal your ends as long as you do it before lunch
(with the exotics)
Jmouton.....I must have missed ya before but Welcome to the Forum.
What project do you have in mind for 1 inch boards x 24 inches wide?
Good Luck on the sealing......these guys know what they're talking about. smiley_thumbsup
I guess I am in the other camp. As long as a log is cut at least 8'6", rarely does sealing become a factor. You can still get an 8 ft usable board. Unless you seal just as soon as its cut down, it won't do much good anyway. And if your depending on loggers for regular saw logs, its not going to happen.
Only exceptions might be a high end veneer log. We also suggest that a customer seal after sanding as soon as possible on a heavy mantle piece, trying to keep the moisture sealed in.
The only logs that get end sealed in our operation are export veneer. Domestic veneer and sawlogs get no treatment. The lumber also gets not treatment. I imagine someone's done a cost/benefit analysis on it. None of the wood at the box stores have end treat. How much do you gain vs the cost of the treat?
Ron, does the export veneer get treated because you are sending the best of the best of veneer overseas? Or is the time involving shipping before the logs get there. Also, do you put those S things in the ends of those logs to help prevent splitting? I do recall one company using those for veneer.
I have to end seal most species, especially red and white oak. The appearance of the board is very important when retailing small volume sales to woodworkers. If you don't seal pecan ( smiley_devil), it will take it out on you.
S hooks are put in logs, especially is there is some heart check. There are some plastic fasteners that work just as well. There was a stretch where we were in a quarantine zone for gypsy moth. The feds would come out and inspect them, and if there were too many egg masses, we had to debark the logs. Not a real problem for our setup. There is no other treatment, like heat or the like.
thanks for all the info guys its very helpfull, i just cut more of the same wood and stacked and stickered it , we will see what happens , hopefully the 24 inch wide dont move around alot so i can get the most money out of it , thanks again
jim
We did some actual measurements of end checks and found that end coating (we used Anchorseal) reduced end checking by 2-1/2" per end. That is 5% on an 8-ft board. Our test was 5/4 red oak. There is no question that an end sealer that slows drying is very beneficial for denser woods that have higher shrinkage.
We found the same benefit for coating fresh log ends and fresh lumber ends.
The faster drying through the ends affects mainly the last 10" of the lumber, so on an 8-ft piece, over 6 feet dries only by the faces.
When stacking, if the stickers are at the end of the lumber, end checking is minimized. This is because the faster end drying is not also accelerated by face drying...the sticker stops face drying for a few inches.
As others have said, my experience has been that sealing helps quite a bit with most hardwoods especially oak. On pine, I wouldn't bother. It dries so fast anyway, I haven't noticed many problems with end checking.
So is the consensus that sealing is best for hardwoods but not for softwoods?
What about the thickness of the wood/timber cut. Is sealing recommended for big timbers, regardless of species (say larger than 5") because the ratio of mass to surface area is great? That is, the middle of the wood will take a long time to reach the surface vs. the ends.
My experience is that with thick lumber or beams, the end checking can be serious.
John,
As a Sawyer and a Timber Wright, if it is a beam and you want to reduce checking, as WDH just stated, seal the ends well.
Big wood, beam or slab, soft or hard, benefits greatly from end sealing and/or "cleating."
Regards,
jay
Yup, that is what WDH stated.