removing anchor seal from black walnut burl?

[Left_Coast_Rich]

  I recently sold a fully anchorseal encased walnut burl to a friend who asked how to get rid of the seal.  I never thought about removing the stuff just mking sure that the burl didn't dry to quickly..    How do you get it out of the wood without making a mess.  LC Rich ???

[Den Socling]

I think it is supposed to vaporize around 140'F. The idea being that kiln dried wood doesn't have Anchorseal stains.

[jkj]

How do you get it out of the wood...

It should be only on the surface and not have penetrated deep into the wood even if there are cracks.  Since few burls are used as is, I'd think the least amount of processing, e.g., with a saw, rasp, or plane, should remove every bit.  It's gone with the first shavings when woodturning.  Even a wire brushing should remove most of it.  If he intends to finish with something like varnish, I guess I'd worry about applying heat in case the wax would liquify and soak deep into open grain or cracks, but I haven't tried it.

JKJ

[foose89]

Try a scraper and a rag loaded with turpentine.

[Left_Coast_Rich]

Thanks for your help.  He wants to make a table out of the top.  Could be trouble,  I think I will give him another slab without the seal, I have several that came out of a old burl that was really dry and hard to keep the blade sharp.  LC Rich.

[Larry]

I use Anchorseal and like it...sometimes.  If the wood goes into a kiln where temperature gets above 130 degrees or so it will melt and go into the end grain maybe an inch or so.  Not a problem for me on grade hardwoods.  Haven't had any trouble with air drying at low temperatures.  A burl that has been coated with Anchorseal may be asking for trouble when it comes time to finish if it soaks into the wood.

If interested I can post pics one of these days where you can see Anchorseal absorbed into the end grain...it's quite evident.

[Den Socling]

That's interesting. I've trimmed about a zillion ends looking for closed end checks and never saw any penetration in wood dried in vacuum kilns.