# Drying slices/cookies



## Rustburger (Dec 18, 2021)

Anyone have experience drying large wood slices/cookies? What are best methods, should they be sealed, air dry or kiln dry, how to flatten etc….

Thanks

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## 2feathers Creative Making (Dec 18, 2021)

The more angle, the less cracking. Straight cuts across the tree have a great chance of cracking. The peg treatment seems to help sometimes. I have tended to try to find VERY dead trees, cross my fingers and then wait. Some cracked, some didn't.
The other thing that has worked for me was a stump cut.
Flattening is easier with a router sled followed by sanding with a cabinet shop sander. The end grain is a bugger to hand sand.

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## Rustburger (Dec 19, 2021)

2feathers Creative Making said:


> The more angle, the less cracking. Straight cuts across the tree have a great chance of cracking. The peg treatment seems to help sometimes. I have tended to try to find VERY dead trees, cross my fingers and then wait. Some cracked, some didn't.
> The other thing that has worked for me was a stump cut.
> Flattening is easier with a router sled followed by sanding with a cabinet shop sander. The end grain is a bugger to hand sand.


How thick do you normally cut them and have you ever used epoxy to fill the cracks?


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## Rustburger (Dec 19, 2021)

Here is a pic of one of the better rounds

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## Eric Rorabaugh (Dec 19, 2021)

That would make a beautiful platter

Reactions: Agree 3


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## Rustburger (Dec 19, 2021)

Eric Rorabaugh said:


> That would make a beautiful platter


It has lots of possibilities if I don’t screw it up ;)

Reactions: +Karma 1


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## 2feathers Creative Making (Dec 19, 2021)

Rustburger said:


> Here is a pic of one of the better rounds
> 
> View attachment 219575


2 to 3 inches is where I usually cut them. And yes, I have epoxied a few. That level of spalting will at least need a tabletop coating, I believe.


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## vegas urban lumber (Dec 19, 2021)

you can band them with very large or multiple hose clamps, you can wrap in cardboard and cover in sawdust, or use 
pentacryl https://www.preservation-solutions.com/product/pentacryl/

Reactions: Thank You! 1


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## Rustburger (Dec 19, 2021)

Anyone dared to put them in a kiln? If so, I assume that the moisture content would need to be around 15 to 20 % or lower.

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## djg (Dec 19, 2021)

Rustburger said:


> Anyone dared to put them in a kiln? If so, I assume that the moisture content would need to be around 15 to 20 % or lower.


Years ago, a guy on another forum, used a vacuum kiln. Kind of like freeze drying.

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## JerseyHighlander (Dec 19, 2021)

Rustburger said:


> Anyone dared to put them in a kiln? If so, I assume that the moisture content would need to be around 15 to 20 % or lower.


My take on this, working the wood green and drying as I go, to get a finished product is that the slower it dries the better. Using a kiln to force it dry is not something I would do. In my work, I always split the log at the pith and remove that section, what you are doing here is very different but the same principles apply. A round section always cracks from the center pith outward radially. The wood at the pith/center is much more dry and dense than the outer wood and will not shrink the same as the outer wood, so the outer rings are going to try to shrink down around the center plug that will remain close to current size, causing the radial cracks. Stabilizing the wood with something that soaks in to fill the grain to prevent shrinkage as it drys and drying slow are keys to preventing cracking. Keep it wrapped up in a plastic bag until you get to it.


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## Rustburger (Dec 19, 2021)

JerseyHighlander said:


> My take on this, working the wood green and drying as I go, to get a finished product is that the slower it dries the better. Using a kiln to force it dry is not something I would do. In my work, I always split the log at the pith and remove that section, what you are doing here is very different but the same principles apply. A round section always cracks from the center pith outward radially. The wood at the pith/center is much more dry and dense than the outer wood and will not shrink the same as the outer wood, so the outer rings are going to try to shrink down around the center plug that will remain close to current size, causing the radial cracks. Stabilizing the wood with something that soaks in to fill the grain to prevent shrinkage as it drys and drying slow are keys to preventing cracking. Keep it wrapped up in a plastic bag until you get to it.


The good news for me is the tree has been down for years and is already at 28% moisture in the center and 22% on the outside. I probably will seal it and put it in my basement to slowly dry.

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## 2feathers Creative Making (Dec 19, 2021)

Rustburger said:


> The good news for me is the tree has been down for years and is already at 28% moisture in the center and 22% on the outside. I probably will seal it and put it in my basement to slowly dry.


I have only used them for tabletops. Turning purposes, I have no clue...

Reactions: Informative 1


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## Rustburger (Dec 19, 2021)

2feathers Creative Making said:


> I have only used them for tabletops. Turning purposes, I have no clue...


Currently, I plan to use them for lazy Susan’s, center pieces or small end tables.

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## JerseyHighlander (Dec 19, 2021)

Rustburger said:


> The good news for me is the tree has been down for years and is already at 28% moisture in the center and 22% on the outside. I probably will seal it and put it in my basement to slowly dry.


That's definitely to your advantage. The spalting may actually help as well, the degradation allowing a little more flex in the fibers... Maybe. 
What wood is that Birch?

Reactions: Agree 1


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## Rustburger (Dec 22, 2021)

JerseyHighlander said:


> That's definitely to your advantage. The spalting may actually help as well, the degradation allowing a little more flex in the fibers... Maybe.
> What wood is that Birch?


Maple


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## 2feathers Creative Making (Dec 23, 2021)

What is your goal? Turning or tabletop or ... make for an interesting piece any way you use it. You got the whole butt log? Or is this a stump?


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## Rustburger (Dec 28, 2021)

2feathers Creative Making said:


> What is your goal? Turning or tabletop or ... make for an interesting piece any way you use it. You got the whole butt log? Or is this a stump?


Sorry missed your response

I would like to use these and others for table tops. I have several short sections of logs about 3 feet long. Here is a pic of one that I cut today.

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## 2feathers Creative Making (Dec 28, 2021)

Rustburger said:


> Sorry missed your response
> 
> I would like to use these and others for table tops. I have several short sections of logs about 3 feet long. Here is a pic of one that I cut today.
> 
> View attachment 220073


The spalted don't crack as badly. I can't recommend any particular method other than slowly. Steaming a sound chunk might help relax the fibers, I haven't tried that. But the swedes ,I believe, have successfully steamed lumber to slow or stop warping which is caused by uneven fiber stresses.

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## 2feathers Creative Making (Dec 29, 2021)

For bowls, the home remedy version is to boil them. With cuts this large, you would need a hog scalding trough or some other large metal vat. Outdoor heating is the only viable option for this large a blank. One note, everyone agrees that boiling will require a sanding after the fact to remove surface stains from tannin leach and other impurities being washed out of the wood. I feel that a fully spalted round is about the safest. I have dried some several pieces of spalted stuff without any serious cracking.

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