# Cutting Box Elder



## Salt4wa

I've been given permission to cut all the box elder I want from 10 acres in the river flats. I made a trip out there and estimate there are about 20 trees that have a DBH of 12 + inches. I cut a few of the down trees (some alive yet, some dead for a couple of years). I haven't cut box elder before. About 1/3 of what I cut of the down stuff had flame in it. Of that, about 1/3 had decent flame when I got it home and cut it with the grain with my chain saw.
Here's the questions:
1. Does it matter what time of year I cut box elder if I'm going to square up the logs into 10x10x10 when I get home?
2. When using Anchorseal II I only apply to the end grain - right?
3. Will gloss exterior latex paint work as good at Anchorseal II ?
4. Can you tell if a tree is likely to have a lot of flame in it before your cut it? If so, what do I look for?
5. Is there a way to make the tree get more flame in it and then come back in one year and harvest it?
6. I plan on drying this in the top of my barn after I cut it in blocks and seal it. Is this a good way to dry it? How long will it take to dry?
Any other tips would be appreciated.
Thanks
- Loren


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## DKMD

I'll take a stab at a couple of the questions. I don't know that I'd ever expect a 10" cube to dry completely, but I'd expect it to take a number of years if it did. Boxelder seems to dry fairly rapidly, so maybe there's a chance. If you're planning on turning the wood, you'd be much better off roughing it out for drying purposes.

I'd seal the endgrain at a minimum, but there are so many factors to consider... Local temp, humidity, initial moisture content, grain pattern, etc. What works for one person in one climate might not work for someone in another location.

I think anchorseal is better than paint, and paint is better than nothing.


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## Salt4wa

Thanks for response/advice David,
I'll probably cut some of the blocks in half now and then do the rest this fall when I have more time. I understand that drying the wood slowly is one of the keys to avoiding splits/cracks.


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## JohnAtkins

You need to seal the end grain as soon as possible and from what I've been told latex paint will work. A good rule of thumb for drying wood is 1 year of drying is needed for every 1 inch of thickness of the blank. You will also need to put stickers (small pieces of wood kinda like a stir stick size) between the floor and the first blank and then one between each layer of wood. This will let air flow between the wood. Hope this helps and good luck.


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## Kevin

JohnAtkins said:


> 1) A good rule of thumb for drying wood is 1 year of drying is needed for every 1 inch of thickness of the blank.
> 
> 2) You will also need to put stickers (small pieces of wood kinda like a stir stick size) between the floor and the first blank and then one between each layer of wood. This will let air flow between the wood.



John, don't take this personally but I need to address a couple of things for the sake of accuracy. 

1) This is a never-ending myth that is perpetuated by people with little or no experience drying wood. It cannot be used as "a rule of thumb" nor any other rule. It might be accurate for one or two species but there are hundreds of species commonly dried in north America that do not fall anywhere close in such a range. Most species between 4/4 and 6/4 will reach EMC much sooner than the "rule" states and some take much longer. There are way too many variables that make any such rule absolutely useless. Very few species will dry within a "one inch per year" rule. 

2) Stickers must be at least 3/4 square in order to allow proper airflow through the pile. Something as thin as a stir stick would be about as effective as dead-stacking. Stickers should be between 12 to 16" apart for 4/4 lumber depending on the species. For FBE which dries fairly easily 16" is fine. The sleepers (the timber the whole pile sits on) should be AT LEAST 4 x 4s to keep the pile high enough off the ground to prevent mildew of the lower portion and also to help keep bugs out. 

As Doc said latex paint is better than nothing but is not recommended. 

.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Salt4wa

Thanks John & Kevin,
I didn't know about the 4x4s on the bottom of the pile. I'll make sure I do that. I knew I'd have to sticker it between layers. I'm accumulating a big pile of hard maple, spalted maple, black locust, and now boxelder. I'm going to cut some more boxelder trees tomorrow - so if any one can tell me how to pick out a tree that is more likely to have flame in it, please let me know soon. I just acquired a Husqvarna 55 with a 20 inch bar last night . I'll put it to the test tomorrow! 
- Loren


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## Flacer22

Some on here gave me the idea to drill into the tree first before cutting it. So I take a half in bit towards base and drill to center if bright red comes out cut it down. Of just hints of red or pink comes out leave it stand


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## elnino

or just take a low limb off. don't cut above your shoulder. or the drill a small thin hole seems best and safest.


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## Mike Jones

Not knowing what you plan to do with your 10 x 10 x 10 cants.....

If you plan to resaw into dimensional lumber when dry....you're better off to resaw it green and sticker it up...asap.

If you plan to cut turning blanks....center the pith in the cant, even if you have to take an 8" x out of it, (due to an off-center pith) and cross cut lengths that fit most tuner's length limits...remember, ...."pith to be centered or removed completely".
If you plan to sell or trade some turning blocks from this harvest, you'll be better off to seal the entire block and do that immediately after cutting.
Most turners will know how to deal with it green and sealed, so it can be sold in that form.

If you want to get premium price, or, if you want to hurry the process a bit, consider boiling some blocks as you go about. Visualize a 55 gal. drum, set up on concrete blocks and a nice fire going under the drum with a couple three gallons of water boiling and steaming.. Drill a small hole right down the center of the pith in one or two, and put a meat thermometer into that hole. You want to hold 180 degrees inside the core for an hour....that might take six or seven hours in the soup to accomplish.

I don't know of anything that you can do to change, alter, or enhance the colors that you see when you cut it.

If you want to store some cants for a long time, I'd consider anchorsealing the full length all four sides and both ends. I'd prolly, liberally sprinkle some boric acid on and around and under the stock pile to assure that they will not take up buggy guests.

I'll likely think of a few more things tomorrow....I'm a tired old man right now.


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## chris75111

I log for a living and a old man about 80 came to my job and wanted some box elder he had made red I ask him what he did he told me that you go out in fall of the year and take a something sharp andyou strip some of the bark of of the places you want red comeback middle summer cut trees you will have way more red the red is a fungus by striping bark off you get more red don't kill tree by striping to much bark

Reactions: Like 1


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