LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Seal ends on old slabs?

1K views 6 replies 7 participants last post by  Lazyman 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I made my first hardwood purchase this weekend - two small black walnut slabs from a guy locally, both 3in thick, one is roughly 3'x 2' and the other about 1.5' x 2'.

The guy said they'd been drying for 4 years and he found them while hunting and had them slabbed up but the endgrain isn't sealed on either and there are a few cracks. Either way I'm led to believe these are probably pretty old, obviously at least more than 4 years but probably way older even.

I'm gonna be storing these for maybe another week or so before any projects (though I might actually mill them in the next couple days). Do I need to seal the endgrain while they're sitting? Or should they be stable enough?

I have wood glue (naturally), spray paint, paste wax, latex paint and tons of oil and other finishes on hand for whatever works as a sealant. Just wanna make sure I'm not gonna ruin the wood!
 
#2 ·
I have a hobby kiln, and have put a lot of thought into this sort of question. Most of the checking will occur in the first year of air drying. At this point, not much will change whether you end seal or not.

If you were going to put air dried slabs in the kiln, it might be worth end sealing. But if you're just going to work the slabs in an air dried state, I wouldn't bother sealing the ends.
 
#3 ·
A location, at least an approximation of location would be helpful. What happens to lumber in Texas, and Southern states will be different than in Mn, upper Mi. How quickly it can air dry, as well as what could happen when you "open it up"

Define milling? What do you have in mind to do? Resaw, or just cut the entire slabs to rough length/width?

Air dried wood will absorb moisture more than Kiln dried, so you can get fluctuating moisture levels, couple that with a Northern address and if it truly is just 4 years slabbed, it could still well be pretty wet inside.
 
#4 ·
Whatever the actual moisture is now isn't going to change much in a week for a three inch thick board. I don't have one now but when I start buying hardwood I plan on getting a moisture meter. I stopped by a place the always has slabs next to the highway and I am just not into slabs but thought maybe I could cut them down into something I can use. As I looked at them there was a lot of checking on unseals ends, like 8" into the slab. I asked do you sticker these? He said "yes, I put the price stickers on this morning". They were cut the weekend before and other than owning a wood Miser he knew nothing about wood. I thanked him and moved on.
 
#6 ·
The time it takes wood to come to equilibrium with respect to moisture varies with size and environment. What the moisture content is at equilibrium can also be influenced by location/environment. However, with respect to slabs the size described in the OP, I don't see any point in sealing the endgrain at this point. If they aren't fully dry, they're pretty close and the checking has already occurred. You'll see some more movement when you mill them down into smaller sizes but that's just the nature of the beast and I don't foresee sealing the ends affecting that one way or the other.
 
#7 ·
I am with the others that most of the checking on the ends has probably already occurred if they are more than a year old. Note though that if you start to mill them and cut them in half lengthwise for example, you may find that the new cuts will check if you do not coat the newly exposed ends. Also note that the grain pattern you can see on the ends will affect how badly they crack. If for example, you can see some growth rings from within about 2-3" from the center or pith, you usually will get more cracking and warping than if the slabs have none of the juvenile wood from near the center of the tree. Also, as you mill them into smaller, narrower boards, removing the juvenile wood will make them much more stable, especially if they still need some time to dry.

You might want to get a moisture meter just to see where you stand, especially away from the ends. Even a cheap meter will give you a rough idea how much moisture is left.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top