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Storing green walnut logs

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I just got some 10" diameter x 20" walnut logs from the recent hurricane here in new york city. I'm very excited even though the sap wood is about 50%. Am i better off cutting out the 4 blanks from each or leaving them as logs till i can use them. I will not be turning some of them for several weeks. Also, how should I store them as both logs or as blanks?
I started turning one already and am finding that it is a pleasure.
Thanks in advance,
Robert
 

john lucas

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Here's my emergency too much wood to turn procedure. I stand the wood up on end and then cover the other end with a garbage bag. That seems to keep them from splitting for month or more. as soon as possible cut them up into bowl blanks and move them inside. I seal the end grain with wax or even the whole blank. End grain sealer works pretty well if I use 2 or 3 coats but I find the paraffin wax works better. I melt it in an old electric skillet and just dip them in.
 

john lucas

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You can although I've had bad luck using end grain sealer on logs stored out in the weather and sun. I've had much better luck with the method I mentioned. If the logs are long you can put bags on both ends. ( a double bagger, but I won't go there). This is a temporary fix. I've stored logs this way for several months until the bag starts to tear. The end that is on the ground pretty much seals it from water loss so I don't treat that end. However bugs will still get in the bark and cambuim layer and eventually into the wood itself. It is great for spalting. The one end on the ground picks up the spores that cause spalting. I suppose you could sprinkle some fresh dirt on the top before you bag it to put more spores in it.
 
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I'd cut the wood into blanks, melt some paraffin wax or cheapy candle in a large pot (on a portable electric oven in my shop floor), dip the end grain of the blank, and, why not, all sides too :) and pretty much see how the wood looks like with a finish on it.

Cheers
Jake
 
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I'm with John - with one exception. If you want to display clean sapwood, and keep the bark on, turn those pieces NOW. The extractives will color and muddy the sapwood over time, and the bacteria do their chew through the cambium. A month should be no problem. Truth to tell, as you are in a cool climate, you should be good to go for the winter with plastic bag coverage.

Now the exception - get them off the ground on some support if you're going to lay them down. Walnut doesn't spalt a lot - only the sapwood, and it's ... ugly.
 

john lucas

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Totally agree with MM on the sap wood. It starts looking bad really quick. If you want natural edge bowls turn it soon. the bark looses it's grip very quickly when stored outside.
 

hockenbery

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Robert

Freezing blanks will keep them a long long time. Years at least. I put blanks in two thick plastic bags to protect them from the defrost. Withouth the protective plastic, the defrost will freeze dry the wood and cause it to crack.
You can begin turning the blank while frozen but I usually try to thaw it overnight in the plastic. The frozen chips are cold and a bit harder than the thawed wood.

I like the contrast of sapwood in walnut. Sometimes during turning the sapwood gets stained from the Heartwood juice. This seems to happen more on hollow forms than bowls. I use a two part wood bleach to restore the white. I use Klean strip. Hard to finding small quantities.

The piece In the photo has beached sap wood and came from a tree that hade a 4" thick sap ring.

Have fun!

Al
 

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Wallpaper

i know a turner who seals his ends with a mixture of Wood Glue deluted with water. He'll brush a coat of the glue mixture on the wood, then wallpaper a piece of newspaper, then add another coat of the glue mixture and another coat of the newspaper. I have some new logs that I am going to try this method with. It works for him.
 
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Interesting. Bill and others, wouldn't cheapy school glue do the same thing? You can get Elmer's Glue in gallon jugs for school use, I believe.

I'm so cheap, they have my picture next to the word in the dictionary!
 
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Interesting. Bill and others, wouldn't cheapy school glue do the same thing? You can get Elmer's Glue in gallon jugs for school use, I believe.

Wallpaper paste should do, as well. One I liked best was the Swede carver rubbing the potato on the endgrain. Starches are hygroscopic, so starchy stuff that adheres should keep things expanded, if you need it. Me, I cover with plastic or cardboard in the log. It's normally more than enough expense and effort.
 

john lucas

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I'm with MM. If the log is short I stack them on end and cover the other end with a cheap garbage bag. If long I will do both.
I like the glue and paper idea. May give that a try just for the heck of it.
 
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I have enjoyed, and learned, reading this thread. My question is about the garbage bags that you are using to cover the ends. Could the thin plastic shopping bags that you get at Kroger or Wally world be used instead? Doubled up if needed?

Thanks,
Glenn
#37539
 
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I guess I need to add my 2 cents. Several years ago, I got a couple dozen walnut cutoffs from a fella that cut down a 24" dia walnut tree that was harvested in the middle of winter...sub zero temps, here in southern Michigan.

Within a couple days of getting them, I fired up my chain saw, and cut them in to half-logs, removing the pith from them all. I coated the ends liberally with Anchorseal, and let them sit in my barn ever since. For the first couple months, they were in freezing temps. But since then, out of the weather and with the pith gone, none of them have cracked.

I think the key, like others have said, is to get to them quickly...within a few days. Get rid of the pith, and then bag or paint them, and they should do just fine. But the key is to not delay. I have seen cut logs split within a couple days.
 
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I have enjoyed, and learned, reading this thread. My question is about the garbage bags that you are using to cover the ends. Could the thin plastic shopping bags that you get at Kroger or Wally world be used instead? Doubled up if needed?

If they fit, yes. Used them in the past, but I save them now for diaper disposal on the youngest granddaughter. Sure will be happy when she potty trains up.

I generally put a cutoff over the end to hold the bag longer term.
 
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