Chinese Monkey Puzzle Wood

[Clark Champion]

I've just acquired two pieces of Monkey Puzzle wood (aka Chilean Pine), both about 2+ feet long and 10-12 inches in diameter. The live tree was cut down less than two weeks ago, here in the Pacific Northwest, and not sealed - but zero cracking yet. I've never seen so much sap from a log. Seems to be all from cambium layer, wood itself appears clean and fairly dry.
I've put two coats of waxy emulsion sealer on it and set it on the dry porch for now. But it looks like the sap is pushing its way through the sealer.
What else do I need to do to get it ready to turn? I really don't want to be spinning that sap all over the shop and my tools.
Thanks for any help or suggestions.

 

[hockenbery]

Monkey puzzle is similar to Norfolk Island pine and cook pine.

Cut pieces are often hard to distinguish between NIP and monkey puzzle

Where the limbs are they have rings of knots like NIP. Below the limbs there will be over grown rings of knots.
NIP Is the messiest wood I have turned. I stood one piece on end in the shop for a couple weeks - had to use a crowbar to pry it loose - the sap had welded it to the concrete floor.

Best way to avoid the mess is give it to a freind.

 

[Kevin Jesequel]

I’ve turned a bit of it. Put it under a tarp for a while and it will spalt, developing blue/black streaks and sometimes red, similar to NIP, as Hockenbery said. Once it gets to that stage, the bark and cambium layer will be dry and flake off easily. If you turn it green, remove the cambium layer to get rid of most of the sap. There will still be a mist of slightly sticky sap when turning, but I didn’t find it any worse than wet cherry. It smells good too.

 

[Richard Hodsdon]

Get a lot of NIP here. Neighbour took down two large NIP trees about 3 mth ago. Was easier to drop off the large pieces in my yard than send to the dump.
What I have found is that it is easiest to remove the bark (messy job, actually incredibly messy job) . This leaves the wood bare and "slimy" which I then wash off using the garden hose. If I don't wash the slime off then mildew sets in within days ( I am in Zululand ie hot sub tropical east coast of South Africa) Cut into blanks , never worry about sealing ends and very little cracking occurs. Normally dry within 2 mths

 

[Clark Champion]

Great input! Thank you all.
-Clark