Cut off the checked ends or seal?

[Warren Carlisle]

I have some recently cut Bing Cherry wood. 8" - 12" diameter. Some of the ends have started to check. Should I remove the checked surface before sealing or just slap on the sealer and try to fill the checks. The wood was probably cut within the last seven days so the check is not very deep.
Thanks in advance for your time & knowledge.
Newbie Warren

 

[Terry Vaughan]

I would leave it on until you are ready to use the wood. The excess wood will help slow the drying. Put on the sealer now to stop it getting worse. But I would either split or saw the logs to make spindle blanks, or rough out some bowls with it as soon as possible, then seal the end grain.

 

[Mike Peace]

Any existing checking or cracking will likely worsen even with anchorseal. I agree with Dale Nish's advice to make a fresh cut to eliminate the checked end before sealing.

 

[Matthew Clarke]

I have some recently cut Bing Cherry wood. 8" - 12" diameter. Some of the ends have started to check. Should I remove the checked surface before sealing or just slap on the sealer and try to fill the checks. The wood was probably cut within the last seven days so the check is not very deep.
Thanks in advance for your time & knowledge.
Newbie Warren

Hi Warren,

Even if you did nothing, those checks would not go much further in than 2" on each end (a total of 4" lost). So, the most important dimension is the length of the piece. I generally cut fresh wood in lengths of 16 to 20 inches in length (along the long grain). Most of the time, I also seal the wood with anchor seal. Even without it, I know that, at worst, I will end up with a blank that is 12 to 16 inches long.

Matt

 

[Richard Coers]

Fruitwood loves to crack. I would cut those sections in half through the center, cut off the checks, and double coat the ends with anchor seal. Keep it out of the sun, and limit air flow around it. Good luck.

 

[Ian Thorn]

As allready said fruit wood loves to split I turn it green then soak it in 50\50 dishwash and water for 2 weeks then let it dry in the shadeinthe workshop result not cracking and very little movement

 

[MichaelMouse]

As Matt said, end checks are self-limiting. Did you take the pieces up the middle to relieve radial checking? If not, do so now. Examine the heart area as well as branch positioning to decide where to cut. Heart checks are exceedingly common in wild-grown trees. Not sure of the domesticated varieties. Cutting up the middle through them is one way to get rid of them.

You may coat if you care to. It will limit existing end checks, but won't do anything for the other two types. Best bet, as you should know, is to rough the pieces you want to come out round oversize, cure them with or without coating out of the sun and wind, then re-turn for round and thickness. Basement's good, though an unheated garage will also do the job.

With cherry it's really a good idea to get those pieces where you want to feature heart-sapwood contrast done early. Otherwise, the sapwood will discolor.

 

[john lucas]

My personal opinion is that the cracks aren't self limiting. But it depends on storage. When I cut smaller pieces for spindle turning they are stored out of the sun and off the ground in my shop. In this instance the cracks do tend to stop after a certain point. However if I have cut off any cracks that existed in the wood when I cut these down and seal them with paraffin wax I don't get any cracks.
If I have wood that is starting to crack that's still outside even under a tarp it will eventually crack further and become useless for bowl blanks which is why I started cutting them into spindle blanks.
So to answer your question I think the cracks will not progress much further if the ends are sealed. I don't think it's the cracks themselves that cause more cracking although that would now be a weak point in the wood and if the end isn't sealed and the wood starts drying and needs to move I would think it would move where the crack is. As a rule of thumb if the wood is ready to be moved into my shop for storage I cut the cracks off and reseal the ends.

 

[Gretch Flo]

cracks or checks??

John- I probably don't have the words to explain my feelings of the difference between checks and cracks.
I think of a check as small diameter, multiple site damage. Cracks seem to me to be larger, and maybe less numerous.
Lately I have had some sap wood on semi dry bowls of hickory, apple wood open up (cracks or checks??) a few days after making them. They are staggered. They seem to be closing.
Cracks gape apart further and may not close. Make any sense???
On the logs checks seem to be thin and multiple, where cracks are wider and less numerous. Is there a difference???? Gretch

 

[MichaelMouse]

Illustration of a couple of the points mentioned so far.

Heart checks originate there. You can see the small area of brown rot at the heart of this piece. Obvious point of origin, as they are wider at the heart.

Radial checks originate at the surface. The most obvious are in the 9:30-11:00 area. Once again, origin indicated by the widest.

End checks are radially dispersed, but they originate and end, as you can see, in their own area. Weakness in the wood. They self-limit, because the wood which shrinks eventually finds a place in depth where internal capillary flow equals loss. Just keeping the fresh end out of the sun is usually enough to limit them to minimum by species.

Second is the bark up piece on top. Cutting early preserves the white and the bark best. A few weeks in the company of bacteria and the cambium will be history.

Gretch mentions another possibility with summer wood. The difference in structure between sapwood and heartwood can be so significant that the sapwood will end check on its own, ahead of heartwood (not heart) checks.

Lastly, here's what can happen if you leave the log lying there, and the moisture follows gravity.

 

[john lucas]

Gretch Reminds me of the discussion we had the other day on the difference between, tiger, quilted and curly maple. To me a crack or a check is the same thing, scrap wood. However if the cracks are far enough apart I might get good wood in between, which is why I started cutting spindle stock.
I try my best to save the wood but just don't have enough time to turn or even give away all the wood I can get. It has to be stored outside and eventually starts to crack no matter what I do. If I have time at that point I will cut it at the crack and see what I can save. With luck I'll get a bowl or vessel blank out of it. If it's too far gone I'll make spindle stock for boxes, ornaments, and treen ware.
that's part of why I've gone to such extremes to try and save the wood using paraffin and end grain sealer. I just hate to see it go to waste.

 

[odie]

John- I probably don't have the words to explain my feelings of the difference between checks and cracks.
I think of a check as small diameter, multiple site damage. Cracks seem to me to be larger, and maybe less numerous.
Lately I have had some sap wood on semi dry bowls of hickory, apple wood open up (cracks or checks??) a few days after making them. They are staggered. They seem to be closing.
Cracks gape apart further and may not close. Make any sense???
On the logs checks seem to be thin and multiple, where cracks are wider and less numerous. Is there a difference???? Gretch

Gretch.......

I'm probably guilty of using either term for either application.......but, your explanation sounds pretty good to me. I never really gave it much thought, and it really doesn't make much difference to me if the use of the term isn't applied to some technically correct standard.

Checks can be numerous and very small......a group of very fine cracks, so to speak. A crack, as you suggest, is usually one big split......and the end of the line for a bowl!

But......who knows?.......someone will probably come along and give us the official industry definition......:cool2:

ooc