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Wood preparation/drying...

D

Dan0741

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Gents,

I have obtained some oak, originally for firewood. Its in very large chunks, about as big as i can carry, some are about 600x400x400. It dawned on me before i chop it all up some of it can be used for making stuff rather than lobbing on the fire. Its been cut about a month and is sitting outside on pallets.

I have no experience with 'proper' wood and I wondered if anyone can offer me any guidance on how I should store this to minimise the cracking as it dries, I've seen ideas of painting the ends and spraying with water etc. Is this worthwhile, some say that the cracks will close as it fully dries. I'm happy to cut unnecessary bits off but want to leave some as large as i can should I get a lathe and turning becomes an option?

Cheers,

Dan :D
 
The main thing is to remove the pith, the central point of the tree though not usually dead centre of the log.This is where splits will radiate from, removing it gives the best chance of obtaining usable wood. You can usually identify the pith as it's about the diameter of a pencil & darker in colour than the rest of the log.

Split the log half inch either side of the pith, I paint the ends with neat pva usually a couple of coats but anything that slows moisture loss will do, stack them out of direct sunlight with a bit of board over them to keep off worst of the weather off.

If you're new to turning I'd suggest you keep your eye out for some Sycamore, Oaks not the easiest timber to turn & as Sycamore grows like a weed it's usually easy to obtain & a nice wood to turn.
 
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