I have alligator bark juniper burl wood that I roughly milled with my chain saw. Because of its softer nature, I want to get it stabilized. How should I prepare the wood for this? Should I cut it into rectangular blocks? I will be sending it in to be done professionally. Some of the slabs I have cut already are beginning to crack throughout (Which I’m assuming may be called checkering, from some of the other posts I have read on this forum). Are these salvagable? Will they still be present after stabilization?
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Replies
The usual suggestion is to cover the end grain of freshly-milled stock as soon as possible after milling. Latex paint is often recommended, but I've also seen melted wax used on smaller pieces of exotic woods to keep the exposed ends from drying too quickly.
The cracks won't heal themselves. So, you'd need to cut away the cracked ends, or live with the cracks. Depending on what you'll be doing with the stock, that may, or may not be a big issue.
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