Replies

1. 
   BG | Jun 12, 2003 09:51pm | #1

   Wanabe,

   Hopfully Jon Arno or someone knowledgeable will see your post, but usually that means the ends are drying faster than the rest of the board...

   You need to seal up the ends to slow down the drying process.  Paint is the best inhibitor and BLO is one of the least..wax slightly better...with shellac slightly better than wax...

2. 
   SCFrankland | Jun 12, 2003 10:33pm | #2

   On the hardwood I cut I always use cheap white latex paint.  I have looked at sealers but could not justify the price.  I have never had a problem with splitting when the paint has been applied.  I will usally will paint the ends as soon as I have cut my logs to length.

   Scott C. Frankland

   "This all could have been prevented if their parents had just used birth control"

3. 
   ron61 | Jun 13, 2003 12:14am | #3

   Take some shellac and seal the end grain. I  think it may still be green.

4. 
   ChasStanford | Jun 13, 2003 12:30am | #4

   Cut off the split part.  Melt a candle on the cut ends or swipe them with an exterior oil base paint.

1. 
   JohnWW | Jun 13, 2003 02:38am | #5

   I don't see any need to cut off the split part now, the board could be ripped along the split and the full length would still be usable.  I wouldn't waste an inch of the boards, which could be fairly rare or unique, until I was sure the ends weren't salvagable.

   Quicker and less messy than painting or waxing the ends of the boards would be to just cover them with duct tape, you should do this immediately, the splits will only get worse steadily.  Put the boards someplace away from high temperatures or sun, where they can dry out gradually.  Lean them up individually against a wall or sticker them in a pile so that they will dry out evenly.

   John W.

5. 
   StanleyNiemiec | Jun 13, 2003 04:20am | #6

   End grain drying rates are ten times or more greater than flat grain.  When wood dries, it shrinks.  Ergo you get end splitting.

   The most effective method would be to dip the wood into liquid paraffin.  Melt the paraffin carefully over a double boiler.  Repeated dipping (3 or more) would be most effective but you have to let the wax harden between submersions.

   Stanley Niemiec  --  Wood Technologist

6. 
   jonsherryl | Jun 14, 2003 04:21pm | #7

   Wanabe, my favorite end coating is slightly diluted yellow glue. Unfortunately, once the splits have started, end coating doesn't help all that much...unless you trim back to fresh wood...And that sounds wasteful, given the lengths of what you have. Maybe, if you use Stanley's suggestion of dipping them beyond the splits...but use the glue (just slightly diluted), you might salvage as much as you can. You could try clamping the ends while the glue sets. This would both function as a moisture barrier and lock the existing splits together a little better than the wax.

   What I'm more curious about is what the wood might be. The rosewoods don't usually develop a bad case of split ends and the color you describe doesn't sound like any of the Central American rosewoods. Maybe it's one of the Cordias or Sickingia. Pretty woods, but they're not as stable.