Trees

[PS_Bond]

Say you just acquired a freshly felled plum tree.

"You just acquired a freshly felled plum tree"

(before anyone else thinks of it)

I've lopped the thing into more manageable lengths - namely 4-5', dipped the ends in wax, and the chunks are sat on a pallet to keep them off the ground. I'll whack a coat of woodworm killer on the surface of the bark, and get them under some sort of cover. Is there anything else I should be doing to encourage this to dry decently?

Next up, I need to lop some fairly large branches off the magnolia. Ho ho.

[Martyn]

Just reading "The Axe Book" that comes with a Gransfors axe, and there is some useful tips on drying felled wood. It says an old tip is to leave the leaves on a freshly felled tree untill they are shrivelled, before splitting - the leaves evaporate a lot of the moisture out of the wood.

It also says to split the wood to let air get at it, or at least remove a string of bark. If your logs have bark on them, lay them bark-side down. It also says to stack the wood with air-gaps (big enough for a mouse to get through). It says to make some sort of roof - cover with a tarp, but leave the sides exposed for air circulation.

Dunno if this is any use, it's aimed more at creating a woodpile for firewood, but the principles seem sound.

[MushiSushi]

definitely leave as much leaves and twigs and branches intact to start with or the knots will rot or loosen. if the leaves or branches have been removed then seal with wax too ..... unless you want to use it as 5' lengths, I would cut it up smaller, if it is just for handles then cut it in to 10 - 14" lengths and seal the ends, it will dry out quicker, if you can keep them indoors in a warm, dry atmosphere you won't have any insect problems, as Martyn said .. remove the bark ... oil based paints work pretty well at sealing the ends too ... as long as you can encourage the moisture to leave through the body of the wood and not the endgrain you can dry them out quite quickly, you can also replace the moisture with Polyethylene Glycol to speed up the process

Immersion in PEG can cut seasoning time from months to weeks by replacing the water within the pores of the wood by osmosis. Knotty or eccentrically grained timber that would have cracked during natural seasoning is stabilized and sealed within, and can be formed into faultless finished objects. PEG also acts as a lubricant reducing the friction set up by coarse open grain and making turningTimber stabilizers (http://www.poolewood.co.uk/Missellanious/misc015.htm)

[PS_Bond]

Cheers.

No leaves or side branches left, unfortunately - but I have sealed the cut ends. Yet to strip the bark. Toyed with the idea of PEG - never used it before.

I think I might be lynched if I bring the entire tree indoors...

[Ophidian]

A lot of work just to make mice cosy :confused:

[PS_Bond]

Figure 4 deadfall in the shed :D

[Dave Barker]

Personally I'd cut it into smaller Handle type length ( if this is what it is going to be used for, seal the ends with paint or the like, wrap it up in newspaper one bit at a time and store it at room temperature. Then forget it for at least a year!

As for the bit about leaving a hole big enough for a mouse....7 mm is hardly big now is it. I'd go for a rat 13mm or something even bigger!

Someone is bound to tell you to use the microwave. I've seen wood dried this way..... totally unusable.'

[PS_Bond]

I've finished drying wood in the microwave with no ill effects - mind you, this was stuff that had already been drying a couple of years, and I wanted to make sure the stuff was completely dry. Very, very carefully heated it up in a plastic bag until it started to sweat slightly; checked weight in between cycles & allowed it to cool between nuking.

Not keen to do it as a matter of course, however.

And remember - if you have mice, you don't have rats.

[Dave Barker]

And remember - if you have mice, you don't have rats.

Sorry to contradict Pete but on this point you are wrong!

I worked in a senior technical position of a world leading Pest control company for 5 years.... I've seen many a place infested with both rats and mice at the same time.

They are not so anti each other as you may think you know. The difference being is that mice will gladly live from the water contents of a cream cracker ( anything up to 3%, where as rats need 60ml per day.

Rats, mice and other creepies is something I do know about ( unlike knife making!!)

[PS_Bond]

Hmm. OK, I bow to your superior knowledge :) Presumably I'm going from an old wives' tale.

In a domestic situation, I've never seen evidence of mice when rats were around - and vice versa.

Just saw a mouse in the garden this morning - I don't give much for its chances...

[Dave Barker]

It is actually more common than you think.

The thing is that you tend to see mice more often than rats.

Anyway this is off topic!

Don't use the microwave to dry wet wood, it'll carry on cooking a while after its out of the nuke and then it splits as soon as you get any moisture on it. there is no safe way to dry wood.. it is all a matter of time!

[Bear Stone]

Here's a good site about British trees...

http://www.british-trees.com/index.htm

Bear