End cuts from logs

[harrisg]

I'm going to contact some firewood suppliers for end cuts for my scrolling projects. I've wanted to do some native American and western scenes with a round piece with bark. For those that have cut wood like this, what was the thinest you were able to cut and did you just use the rough cut or did you plane it down to parallel?

Harris

[CanadianScroller]

You have to be careful about the wood checking (cracking radialy) as it dries.
I have used bark rounds before that I purchased from Walmart.

As for planing it down I guess it depends on how rustic you want the piece or how it will be finished.

Remember that if the wood is thin the growth rings won't be very strong. That could affect your pattern.

[SharonW0111]

I use to buy the whole tree from the mill to do my wood burning and carving on - It was always green so the bark would come off after it dried naturally - but it can be glued back on with no problem. what I bought was always rough cut but they did cut it into 1 and 2 inch thicknessesssssssss for me. I then used a hand held belt sander to smooth out the part that i would be working on-- but now they have reasonable home planners that would work too. --think also about a band saw - this is where the resawing would really be used .. Have a blast while you work -- which i know you will cause this is just soooooo much funnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Sharon

[arbarnhart]

Do NOT pass a log slice through a planer. The blades would splinter it. You would have end grain facing up and the "length" would likely be less than the minimum for safe planing anyway.

I use to buy the whole tree from the mill to do my wood burning and carving on - It was always green so the bark would come off after it dried naturally - but it can be glued back on with no problem. what I bought was always rough cut but they did cut it into 1 and 2 inch thicknessesssssssss for me. I then used a hand held belt sander to smooth out the part that i would be working on-- but now they have reasonable home planners that would work too. --think also about a band saw - this is where the resawing would really be used .. Have a blast while you work -- which i know you will cause this is just soooooo much funnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

Sharon

[SharonW0111]

Thanks Andy I didn't know that about planers -- hey I learned something here today -- again -lol

[arbarnhart]

It is something I would love to watch - either on TV or from behind a Lexan shield.

I wasn't trying to bust your chops, BTW. I posted quickly just in case someone who just got a planer decided to try it.

[Blade Man]

Got to agree with the Don't put it in the planer but I have had very good results with my Performax thickness sander. You can run smaller pieces through that than a planer will safely handle.

[Neal Moore]

End cuts

Carl brings up a very good point. End cuts are really bad about cracking and checking as they dry. The moisture escapes too rapidly through the large exposed surfaces. I have a few basswood "rounds" that I bought at Wally World's craft department that have held up well even with some pretty lacy fretwork cut in them. You might be better off in the long run just buying them already dried, considering the loss of time and effort, if one of the "green" ones eventually cracks and all your work falls out in the floor. Personally, I just don't know enough about the drying process and generally am too impatient to wait for an end cut to dry to do one from scratch.

[CanadianScroller]

Drying the rounds

I am no expert about wood drying and I haven't had a chance to check with the only one I know.

I have heard through the mumblings of woodworker circles that I stumble into that you can air dry the rounds by laying them on sawdust or shavings, covering each successive layer with more shavings. The shavings will retain some of the moisture allowing the slab to dry at a more even rate.

You do need to change the shavings on a regular basis, and you need to rotate the slabs.

This all sounded like a lot of work for me so I haven't tried it, but what have you got to lose besides time and a few rounds.