seasoning laburnham

[TJRoots]

has anyone here ever seasoned laburnham, i recently got some from a tree surgeon that i wanted to use to make knife scales, but it was green. so i left it in a dry part of my garden and it has already started splitting, but instead of splitting at the ends its splitting along the sides, small splits are cropping up all along the sides.

anyone got any advice on how to stop this before it just falls apart, i'm not keeping it in a warm place so apart from sticking it in the fridge i cant put it anywhere cooler.

i need help.

ps. i know that laburnham is toxic and i know all the safety measures to take when using it and how to make it safe once its been fashioned into the desired pieces. just thought i'd get that out of the way, people on here are very well meaning and im sure i'd get lots of warnings about it otherwise.

atb

 

[dwardo]

You could pop it in a plastic bag to slow the drying and stop the checking. What size are the bits and debarked etc ?

 

[TJRoots]

its about 3 inches thick and 2 and a half feet long. i'll try the plastic bag idea, should the bag be sealed or open?

 

[bushwacker bob]

Seal the ends with wax. Laburnham was traditionally used crosscut for oyster veneers. An old chippy I once worked with said they were cut as rounds and seasoned in a sandbox.

 

[dwardo]

The idea is that you slow the rate that moisture leaves the wood. Now that can mean leaving the bark on and sealing the ends meaning its pretty hard to for any moisture to leave, meaning years litterally to season properly. The other end of the scale is removing the bark, splitting the wood open and exposing lots more uncovered wood allowing moisture to escape, meaning possible checking and cracking problems.

Its all a trade off. As far as i understand when moisture leaves the wood the wood shrinks and changes shape, the problem being it doesnt leave evenly so some wood shrinks and some doesnt and it litterally tears its self apart under the strain.

Oh and you picked one of the woods that are a complete pain in the **** to dry without taking years about it.