Big Leaf Maple burl...worth saving/using?

[Frosty]

There's some beautiful spalting in that pile Billy.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[Dogsoldat]

I wonder if steaming the wood had a similar effect on the wood cells that kiln drying does.  From what I understand is when the wood is heated and kiln dried the cells rupture and that stabilizes the wood.  I've never heard of the pitch being washed out of the wood preventing checking but then there are volumes of stuff I don't know  :)

[Frosty]

All I have to offer is hearsay from a couple generations worth of loggers, millers, millwrights, etc. I always wondered how the sap got washed out of a 100' long log just by floating. I can't even ask, there aren't any survivors from their kid's generation.

 

I just thought of possible corroboration. There is a HOT market for salvaged timber that's been sunk in rivers, lakes, swamps, etc. for a century or so. Heck, there was a TV show about the oh so dramatic salvage operations. :rolleyes:

 

Frosty The Lucky.

[BIGGUNDOCTOR]

A lot of the hype on antique salvaged logs is that a lot of that quality of wood no longer exists ,as all of the old growth trees have been harvested. The quality of maple has really gone downhill the last couple of decades.

[bigfootnampa]

Well technically it is not the pitch but what is called bound moisture that is the difficulty with drying lumber. The surface moisture evaporates easily and quickly and causes only a little shrinkage. Moisture that is bound inside the cells of the wood is much harder to get out and results in significant shrinkage as it dries. Things as thick as logs are extremely difficult to dry on the inside. Radial shrinkage will almost always cause some cracks (checking) in the outer surfaces of such large pieces of wood... This is why we cut fine woods into smaller slabs before drying them. Sealing end grain and controlled humidity allow the bound moisture to migrate slowly out of the wood and thus the wood shrinks fairly evenly. If you dry the wood very fast on the outside the outside of the wood only will shrink... causing excessive checking since it is stretched around the, still swollen with moisture, inner portions of the wood!

[jeremy k]

Well technically it is not the pitch but what is called bound moisture that is the difficulty with drying lumber. The surface moisture evaporates easily and quickly and causes only a little shrinkage. Moisture that is bound inside the cells of the wood is much harder to get out and results in significant shrinkage as it dries. Things as thick as logs are extremely difficult to dry on the inside. Radial shrinkage will almost always cause some cracks (checking) in the outer surfaces of such large pieces of wood... This is why we cut fine woods into smaller slabs before drying them. Sealing end grain and controlled humidity allow the bound moisture to migrate slowly out of the wood and thus the wood shrinks fairly evenly. If you dry the wood very fast on the outside the outside of the wood only will shrink... causing excessive checking since it is stretched around the, still swollen with moisture, inner portions of the wood!

Very good explanation.

[njanvilman]

Sealing whatever endgrain their is, with glue/paint/special sealants, then slow drying over time in an unheated, protected from the sun location.  An old-time wood craftsman had lots of walnut and cherry saw by a local mill.  He would then date the boards, and sticker and stack them for 5 years of air drying.  Then the boards were rough cut to length, and dried inside for another year.  It worked for him.

[bigfootnampa]

Well technically it is not the pitch but what is called bound moisture that is the difficulty with drying lumber. The surface moisture evaporates easily and quickly and causes only a little shrinkage. Moisture that is bound inside the cells of the wood is much harder to get out and results in significant shrinkage as it dries. Things as thick as logs are extremely difficult to dry on the inside. Radial shrinkage will almost always cause some cracks (checking) in the outer surfaces of such large pieces of wood... This is why we cut fine woods into smaller slabs before drying them. Sealing end grain and controlled humidity allow the bound moisture to migrate slowly out of the wood and thus the wood shrinks fairly evenly. If you dry the wood very fast on the outside the outside of the wood only will shrink... causing excessive checking since it is stretched around the, still swollen with moisture, inner portions of the wood!

[Dogsoldat]

Seen a few of the shows on salvaging wood.  Rather interesting.  The coolest was pulling the huge chunks out of the St Lawrence and nearby waterways from old shipwrecks of the 1700-1800's,  Seem to remember a cube of maple being lifted out that was 6' x 8' was to be shipped,  then sawn once it reached England for fancy veneer.  It's to bad Discovery and History channels have all gone to the reality show junk.