Mellin Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 MC I'm definitely going to band it once I cut it down to size, I might not actually use the ash as my stand. Mostly because its a huge hunk of wood and I hate to see myself make it any smaller. but because ash shrinks I was definitely thinking about morticing the anvil in, caulking it and banding it down Does/did your ash smell JUST like a jar of olives, I planed this log out and it reeks of olives. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MC Hammer Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Well Mellin, if I'm remembering right it did have a strong oakish type smell when I removed the bark and used a draw knife to smooth it some. My stump had been sitting on the side of the road for 6 or 8 months too. I looked at that thing every day going to work and coming home. Finally one night I gathered up some buddies and we rolled that baby up a 4 wheeler ramp into my buddy's truck. It took all three of us to move it. Stumps look smaller when you view them from a ways away. BTW, I just checked my bands on Saturday, and you guessed it I had to tighten both top and bottom so it's still shrinking. When you first band it, check those bands every week and tighten the bolt. Even banding mine it still has some sizable cracks, none of which will hurt it any. I think what you don't want is a crack that extends from one side to the other or a crack beside another crack that creates a wedge piece of wood that could come loose. I used a router to carve out the shape of my anvil base and then I used silicone caulking to bed it. Wow is all I can say! Quieted my Trenton down to hardly anything. I think if I'd used a bit more caulk it would "thud" like cast iron. I'm not worried because with hot metal on it it won't ring at all, but just tapping it with a hammer produces a very slight ring, but nothing like the deafening ring it used to have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Wooden Furniture from King Tutankhamen's tomb with several thousand years of air drying still expands and contracts with changes to ambient humidity. (I had to reset all of my wooden handled tools when I moved to the dry desert!) Wood cut in the winter when the sap is down is supposed to dry with fewer issues; but as mentioned vertical cracks don't mean much---like building a stump from dimensional lumber oriented vertically! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellin Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 So I finally got around to sealing my log. It has some cracks but I’m not too concerned. How did everyone band their logs. Pictures please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irondragon Forge ClayWorks Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 1 hour ago, Mellin said: How did everyone band their logs. Pictures please? There are a lot of pictures of banded stands here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 Drove an old wrought iron hub band onto a tapered end---drawknifed. Didn't have to worry about shrinkage down here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellin Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 The log Is so big around it’s ridiculous the small side might be 24 inches. Maybe a band for a 55 gal drum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThomasPowers Posted April 7, 2018 Share Posted April 7, 2018 If it's green or you have a wet dry cycle there make a band from two pieces of heavy strap stock like 1/4"x 1.5" and bend the ends out at 90 deg and drill for a bolt so you can take up lots of slack. Another trick is to lay a round piece of plywood just slightly smaller than the log and use a router to cut a true flat circular edge on the log for the band to sit on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellin Posted April 7, 2018 Author Share Posted April 7, 2018 Thank you I’ll be at the metal store tomorrow for some angle iron and some more 1/4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGGUNDOCTOR Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 Paint the end grain so it dries slower to help prevent checking/cracking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mellin Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 I used Thompson water seal one coat so fast seems to work good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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