Hello Forum
My neighbors took down a Chinese elm and a pecan a few weeks ago, and I picked up some pieces intending to make some live edge stuff. I've cut ~28" dia cookies off the elm, and cut the 4' long 10" diameter pecan in half lengthwise. Yes, my chainsawing skills are pretty bad.
Today I took it all over to a friends, where we router-sledded it all generally flat, and at his suggestion, I painted the end grain with some leftover whitish latex, to keep it from drying too quickly.
I've heard the general rule is to dry for an inch a year before final finishing, but I'm wondering what I can do with it other than just sticking it in the rafters.
For the elm, the one with the three way crack in the middle, I'm thinking about three butterfly keys at least half an inch thick, beltsand smooth-ish, slather on the latex paint, screw on some hairpin legs (to minimize holes) and stick it on the covered patio (or in the house if it needs the dry air, I'm in Houston). Once I think it's dry (no idea, do I weigh it?) I'll sand/plane/router the paint off, and do a varnish/danish oil finish, possibly with epoxy in the cracks, possibly with some sort of color in the epoxy (girls are 5 and 2, guess what colors they'll suggest…). I might do some large diameter dowels turned out of black walnut or sycamore, or I might like the hairpins.
For the pecan, I'd like to make benches. Is there anything I can coat the top with that the girls can sit on without getting them or the wood grubby, and still let it dry?
Am I overthinking this entirely, and I should just cover it all in BLO and get it in use, planning to fix cracks and refinish in 5 years?
My neighbors took down a Chinese elm and a pecan a few weeks ago, and I picked up some pieces intending to make some live edge stuff. I've cut ~28" dia cookies off the elm, and cut the 4' long 10" diameter pecan in half lengthwise. Yes, my chainsawing skills are pretty bad.
Today I took it all over to a friends, where we router-sledded it all generally flat, and at his suggestion, I painted the end grain with some leftover whitish latex, to keep it from drying too quickly.
I've heard the general rule is to dry for an inch a year before final finishing, but I'm wondering what I can do with it other than just sticking it in the rafters.
For the elm, the one with the three way crack in the middle, I'm thinking about three butterfly keys at least half an inch thick, beltsand smooth-ish, slather on the latex paint, screw on some hairpin legs (to minimize holes) and stick it on the covered patio (or in the house if it needs the dry air, I'm in Houston). Once I think it's dry (no idea, do I weigh it?) I'll sand/plane/router the paint off, and do a varnish/danish oil finish, possibly with epoxy in the cracks, possibly with some sort of color in the epoxy (girls are 5 and 2, guess what colors they'll suggest…). I might do some large diameter dowels turned out of black walnut or sycamore, or I might like the hairpins.
For the pecan, I'd like to make benches. Is there anything I can coat the top with that the girls can sit on without getting them or the wood grubby, and still let it dry?
Am I overthinking this entirely, and I should just cover it all in BLO and get it in use, planning to fix cracks and refinish in 5 years?