LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

Pecan and Chinese Elm projects

855 views 1 reply 2 participants last post by  Lazyman 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
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?







 
See less See more
4
#2 ·
Lots of questions here. I will give my thoughts on a few of them.
The best place to store these may be your garage or shed. You don't want them in the sun and you don't want them to get wet when it rains. I would not put them in your house but the garage is a good place to let them dry slowly. Because the moisture exits much more quickly through the end grain, the cookies will dry much faster than the long slabs but that is part of the reason that they are cracking so much. Once the cracking on the cookies seems to not be getting any worse you can probably proceed. BTW, I couldn't tell if you painted the end grain of the long slabs but that is the most critical part to cover to slow down the moisture lose to reduce the cracks that usually form starting from the ends. Slather it on thick. To test the moisture of the longs slabs, you can buy a cheap moisture meter for under $30 but if these are going to be outside anyway in humid Houston that might not be necessary, especially if you are just going to attach some metal legs. Unless you are willing to wait a couple of years to let the slabs air dry completely, you can probably just get by with "mostly dry" for outdoor benches and tables that will likely get wet anyway.

Rather than the butterflies in the elm cookie, I would wait for it to dry and fill the cracks with epoxy. You can color the epoxy or fill will various other materials (turquise, glass, etc.) and use the epoxy to bind it in place. Lots of examples online for doing that.

For the pecan slab, you can use a spar polyurethane to get a nice smooth finish for sitting on but may need to ease any sharp edges to make it more comfortable.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top