Drying thick trunk slabs

Well, let’s just get this out of the way, you’re going to end up with cracked wood regardless. If you understand the structure of wood, you’ll understand what’s going to happen and why it’ll crack.

Also, that oven will dry them way too fast.

Your best bet is to save several disks that are in order and piece them together (woodglue) from the uncracked pieces. You may get lucky and have one that doesn’t crack… but I doubt it. There are products on the market that can possibly stop this from happening, but not on a disk this large.

Some woods don’t crack as much as other. Oak is not one of these. I had an oak disk go 4 months without cracking (24” diameter). One day I came home from work and it had opened up about 1” on the edge.

What is this flattening cut you’re talking about?

-- "Well, at least we can still use it as firewood... maybe." - Doss

Put about 3 or 4 coats of anchorseal on each face. However, like Doss said, cookies crack, especially oak.

-- Wood-Mizer LT15

but the crack can add character…in the right projects

-- Joel -- http://diversitywoodworks.wordpress.com

there going to crack, nothing you can really do to stop it, the anchor seal might help some, but…still gonna happen, you should coat them with some cheap oil base paint, sticker them, keep them in the shade and forget about them, check on them after a year to see how there doing, if there still looking ok, then forget about them for another year and then check the moisture and see where there at…

-- GRIZZMAN ...[''''']

Basic rule of thumb is one year per inch of thickness on lumber. This will depend on species and drying environment.
I don’t know how much longer it will take to dry a cookie with Anchorseal coating it on both sides.
Best wishes on the “not cracking”. : )

-- When did quiet and quite become the same word ? I'm guessing about the same time as your and you're did.

http://www.preservation-solutions.com/pentacryl-wood-stabilizer.php
Forget the Anchorseal and waxes. Pentacryl really does work! A friend did a bunch of cross section of various woods and none split that had Pentacryl on them. The Old days it was PEG but that was a waxy mess and you had to soak the wood in a tub and keep it heated. The wax didn’t allow for much in the line of finishing options either.

From their Blog
Pentacryl Wood Stabilizer
Pentacryl is the green wood stabilizer. It works by completely saturating the wood and as the wood dries, the Pentacryl displaces (pushes out) the moisture. It leaves a thin coating on the wood cell walls, thus preventing the wood from shrinking. Since the wood does not shrink, there will be no cracking or checking. Wood can be stabilized in as little as 2 – 3 weeks or up to 1 – 2 years for the larger pieces. The key is let the wood dry naturally and slowly.

Once the wood is dry, it can be sanded, stained, glued and/or finished. The wood surface will dry as before and gladly accept a finish. Pentacryl will not discolor the wood, but actually help to bring out the natural grain.

Pentacryl has been tested successfully on dozens of types of wood from hardwood to softwood. It has prevented cracking and checking in small pieces such as pen blanks and knife handles up to large pieces of cross-cut pine, maple, walnut and oak 4 – 5 feet in diameter. It works well on exotic wood such as avocado, rosewood and ebony used for carving and woodturning.

This wood stabilizer is non-toxic and safe to use.

Did you read the part of them saying they have successfully used it in hardwoods including Oak uo to 4-5 ft in Diameter???

-- Few folks really know how to maximize the potential of their tools!

Rick, I have mentioned Pentacryl before but didn’t bother mentioning it here b/c I really can’t vouch for the success on something this large and possibly unruly.

-- "Well, at least we can still use it as firewood... maybe." - Doss

They say it will work! It’s a pretty strong. To say that and have it not work would be pretty bad for business. I do know it works on the smaller pieces of a couple of feet so I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

-- Few folks really know how to maximize the potential of their tools!

Rick, are you in bot mode?

I know what they state, but they also state “oak”. The characteristics of all species of “oak” are not the same.

-- "Well, at least we can still use it as firewood... maybe." - Doss

I maybe should have been more clear with my cracking point. I had dried some pieces in my friend’s oven previously, and when they cracked, the board essentially split in two. Some radial cracks will not make me loose any sleep, as long as the piece doesn’t fall in half. As some mentioned, the cracks can give character. Depending on the size, I could epoxy them, or put in a bowtie, inlay some turquoise, etc. Lots of options.

I was looking for the most effective way to dry these pieces. It looks like I’ll have to clear out a spot in my garage, stack and sticker them. I’ll look into coating the surface to help keep cracks to a minimum, but it will happen, such is life.

How would these kiln dry? Kilns don’t take an inch per year, right? Is there any safe way to rig something up to help them dry faster? I know I won’t be working these any time soon, but if I can do something to these so I can work them in a year instead of two it might be worth it.

My “flattening” cut = I have a router sled made so I can flatten out large pieces of rough-cut lumber. (poor-mans giant planer) For example, one cookie is 6” thick on one side, and 4” on the other. I can hog off a bunch of material, bring total thickness down to 4” to help it dry. It won’t stay completely flat during drying, so after dry I’ll face it again to make it flat.

-- Ryan -- Maple Grove, MN

6” thick on one side, and 4” on the other.
I would attack that with a sharp chainsaw before trying to route that much material off : )

safe way to rig something up to help them dry faster?
I just used an old 20” box fan to keep the air circulating around the last wood that I air dried.
It was in my garage ,not outside : )

-- When did quiet and quite become the same word ? I'm guessing about the same time as your and you're did.

It’s a “lip”, and I figured it wouldn’t be that but, but your suggestion is noted. I’ll be back out there this weekend and might try that first. Good idea.

-- Ryan -- Maple Grove, MN

Yeah, I didn’t know what you were talking about with a flattening cut. I thought you were about to try to chainsaw a piece flat. LOL

I use a router sled for my slabs by the way. It’s effective enough. I have 6.75” power planer to help knock it down quickly though.

-- "Well, at least we can still use it as firewood... maybe." - Doss

Wood dries fast from the end grain. A fan on oak will probably make the cookie dry too fast, and it will split worse. Slow is good with oak. Most kilns will not dry those cookies. Takes too much time.

-- Wood-Mizer LT15

How did you cut these slabs? Are they vertical rings or horizontal? How thick are they? No matter what, it sounds like you’re going to be letting these sit for at least a year before they go to the kiln. Some will crack, but that’s life, just saw it off and use what’s left. Most of us who buy rough cut are used to the waste, but we get a great price on wood that way.
If they are still wet there is some stuff you can put on the end grain that will help, but my sawyer doesn’t mess with it.

-- Failure does not stop me, it makes me try harder..... because I'm crazy.