# Joining end grain logs?



## MrGoodCat (Dec 5, 2013)

Hey y'all I have a few questions. I live in South Carolina and as you may know we had a nasty ice storm. I had more then a few trees fall as a result. I want to do something with them other then burn em. Most of the fallen trees are pine. Today I had a great idea and you guys can tell me if it can be done and maybe how. I want to slice up the logs into 2" pieces and join them to make an end grain board 5' x 13" and use it as a bar top for my breeze way. My questions are: how long does the wood need to cure? What's the best way to join then logs together? My thought was to cut each log so the next one fits into it, but I don't know how to make it strong. I'm giddy over this idea so I hope I can make it work. Thanks for all your help on this .


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## Mahdeew (Jul 24, 2013)

Once you cut them to 2" thickness, then give it about 2 years to dry.


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## hydro (Aug 9, 2013)

As the slices dry, they will shrink radially and crack. Nothing you can do to prevent that. After a couple of years sitting around indoors, you can then work the pieces and glue them together to make your bar top.

You will not be able to use the entire "round" slices however.


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## jdh122 (Sep 8, 2010)

I would think that end grain slices would dry more quickly than regular boards, that is, faster than an inch a year, since there is so much more end grain than side and face grain exposed. But I may be wrong.

I wonder whether pine joined together this way will be strong enough, even at two inches thick. But if you have it supported underneath it should work.


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## MrGoodCat (Dec 5, 2013)

Another thought was to see if one of the many local saw mills would kiln dry them for me. Also would I just glue them together or is there a joining method that would be stronger and add to the piece?


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## bigblockyeti (Sep 9, 2013)

The general rule is 1 year per inch, but if you're cutting disks off the log and you've got end grain exposed so it should dry much faster, how fast depends on the environment where they're stored. Cut over twice what you need, many will crack as they dry and won't be good for anything but firewood. Cutting one disk so the next fits into it sound like it would look good, I would use polyurethane (Gorilla) glue which should provide a good bond. You still won't have a lot of strength, an inset stringer or two into a dado along the bottom would increase strength substantially.


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## TraylorPark (Jan 9, 2014)

Follow up question for the pros. He needs to debark the pieces before starting the drying process, correct?


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## DryingProtection (May 7, 2013)

there is a link to an article about drying disks cut from trees on here:

https://www.facebook.com/uccoatings


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