As soon as you can, paint the ends of the wood with Endseal, or its equivalent. At the least use leftover latex pain. If you want to use LDD then immerse whatever piece(s) you want to work on in a vat of 1:1 LDD solution. I have pieces left in the vat from over a year ago and they have not split. They are approx. 2 - 3" branch segments.
Yes, to setting up a wood storage area. At the least, a covered area of some sort -- doesn't have to be a building with walls, unless you want to use that as a reason to the wife for the construction of a "small" shop and "firewood" storage area! As to locating people who are cutting down or trimming trees -- get proactive. Locate people with great turning wood trees and stop by to inform them (in a kindly, neighborly fashion) of the danger their trees pose to the home owner. He/she should then be given the phone number of a tree trimmer with whom you have all ready set up a deal!
*G*
Neighbor was pruning his maple tree. I got two wheelbarrows of branch wood
> up to about 5" in diameter. Already splitting through the pith on the ends
> just one day after cutting.
>
> I stacked it on a park bench on my sheltered front porch. I don't want it
> on the ground because there are termites about, and I don't want to
> encourage the little bastards.
>
> A good bit of the stuff is in the 2" category. Seems like anything I make
> out of that will probably check like crazy.
>
> On the larger pieces, would I do better to split these chunks into quarters
> and turn away the pith? I wouldn't get very big blanks that way, but I'm
> thinking of making these into chess pieces, and I think the pith running up
> the center would probably be bad, checking issues notwithstanding. >
> I'm going to try LDD. Should I go ahead and dunk a few with the bark on, or
> dunk them after rough turning?
>
> I'm thinking maybe use the small ones as learner pieces?
>
> Now I just wonder what I'm going to do after I use all of this up. I need
> to find more people who are pruning or cutting down trees, and figure out a
> place for a woodpile, don't I? :)
>
> --
> Michael McIntyre ---- Silvan
> Linux fanatic, and certified Geek; registered Linux user #243621
>
formatting link