I had the misfortune of losing a beautiful Oak tree in my hillside. I also had the good fortune of losing a beautiful Oak tree in my hillside. Woodturners see things this way. I believe that the tree is Hairy Oak. It has a red bark, rays throughout and small oval red dots. My quest is to preserve as much, if not all of it, for turning. I cannot rough turn all this wood in the short time it takes to crack. Does anyone have suggestions for preserving the logs for later use?
Spindles or bowls? Standard bowl-blank advise (assuming you don't have a handy body of water and some weights, in which case you just sink the log until you are ready to deal with it....)
Cut lengths about 2" longer than diameter. Cut (or split, if clear-grain-sections) those in half long-ways, debark (to reduce bug action), and seal the ends (Anchorseal, wax, latex paint). The extra length allows for a little checking without it becoming a big deal. If you can make the time, rough a bunch into thick-walled green bowls.
Spindles - length to suit, plus an allowance for checking. Split at least in half, or down to big enough to get what you want out of it. Debark. Seal the ends. Splitting rather than sawing will be faster, and tend to keep the blanks from having run-out in the grain. Splits need to be about 1/2 and 1/2 to run straight. Only works on straight-grain sections - turn the funny stuff into bowl blanks. If you know any chair makers, they might be interested in helping in exchange for some wood. Look up "riving" for more info on splitting for making useful wood bits, as opposed to just firewood.
No body of water. Bowls, platters, boxes, etc. No spindles. The logs have already been cut into roughly 12" to 24" diameter by 12" to 16" high. They are dripping with water. I am aware of Anchorseal. Does it do the trick? Can it purchased in bulk? (5 Gal)
Oh well, that sort of limits what you can pull from the big ones.
As well as anything does, yes it does the trick. 5 gallon is the small size, IIRC, and they ship direct (the link has been posted). If you want real bulk (55 gallon drums), they have those, too...
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.