cracking desert ironwood

J

Jason Dale

Joined
Oct 9, 2012
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I picked up 2 large sections of desert ironwood burl for handles. The moisture is a little higher than i was hoping for (14% for one 23% for the other). i cut a few of the pieces down to rough block size 1.5" x 1.5" x 4.75", and noticed over night they started showing checking. Is this normal for desert ironwood? I re-waxed the open grain on the ones i already cut, but is there a way to get them to dry without the checking? for as expensive as they were i would hate to loose any more material to cracks.
 
Hi Jason,
WELCOME TO BLADE FORUMS.
I have not dried out DI wood burl. But of the other burls I have dried to 6% moisture and also based on how dense DI is I would not touch it for 2 years. There are good sources for Iron wood burl that are ready to work with in the mean time.
Or risk losing a good percent of your investment if you cut now.
Sincerely,
Dave
 
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That is very high moisture content for Desert Ironwood.
It must have been cut green recently.
My suggestion would be to seal all surfaces of the blocks with CA glue and set them aside in a closet or somewhere out of direct sunlight for a few years.
Look them over every couple weeks and fill any new checks with more CA glue.
This might sound like it would prevent drying but it just slows things down enough to discourage excessive cracking.
This is the method I use with extra dense Australian burls as well. Otherwise eyes open up as well as checks and cracks.
 
I applied wax to all of the fresh edges, should i scrape it off and apply ca or would wax suffice?
 
DI is a bear to work with in the log or large block form. I got 6 logs at one time and had about 75%+ waste. It does check and you almost need to be a diamond cutter to figure out how the best way to cut it would be. What I do with dense check prone woods is, as you did seal with wax, then I put it in a covered box with wood shavings on the shelf for at least 2 years. Look at it every few months just to make sure it has not fallen a part.

I stopped trying to save money by purchasing large blocks or logs. I wound up having large amounts of waste and might have broken even in the long run had I bought what I really wanted rather than sitting on hundreds of blocks I cannot use.

Anyhow good luck
 
A log section of DI is usually more cracks than clean pieces. You dry it and work around the cracks.

Also, lots of stuff, like other ironwoods and their cousins, is sold as desert ironwood...and they are no the same.
 
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