Something's got me stumped

Is there something special I should be during to prep this stump? So far I've just left it outside for it to dry...
 
guruguru said:
Is there something special I should be during to prep this stump? So far I've just left it outside for it to dry...
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Well thats a dang good question about now? I know when they cure lumber they keep it out of the rain and store it dry stacked with staves between the lumber to keep air moving throughout. Mold is the enemy there and moisture would be problematic. I think that drying it slowly is good which seems to me like your garage might be a good place. All the stuff I have outside is checked or cracked pretty deep after a few years in the weather. Might want to keep it out of the rain at minimum. More than that im no expert on wood treating but thats about all i can offer on that. Oh and strip the bark off of it because thats what the insects like to eat.
We need a wood guru dont we;)
 
Logs usually get milled to shape, sent to the yard to sit, sent to the kiln, sent back to sit and kiln dried again. I dry oak at room temp in my house. A bit smaller than your stump.
 
I'll move it back into the garage then. I had some stumps in there earlier that got a little moldy so I moved them outside.

Maybe they were "extra" wet from some rain when I put them in originally.
 
Keep it up off concrete so it's got air all around. The stump will draw any moisture out of the slab and mold like crazy.
 
When air-drying high quality rifle stock blanks, like turkish walnut, or blocks of ebony for endcaps, the end grain of the wood blank is sealed with wax or another sealer to keep the wood from drying out too rapidly through the exposed end grain and cracking or checking. It takes longer to dry, sometimes several years, but it's supposed to prevent cracking and result in more even drying.
 
Thats interesting Bob! I was looking around for some bow making staves (thanks to Travis;)) and thats what many of the sellers were doing to them as well. Makes sense. When you put a green log on the fire it spews out the end. Path of least resistance always wins.
 
Most all of the hardwood/ exotic woods I've bought were sealed with wax. I try to remember to reseal with wax when I cut off a piece, but I often times forget. Zebra wood seems to suffer badly when I fail to reseal it.

I usually just rub a candle across the end grain, seems to be enough. A really special piece I'll melt wax on the end, again when I remember to do it. I'm usually fixed on making something and forget the left overs. My bad.
 
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