Howard Was Right

[jteneyck]

When I would get logs for sawing I would paint their ends as soon as possible with whatever extra paint I had lying around. Howard always said Anchorseal was better than paint. Being cheap I never thought it necessary to spend money on a special product when paint seemed to work well enough though almost never w/o at least a crack or two. Fast forward to this summer when I built my Ipe' deck (hard to rationalize that I'm cheap, I know). I used Advantage Lumber's wax emulsion end grain sealer on all the cut ends. I had a quart left over so when I got 3 white oak logs a few weeks ago I used it to seal the ends. Wow, not one new crack opened in them. Each of the logs had a crack or two when I got them, which was the same day the trees were felled; tells you how fast WO likes to crack. I painted the ends with the wax emulsion before the end of the day and they sat for a couple of weeks before I could mill them into lumber. There were no new cracks when I milled them and a week later I see no new ones in any of the boards I cut.

Howard, you had it right.

John

[cputnam]

He usually does.

[Sassafrasman]

I try to stock up on a few pails when Bailey's is offering free shipping.

[ruffcutt]

cputnam said:

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He usually does.

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+1

And he does it without making you feel like a dummy as some others do. He a class act as some others aren't.

[Howard Acheson]

Thank you for the nice comments, guys. I try to keep to the subject and/or issue. There's no value in getting involved with squabbles.

[AgGEM]

Indulge me.....

https://youtu.be/3NaQxUEfxt0

Ag

[alnandy]

What we use on our logs is roofing tar, before sawing the logs. We also use it after sawing on dicey areas such as crotches and stressed grain. It works very well, no end checking during kiln drying at all. We've done this with over 20 different species of woods, ranging from olivewood to pine.

Gene Wengert and I corresponded about this; he agrees that tar is very effective, but messy. He's right; we get into a painter's paper suit before using the tar (something my wife demanded, if I wanted her to keep doing laundry).

[glzahn]

Will AnchorSeal freeze?

[jteneyck]

It will if it's the same emulsion product as the wax product I used. The company literature says there is a winterized formulation available to protect against freezing, so see if you can get that if freezing is a concern.

And while looking for the product information I see that Anchorseal is made in Buffalo, NY, yet I've never seen it in any local store.

John

[alnandy]

I've used both Anchorseal and roofing tar. Anchorseal works fine for sealing green turning blocks. I've found logs sealed with Anchorseal to be a hit or miss proposition; I'd never risk it with very expensive or highly figured wood.

Also, the last time I bought a 5 gal. drum of Anchorseal it cost over $80 plus shipping. I can go into Home Depot and walk out with 5 gals. of tar for ~$50 w. no shipping costs. In winter we simply heat the tar over a Coleman stove(not a fire risk, very low volatility) before applying.