Chair carving

[Page]

I made a chair the other day out of an oak log. I think when the crane put it in my truck it was about 2000 lbs or so. I probably shaved off 1000 lbs. I can barely lift it with the dingo. I did most of the carving with a stump grinder. A bit with a chainsaw and then some finish work with an angle grinder and shaper disc.

 

[lxskllr]

That's pretty cool. What are you gonna do with it?

 

[Page]

Giving it to my wife. Gonna put it by the fire pit.

 

[lxskllr]

How will you preserve it?

 

[Nutball]

so it doesn't split as it dries?

 

[Tree09]

That's really cool!!!!

 

[Page]

Not sure what to do about preserving it. It’s a pretty fresh log and as such was hard to sand the end grain on the seat part. I got everything as smooth as I could for now but it may need more sanding next year. I may wax it.

 

[SeanKroll]

Sweet chair. Smart idea with the stump grinder!

 

[BlackSmith]

Maybe wrap it with plastic to seal the moisture in, open it every so often to let a little out at a time?

 

[SeanKroll]

I would expect some radial cracking across the pith is inevitable. Maybe inlaying some butterflies to help hold the cracks as they may start to form.

 

[Treeaddict]

Awesome chair!!

Pentacryl will seal/stabilize it. It’s designed for green wood. It’s expensive though. I’ve not used it because I could always dry the wood. The chair would be hard to dry evenly.

Or wax it, let it form some fissures during drying and fill them in 2 years time. 🤷‍♂️

 

[vharrison]

Love the idea of using a stump grinder!

 

[stig]

Awesome chair!!

Pentacryl will seal/stabilize it. It’s designed for green wood. It’s expensive though. I’ve not used it because I could always dry the wood. The chair would be hard to dry evenly.

Or wax it, let it form some fissures during drying and fill them in 2 years time. 🤷‍♂️

Or simply make a cut vertically through the seat in the back.
That will allow the tangential shrinkage to happen and simply widen the cut, instead of making several cracks.

 

[lxskllr]

I don't know that cracks would be bad as long as it doesn't split apart. Cracked wood looks good, but you never know what you'll get til it happens. I guess that could be good or bad. A bit of surprise factor seeing how it ages.

 

[Page]

I think I’m gonna wax it. I had it covered the other day for a few hours and it already started to mold. If it cracks it cracks. I sort of expected it. If anyone try’s to carve with a stump grinder I would suggest using a very heavy log and burying it partially. Otherwise you’ll suck that log right under and then a variety of bad things happen after that.

 

[Marc-Antoine]

Or maybe carve it when it's still a stump, then make a release cut when the hard work is done (if the stump grinder reaches hight enough).

 

[Tree09]

Might have to build a ramp with dirt or something but that could work.