Drying eucalyptus

[davidwyby]

Yeah maybe I’ll chainsaw mill that one instead of taking to the sawmill since it’s questionable.

I had 2”x8” heavy duty trailer decking in mind. The 1” seems good on our truck bed.

 

[Dave Shepard]

Cracks like that are tough, the way it runs out of the log.

 

[SeanKroll]

Yeah maybe I’ll chainsaw mill that one instead of taking to the sawmill since it’s questionable.

I had 2”x8” heavy duty trailer decking in mind. The 1” seems good on our truck bed.

I wonder what you'd get if quartersawing.

 

[davidwyby]

I wonder what you'd get if quartersawing.

Flatsawing cups, I think quartersawing is the way.

I posted this somewhere around here...

View attachment 137832

 

[davidwyby]

 

[Burnham]

Jumbo sized. Do you never use splitting wedges, @davidwyby ? I'm not thinking I can recall you doing so, but that could be wrong, easily.

If I was to go after hand-splitting any of these nasties you show, I'd without a doubt be using multiple wedges.

 

[lxskllr]

What wedges do you use Burnham? I like the conical wedges for the first set, then use typical wedges breaking down the rest. Easier to get set, and sometimes you get lucky and get multiple splits, which I think is the design goal, but hardly ever works.

 

[davidwyby]

Nope. If I have to wedge, I saw. I like sawing.


That cut was actually a bummer. Looking at the outside of that chunk and all its brothers I figured they were cracked to trash/firewood. Apparently diameter slows drying and cracking. Maybe round tables then if I coat and store them inside to dry.

 

[Burnham]

I only use the standard steel splitting wedges. Those cone shaped ones seem to me like they would be hard to get seated...but I have never tried one. I have 4, and on rare occasions have had all 4 in a single large round . Like this.

https://www.maxwarehouse.com/products/collins-square-head-splitting-wedge-4-lb-bulk?variant=33547400966&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIxP-S1t-viwMVlDStBh0bBggDEAQYDCABEgKJo_D_BwE

I dislike sawing on rounds to reduce them. I have to do it from time to time, when large knots defy splitting into small enough pieces for the woodstove. But only when there is no other choice. Not sure why...maybe just because it disrupts my normal workflow as I make firewood .

 

[lxskllr]

Sawing rounds sucks. It's a bunch of noise and fuel because they won't cooperate in coming apart. I always feel like I lost the game when a saw has to come out to smallify the wood.

 

[Burnham]

Agreed! That describes my feelings exactly.

 

[Cobleskill]

My stepson had a conical wedge called a wood grenade. We don't know if was drunk or sober thing but it ended up going in to the wood stove. Could have been stuck in a piece and he didn't see it throwing it in. We used to laugh at him and asked him if the wood grenade blew up.

 

[davidwyby]

Wood Grenades work well in harder wood and soft wood soaks them up IIRC. Same with my Oz blocksplitter.

When I have to saw rounds, I know I’m going to. Big and or tough. I saw the log into rounds and roll the rounds alternating in opposite directions, then slice them up, but radially, not thru. Flop flat and chop em up. Cutting across the rings makes it easy, splits easy with the rings.

 

[davidwyby]

This one had been dead and drying on the stump a while, bark falling off. Still damp in the middle.

 

[Burnham]

Table top .

 

[davidwyby]

Overnight…but it doesn’t go deep.

Reminds me I need to paint some ends

Mesquite is way more stable

 

[SeanKroll]

Do you know about Anchor Seal and the something-glycol @davidwyby ?

 

[davidwyby]

Heard of it

I have pentacryl

 

[lalan45]

To avoid crowding up the work pics thread @SeanKroll and I were discussing in:

Bunch of ideas/thoughts:

Euc from the bottom of a pile is less checked. Maybe bury the logs in the rest of the tree or dirt.

Harvest during the dry season.

Mill green to release tension

Shorter logs have less tension in them.

Core is most crack prone. Smaller boards crack less.

Walnut logger buddy sold green walnut to Arabs and they buried it in the sand for a year to dry. Euc is mold resistant👍🏻

Just ordered some pentacryl.

Keep sun and wind off milled lumber.

That all lines up with what I’ve seen too. Milling green, keeping boards short, and shielding from sun/wind make a huge difference with eucalyptus. Pentacryl should help a lot as well—especially on end grain—curious to hear how it performs for you once you start using it.

 

[SeanKroll]

Are you trapping and monitoring the humidity to slow drying?

 

[davidwyby]

Are you trapping and monitoring the humidity to slow drying?

Not nearly that high tech. More like throw a tarp over it and hope. I may get a wood moisture meter for Christmas

 

[SeanKroll]

Greenhouse plastic is pretty cheap.
You can suspend the plastic mid- sheet by cinching cord on the outside of the plastic, capturing a smooth stone on the inside of the enclosure.
If you know a guy, an easy metal or wood frame could hold the cords anchor ends. Drape the plastic to the ground. Vent a bit, manually.