# Drying wood



## Sean (Nov 17, 2011)

I have a question regarding the drying of natural forks?
The general concensus when drying wood sticks is to leave them dry for
One year for every inch of thickness. There are variables to do with the type of wood, climate, where it's being stored etc.
My question is what would be the long term effect of sealing wood with a clear coat if it's not dry? I'd like to see if anyone has any input, ideas as
I'm wondering if harvesting wood one day and then zapping it in a microwave really would dry it out completely so it could be sealed and if not what the outcome might be if anything?
Just curious.


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## mckee (Oct 28, 2010)

microwave is what i use made one tonight i put it for 20 secs a time untill i stop hearing the hissing the hissing is the water boiling and evaporating


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## Slingshots rule (Apr 5, 2011)

i use water drying or boiling witth brine


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## MeatMechanic (Nov 13, 2011)

If you have a gas oven stick um in there the pilot will dry um out or nuc um , i do at least 5 at a time in the micro leave um extra long
The ends will split . I'm to old to let um air dry ! MM


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## Cervantes (Jun 10, 2011)

Nuke em! Great.
We've lost so many trees in Houston due to the drought. Memorial park has at least 3 dozen oaks in pieces, hoping to snag me a couple of forks to make something useful of the tragedy.
then I'm gonna nuke em and band em.


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## ezshot (Jul 7, 2011)

I get as many oak cherry or ash as I can and put them near the oil burner in the basement and forget about them. I don't know if it matters but I will turn them every once in a while. The winters in upstate NY insure the burner goes on enough times in a day to dry them out by the time spring gets here.


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## MeatMechanic (Nov 13, 2011)

.Cervantes , take some of them oak forks and bury um in some light dirt and leave mulch and let um go spalted oak is the coolest.MM


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## The Gopher (Aug 25, 2010)

The reason a fork split on the cut ends is that water is escaping the cut ends faster than through the bark. I follow the same procedure every time i cut forks.

1. cut them
2. smear wood glue (I use Titebond II) on the cut ends
3. set aside for a few months.

I have enough forks on hand that I always have some to choose from, but i have worked forks as soon as a month after cutting and did not have splitting. of course temperature, humidity, etc. all play a part in this.


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## crapshot (May 3, 2011)

i use a old toaster ovenabout 200 f for five minutes


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## Sean (Nov 17, 2011)

Thanks for the replies. I'm just not totally convinced wood can be dried properly doing the microwave or oven thing. I was just comcerned what
Might happen to wood if we seal it and it hasn't completely dried out, wood
rot? Might it affect the structure and strength of the wood down the road?


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## Knoll (Nov 10, 2011)

Heat developed during microwave sessions will kill anything that's in wood.


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## valleyshifter (Dec 9, 2011)

i used microwave for first time last nite and it worked like a charm, put in for 30 sec at a time in a ziplock bag . waited till steam inflated bag, took out and repeated about 6 to 8 times or until dry. no cracks at all. watch it though it gets hot!


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## BOWDIDDLEY (Dec 7, 2011)

I talked to a carpenter yesterday, he said you can use denatured alcohol and soak your wood in it and the natural nature of alcohol will pull the water out of the wood. It takes a few days. Has any one tried this????? I know it works for gas in a can.


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## The Gopher (Aug 25, 2010)

No finish is waterproof, if you are worried that you will seal and finish a fork that is still a bit green only to have it rot from the inside, don't worry. A bit of wood science...

cells in green wood contain two classes of water, "free" water which is baically like a little pool of water filling the cell, and "bound" water which is encapsulated within the cell walls. The Fiber Saturation Point (FSP) is the point where the free water is evaporated and only bound water remains. Once you get below the FSP (which happens pretty quick, ~20% moisture content), there is very little danger that decay will occur. A lot of times, especially in the boating world, you hear the term "dry rot". THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS DRY ROT! Wood will not rot unless there is enough moisture in it to sustain the life of the little buggers that are doing the rotting. Now on to finishes, even if you use a polyurethane finish on a piece of wood you are not "waterproofing" it, you are mearly slowing down the transfer of water. Maybe perhaps epoxy finishes are closer to or possibly even "waterproof" but any oil or polyurethane finish is not. even when finished wood will always eventually come to EMC (equilibrium moisture content) with its enviroment based on the relative humidity and temperature of the air.

Remember that allowing a little bit of decay can be very desirable. before the integrity of the wood is damaged but after decay has started is when we can get very beautiful staining fungus that result in what we call spalting.

Hope you enjoyed today's lesson


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## Iryman (Feb 12, 2012)

About 3 minutes on medium in the micro is what I do, seems to work ok. I also leave my "raw" forks ie: after I cut from parent branch but before any debarking, shaping or sanding, outside the back door for about a week or two, or until I decide what to do with it.


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## newconvert (Dec 12, 2011)

The Gopher said:


> No finish is waterproof, if you are worried that you will seal and finish a fork that is still a bit green only to have it rot from the inside, don't worry. A bit of wood science...
> 
> cells in green wood contain two classes of water, "free" water which is baically like a little pool of water filling the cell, and "bound" water which is encapsulated within the cell walls. The Fiber Saturation Point (FSP) is the point where the free water is evaporated and only bound water remains. Once you get below the FSP (which happens pretty quick, ~20% moisture content), there is very little danger that decay will occur. A lot of times, especially in the boating world, you hear the term "dry rot". THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS DRY ROT! Wood will not rot unless there is enough moisture in it to sustain the life of the little buggers that are doing the rotting. Now on to finishes, even if you use a polyurethane finish on a piece of wood you are not "waterproofing" it, you are mearly slowing down the transfer of water. Maybe perhaps epoxy finishes are closer to or possibly even "waterproof" but any oil or polyurethane finish is not. even when finished wood will always eventually come to EMC (equilibrium moisture content) with its enviroment based on the relative humidity and temperature of the air.
> 
> ...


dude you rock!


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## Sean (Nov 17, 2011)

Yes, thanks for the info,lesson very good stuff to know!









sean


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## Henrygamer (Jan 31, 2012)

Just learned that wood WILL catch fire in the microwave. The hard way lol.


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## Knoll (Nov 10, 2011)

Henrygamer said:


> Just learned that wood WILL catch fire in the microwave. The hard way lol.


Pics?


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## Henrygamer (Jan 31, 2012)

Knoll said:


> Just learned that wood WILL catch fire in the microwave. The hard way lol.


Pics?[/quote]
I stained it like 20 mins ago but here it is, the spot that is darker than the rest is really burnt tried to sand it off to see how deep the burn was, it's all the way through.


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## Knoll (Nov 10, 2011)

Looks kewl ... just like Pop Shot's!


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## Btoon84 (Nov 22, 2011)

hope the FOIL wasn't in there..... that may have been your problem


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## Henrygamer (Jan 31, 2012)

Btoon84 said:


> hope the FOIL wasn't in there..... that may have been your problem


Oops.... Just kidding, no the foil was not there.


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