Preparing Basswood for carving

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Oct 19, 2009
Messages
29,432
Reaction score
101,467
Location
MN
Morning all,

I promised to get some basswood for my grandpa as he's currently paying big bucks to get pieces mailed to him and it grows all over up here by my cabin. Going to "kiln" dry it in my sauna. If I'm cutting blocks roughly 10"x10" do I need to paint the end grain to prevent it from splitting?

Secondly will standing dead basswood "spalt" like maple or does it pretty much stay white until it gets punky?
 
I have some experience milling and drying live edge slabs but not basswood. So,,,
Yes, I would paint the ends to lessen cracking. Just about anything will help including varnish or something like Titebond glue. Eliminating heart wood will also reduce cracking.

I'd also guess that standing dead wood is not likely to spalt nearly so much as downed wood..
 
I had a linden tree I cut down and didn't get it to the mill for almost a year.it spalted but I used it for decoys. they all got painted,no problem.
 
Back
Top