Drying giant cookies for a table

[IndyIan]

I've got a 44" dbh ash tree that is pretty much dead. I was thinking of making coffee table out of a cookie off this beast. Anyone dried something like this before? Is a big split inevitable? To make it semi movable I think I should aim for a finished thickness of 2-3"
Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Ian

 

[curdy]

Ian,

My wife and I went on a trip out to the Lancaster, PA area and we stopped in to see these guys. Their work was excellent to say the least! They had done the same thing and more with a large black walnut. Try contacting them and see if they can give you a tip or two.

http://www.georgeswood.com/georgeswoodcrafts_001.htm

I'm looking at doing the same sort of thing with some maple I have. I'm drying it very slowly and going to lop of the ends and hope that the checking isn't too bad towards the center. Then again, I'm going for a more rustic look, so I'll just fill in the small checks with clear epoxy or something like that.

Make sure to post some pics and let us know how it goes! Good luck!

 

[WadePatton]

DRY it!

We have a large cookie in the shop here. I just measured it-- 24" by 3". Appears to be pine.

Anyhoo, someone made it into a checkerboard-complete with stand. They did a great job of planing the top and painting the checkerboard red and black with silver lines. Then they coated it thickly with some sort of finish. The bottom was left unfinished.

Looked great until the finish started lifting. Yep, bubbled up something awful in the middle--weeks after it was brought in. I assume too much moisture was left in the wood.

"Cookies" dry faster than boards--don't they?

 

[woodshop]

I've got a 44" dbh ash tree that is pretty much dead. I was thinking of making coffee table out of a cookie off this beast. Anyone dried something like this before? Is a big split inevitable? To make it semi movable I think I should aim for a finished thickness of 2-3"
Any other suggestions?
Thanks,
Ian

Keep in mind that even though that tree is dead, even dead for several years, the tree is still full of water. Thus the answer to your questions about the inevitable split is, unfortunately, yes. Unless you treat it with PEG, which replaces the water among other things, it will dry and split at some point. Also keep in mind that at 3-4 lbs a bd ft (dry hardwood like oak and ash) even a 3 inch disc of a 44 inch dbh tree will be over 100 lbs if you do the math.

Good luck with your project.

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

As Woodshop said, PEG stabilization is about the best way to ensure your cookie doesn't split.

*disclaimer* I know this only from reading multiple excerpts from books, articles, university/federal study reports, etc. No personal experience.. yet. I was considering doing what you are describing a while back and found a supplier in Houston that sells PEG in the proper weight for about $500 a barrel (Rockler sells smaller quantities). That's about as far as I got.

 

[00juice]

I know someone who dried some black locust cookies without any checks. He buried them in a giant pile of hay/straw for a few years. The pile was covered with a roof to keep rain off, and the straw/hay slowed the drying process. Just a thought.

 

[WadePatton]

MMMMMM, black locust cookies. :jester:

I have bunches of black locust. Most of it without bark. I've been burning it, but have some building projects for the sound sections. Reports as I progress.

 

[woodshop]

MMMMMM, black locust cookies. :jester:

I have bunches of black locust. Most of it without bark. I've been burning it, but have some building projects for the sound sections. Reports as I progress.

As I think I posted somewhere previous, I have successfully dried SMALL dia "cookies" without any cracks. I'm talking about less than 8 inches. I covered them almost completely with melted paraffin wax and stuck them in a cool dry shelf in the garage and left them there for couple years. They dried without cracking. They were Grey birch, and sassafras. So if you have the patience, cover them, store away and forget about them for a while. I am not sure that would work on a huge cookie though. For one thing, I would think 12/4 would take more than two years to dry doing it that way. It might not work at all given the amount of water in something that size. As others have said, the whole idea is to somehow dry that cookie extremely slow and even, which would be very difficult to do with something that large.

 

[redprospector]

The best luck I have had at drying pieces like that is to cut them at an angle.
The steeper the angle, the less cracking I had. It would make the table an oval rather than round, but this is the only way I have had any success drying large pieces like this.

Andy

 

[WadePatton]

The best luck I have had at drying pieces like that is to cut them at an angle.
The steeper the angle, the less cracking I had. It would make the table an oval rather than round, but this is the only way I have had any success drying large pieces like this.
Andy

SUPER! Makes perfect sense. The angled cut leaves longer fibers than a square angle cut. Makes a bigger piece too. And can always make the ovalized piece round if preferred.

Learn something around here if you ain't careful.

 

[IndyIan]

Thanks for the suggestions, I am still working on clearing out the fall zone for the tree, I've got 40 cedar posts so far I'll post some pictures soon.
Ian