Preserving thick wood for turning

[JimZ]

From the maintenance dept. at my son's school, I just got a small, fresh-cut piece of Asian Pear, about 12" diameter and 18" long.

It's a pretty red-orange at the cut, it was heading for the garbage, and I am thinking about trying my hand at turning sometime in the future. I'm just not sure when, and my budget this month doesn't cover a lathe. And next month is not looking really promising, either.

Here's my question: Anyone have any ideas what (if anything) it needs before I toss it in the corner of the basement to sit until I'm ready for it ? I'd hate to see it crack and split before I get to it, and I have no idea how to treat a section of a 12" log.

Boards ? Sure, I know how to take care of them. But what do you do with a small log until you're ready to turn it ?

Any ideas appreciated.

[sacherjj]

You need to treat the ends with something to reduce water loss. I have been using paste wax on my pieces I cut up to turn later. I slather it on for a pretty thick film. Let it dry, then hit it again. So far almost all of my cherry hasn't cracked (it is very prone to it) and it has been drying for a couple months now. You can get the actual "paint" to use at a Rockler or similar, but the cost will be high unless you are planning on treating a bunch of wood.

[GeekMom]

I've heard leftover latex paint on the ends works just as well as the 'official' sealer. You're just trying to keep the wood on the ends from drying faster than the center.

[Workman]

FWIW Anchor Seal is one product that I have used to preserve wood while drying. It is relatively inexpensive. I have used this product on significant amounts of new sawn lumber and can attest that it does significantly reduce end cracking, etc. The cracking occurs because of moisture changes at different rates at the ends of the board (or log) and the middle. The untreated ends dry too fast (relatively) causing them to crack. You are trying to slow down the drying (except when you are kiln drying). This is true for the whole log, so some recommend that you leave the bark on the cut log or the sides of the board while drying. Further, air drying is approximately 1" per year and depends on the relative humidity where you live. You can never air dry as completely as by kiln. On the other hand, many turners prefer to turn, or at least partially turn, "green" wood and then finish the turning after drying. I'm just getting going in the "turning" department. "Dry" depends on your requirements which includes the location of the final piece. Moving a piece of "dry" wood from one part of the country to another can cause cracking - sometimes moving it from the basement or garage to the living room will cause cracking! Your wood sounds interesting.

[tribalwind]

yep ive used old leftover latex paint.
worked fine. the wood did check about an inch into the log but i think thats normal?