Seasoning Boxwood

[Bence Varga]

Hi Bence,

 

What kind of wax did you use on the end-grain?

 

Paraffin wax melted in a pot.

[Janel]

Hi Bence,

 

I have not tried using hot wax for wood, but rather the liquid wax emulsion designed for applying to wood for controlling drying. Perhaps the wax was not hot enough when the wood contacted the wax which might have prevented proper adhesion, or perhaps a air bubble was trapped when the log end was dipped into the wax. If you are concerned about the air gap, maybe you could reheat the wax to a hotter temperature and hold the ends of the logs in the wax until the first layer melts and is re-sealed with hotter wax. Or stand the end of the log in question to be up, and use a gas match/lighter to melt the air bubble, adding a bit of wax if needed. Just don't allow the wax to get hot enough to burn or to over heat the wood. I don't know if any of that is necessary though. I hope that other members might have greater experience with this and will post their knowledge here.

 

Could you explain the note in the ( ): " (usually I use pasta not wax to seal wood) " Is there a typo, or did you mean to write 'pasta'? Just checking.

 

Janel

[Bence Varga]

Hi Bence,

 

I have not tried using hot wax for wood, but rather the liquid wax emulsion designed for applying to wood for controlling drying. Perhaps the wax was not hot enough when the wood contacted the wax which might have prevented proper adhesion, or perhaps a air bubble was trapped when the log end was dipped into the wax. If you are concerned about the air gap, maybe you could reheat the wax to a hotter temperature and hold the ends of the logs in the wax until the first layer melts and is re-sealed with hotter wax. Or stand the end of the log in question to be up, and use a gas match/lighter to melt the air bubble, adding a bit of wax if needed. Just don't allow the wax to get hot enough to burn or to over heat the wood. I don't know if any of that is necessary though. I hope that other members might have greater experience with this and will post their knowledge here.

 

Could you explain the note in the ( ): " (usually I use pasta not wax to seal wood) " Is there a typo, or did you mean to write 'pasta'? Just checking.

 

Janel

 

 

I wrote pasta indeed. I meant flour mixed with water on it, I am not sure if this is the appropriate name for that. I used it succesfully to seal my lumber for drying, and there were no serious cracks, only very little ones on ends. However I have never seasoned lumber in log form yet, so I am not sure about the overall effectiveness of pasta. Maybe it has worked well so far for me because I used it for sawn lumber. It will reveal this time. I will test it on a log of boxwood.

[Janel]

Very interesting about the pasta! Is this an old technique from earlier times?

 

Where are you acquiring boxwood in log form? What is the diameter, and what length have they been cut to?

 

Janel

[Bence Varga]

Very interesting about the pasta! Is this an old technique from earlier times?

 

Where are you acquiring boxwood in log form? What is the diameter, and what length have they been cut to?

 

Janel

 

I don't know how old this technique is. My friend who is a professional woodcarver adviced it to me, because he says it allows an optimal amount of sealing: the wood can loose water slowly, yet through the pasta it will have access to a little air that is an advantage. I am not sure if it is correct or not, but I was successful when I used it in the past to dry swan lumber of beech and black locust.

 

I managed to obtain the boxwood when we cleared the garden of my friend. He purchased an old house with a garden that looked like a bush, and there were a few trees on it, he gave them to me. The logs are up to 15 cm wide. Most of the logs are straight or very near straight, only a few are curved, fortunately. They were growing at a place where there is limestone under the soil, and a stream nearby, so I guess they had an optimal place there and could grow large easily.

[Janel]

Hi Bence,

 

Thanks for the bit of background on the pasta/end-sealing technique.

 

Congratulations! What a bit of good fortune to have acquired this wood. Now for you, years of patient planning and daydreaming while the wood dries.

 

 

Janel

[marz willis]

ive tried the micro wave.and i have seasoned..i put a small piece.50 mm.x60 mm in for 5 sec,and then 15 to 30 sec.

there was steam and it got hot but it didnt chek or split.. i then kept it for a few years.and nothing happened..

but seasoned is just easier,i didnt oil or de bark,i simply put it in my shed and left it there for a year... ive had no troubles..some pieces ive cut into small pieceslike above,some 6 inches by four ft... again no real problems..