Laburnum and cherry stems

[Dorset Boy]

Hi Guys, my first post here as I am just setting out on learning and would appreciate some advice.
I have had to take down a laburnum and an eating cherry and have now got 3 stems of fairly straight wood they are approrox 15-20 cm diameter and around 1m long, they came down on Sunday. Rather than waste them I would like to make some boards from them that I can then use on the table etc. I really want them to be decorative table savers rather than food boards, I understand some have concerns around laburnum and toxins with food.
So my question is in the first instance what's the best way to now treat these? what I in my ignorance would call seasoning ? Currently I have them in the garage stored vertical off the floor, I'm guessing I need to seal cut ends? Any help very much appreciated the laburnum does look lovely and the cherry has some good colour too.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Cherry is notorious for splitting but laburnum is beautiful. Get the ends sealed quickly while you think what to do. You'll be lucky to get much in the way of boards from cherry that size, but you might do better with the laburnum.

 

[Dorset Boy]

Hi Phil
Thanks for the heads up and help much appreciated , I'm assuming either candle wax or pva for the ends?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Anything, really - old paint, varnish, PVA, wax ............. anything fairly impervious. I've used four or five coats of emulsion before that's been OK (it's what was to hand at the time).

 

[Dorset Boy]

Thanks again Phil I will do that tonight. As a general question, I aim to make slab type (cut along the grain) boards am I best to get the stems planked now and then stack with stickers and weight them then allow to dry or leave for a while whole then do it?

 

[Phil Pascoe]

Someone else can probably answer that better. It is obviously much quicker to season stuff planked, but your pieces are small and you will have considerable distortion on rapid drying. Conversely of course you'll likely get bad shakes with them left whole.

 

[CHJ]

The best results with Cherry (least waste regarding splits) I have is to Plank and Billet it.
Usually between 25 and 75mm thick.

Still get small movement but it rarely splits, of course I'm aiming for stock suitable for turning and segmented/laminated use so is in the main smaller sections than for cabinet work.

I've currently got some small short 'planks' left on the racks awaiting use, these are remnants of green wood obtained in 2006

 

[Dorset Boy]

Thanks guys this is really helping give me the confidence to go ahead and very much appreciated

 

[AndyT]

If you haven't done any before, it may be worth mentioning that rough round logs and bandsaws don't go well together - there's a danger that the blade will make the poorly supported log rotate, then jam, or break the blade.

The answer is to knock up a simple sled so that the log is screwed down to a flat board, through bits you aren't cutting. There must be pics on here or demos on YouTube.

 

[Mike Jordan]

You need to know that a small number of people are very allergic to Laburnam dust. They can go into anaphylactic shock.

 

[Roland]

Anything, really - old paint, varnish, PVA, wax ............. anything fairly impervious. I've used four or five coats of emulsion before that's been OK (it's what was to hand at the time).

I’m a cheapskate, so I prefer old paint. It’s also easier to see if the layer is not thick enough, and the sap is leaking through. It also impresses visitors who wouldn’t notice varnish, glue, or wax.

 

[CHJ]

For a while, whilst using up some of the paint can leftovers I coloured each batch/species with a different colour*, looked impressive in the stock pile, easily located species and date. Doing similar lately with wax coating, the odd coloured scrap Candle or Cheese wax tones the shade nicely, even if it's just variations on brown to black.

* If I see dusky Pink on any end grain then it's Aylesbury Cherry from 2006.

 

[Robbo3]

I've just turned a load of plinths from a laburnum branch that is at least 10 years old & has been under the workbench for the last year. Half of them split within days of being taken indoors & a few whilst still in the workshop. The problem could be solved if the branches were large enough to turn without the pith.

 

[Dorset Boy]

Thanks guys much appreciated its given me some confidence to take first steps and have a go, also thanks for the tip on the shock syndrome wasn't aware of that , I look after guys who work with trees doing cutting shredding etc , I'm assuming coarser grades of dust e.g. chainsaw don't cause such a problem? I will let the lads know anyway we have the same awareness with plane (platanus) leaves which produce a dust on the underside of the leaves that can really cause breathing problems for certain people it just gives me ultra hay fever symptoms.

 

[k4wils]

If you want to make boards for use on the table I presume they will not be very thick. The least you should do is split them to minimise the chance of shakes forming. Depending on the power of your bandsaw it might be easier to plank whilst green and it would certainly dry faster. The cherry is likely to move quite a bit so allow for that in the board thickness.
On short logs of the diameter you describe I have had success using a hand held electric planer to put a flat on the log to facilitate bandsawing