Live edge slabs: which way to cut to limit cracks? Along or across grain? (1 Viewer)

[e9999]

I have a nice big piece of wood I need to process.

Imagine you have a short but wide tree trunk base chunk. Kinda like a ball with similar dimensions in all directions. But of course there is still a primary grain direction as in up and down.
Looks aside, if you want slabs to hold better wrt cracking during drying, is it better to cut them across the grain or along it? I'm talking 3 or 4 ft across either way.

My limited experience with smaller pieces suggests that cracks in slabs across the grain (as in salami slices so to speak) can be quite severe and go to the middle, whereas in slabs cut along the grain there may be cracks at the end but they don't necessarily reach in very far. Is that typical?

Thoughts? TIA

 

[Prairie Swamp]

Are you talking cross cutting versus rip sawing (along the length of the tree?) Yes in almost all circumstances the pepperoni slice pieces will split like crazy. You can look up longitudinal versus radial shrinkage for the species. Shrinkage around the circumference of the tree is pretty much always more than along the length. Rip saw and then seal the end grain with some type of paint to slow the loss of moisture thru the end grain for the best results.

 

[e9999]

I will try to find info on that, thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, what you say and my intuition match and that's not the outcome I'd like in this case given the geometry I have to deal with. Plus the whole point is to save / favor some burlwood that is an essential part of the big piece. Yet the burlwood might conceivably help to reduce cracking, I suppose. This is complicated.

 

[pb4ugo]

You might want to check out arborsite.com, in the sawmilling section. They're are a lot of conversations on this subject. Typically the term for cross cutting like you describe is cutting cookies. Swamp Prairie is correct. I think they need to be dried slowly. They contain a lot of internal stress when drying. A Few folks are successful, but usually they eventually crack. Some can be violent and happen yrs later. Some folks have tried to make banding to hold them together but still crack/pop. For logs to be ripped, they make a specific type paint to apply to the end of the log to slow down the ends from drying to quickly b4 processing, others will use regular paint, others do nothing. Ive also read that when you stick the boards for drying, the sticks can be stratigically located near the ends of the boards which will help limit how far the checking goes into the board ends. Ive ripped a few logs with my Alaska mill and the checking was not bad when I tried strategically sticking the boards. Maybe I was just lucky, idk. When you cut a log and let it sit for a while, it may develop a crack/check near the center, I read where you want to rip parallel to the crack. Hopefully others more knowledgeable will chime in.

 

[e9999]

ah, did not hear about the sticks location, interesting idea. thanks
and, yes, I have some logs where I can see from the end a crack just about at the center, with no other one

 

[MrMikeyG]

This is a hibernating thread, how did thigs end up? A picture or 2 would be awesome.

 

[e9999]

I'm afraid I have not yet ripped (!) into that tree, but getting closer.

 

[MrMikeyG]

Ha ha. When I think of slabs, I think of grain lines, and not grain rings. There's a kid on youtube who has videos of "slabbing" various logs. Matthew Cremona. Custom made sawmill, and custom modified trailer for "urban logging."

 

[e9999]

yes, it's kind of hard to think of large boards that are across the grain. That would be a 500 years old tree to be wide enough. Too old to cut for lumber. And there is only so many things you can make with disks or ovals.

But I did make a bunch of charcuterie and cheese platters from big oak limbs from my yard for presents. Lots and lots of planing and sanding. Unfortunately, pretty much lost on the giftees, I'm afraid...

 

[D'Animal]

The splitting of the wood greatly depends on the stress the tree experienced when it was growing. Slowly drying the log before milling helps but doesn’t solve the issue. If the tree suffered massive stress during a wind storm 40 years ago, it will appear in the lumber.

 

[e9999]

I do have a bunch of elm cookies that are slowly drying. Will see what happens.

 

[MrMikeyG]

Elm cookies. Ha ha! I like it.