How do I treat green wood?

M

marymaycarving

Well-known member
I have a problem with a project I have going on. I have been asked to carve 12 8-9" tall palmetto trees out of a log of green and very wet oak (red oak, I think). The problem is that the tree was just cut down in August. They want to use this particular log because it was the first tree cut down for their new factory - i.e. nostalgia, and therefore each of these palmetto trees will go to various VIPs in the company.

They need to be finished by January 15. I heard that there was a process of soaking green wood in anti-freeze solution and water. Has anybody done this, and how long do I need to soak it? How long does it need to dry afterwards? And what can I finish them with?

If I don't treat it with anything, what should I finish it with? I am quite sure it will begin splitting at various places as it dries, and the client is OK with that.

The wood carves wonderfully - almost like butter.

Thanks for any info. I know wood turners work with green wood often.
 
You should take a look at what Peter Follansbee has written -- or hope that Peter responds. You should definitely check his blog. Peter uses riven, not sawn, red oak. It's too wet to hold detail immediately after being split -- it gets "fuzzy" as it dries. But after two or three weeks, he considers it ideal for carving. As you say, like butter. He doesn't treat it with PEG or anything else, and I don't need to say how wonderful his carvings are.

As an aside, PEG, the chemical some use to stabilize green wood, is also the active ingredient in the stuff they use to clean you out before a colonoscopy. It's always good to have alternate uses for what we might have laying around the house or shop.
 
Thanks, John. I'll check out info on Peter Follansbee.

I am really tempted, because of the time constraint, to just let it go and see what happens. The cracks will give it character??? Hopefully not to the point of pieces and bits falling off.

That's a little scarey that they use this stuff as an internal "cleanser". They disguise it with some awful fruity flavor.

 
You might also check out this site, i have been hearing about Pentacryl for several years now but i dont know anyone who has used it. It's supposed to be much easier to use & cheaper than PEG
http://www.preservation-solutions.com/index.php
 
If you are riving pieces from the log they should be fairly stable, if you are working in the round the wood will split. If you can slice down to the center of the round at the back that will give you some relief from the piece cracking elsewhere as the wood will tend to shrink away from the relief cut rather than making one of its own. If you can split the wood in half that will also help.
Mike
 
I've never heard of using antifreeze until reading this thread.  Then I go into my shop the other evening to work on the Veritas spokeshave kit I'm building.  The spokeshave has two brass adjusting posts that get drilled and tapped into the spokeshave body.  The instructions say that if over time the threads wear and get sloppy, put some automotive antifreeze on the threads.  I can only assume it swells the wood and makes the threads tighter.  Makes me wonder - does it affect any of the crisp details of a carving?

Tony
 
Hello Mary! I also live in the SE and may be able to get my hands on some Palmetto wood. As someone who occasionally splits green wood for projects, I would be interested in how the Palmetto splits and carves. The Palmett is a stringy, spongy wood that was used in the defence of Ft Sumter and was said to repel the cannonballs due to its rubber consistency. Could you post an update after you work some of this material?
 
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