woods covered in wax
- Thread starter digdug
- Start date
Stick a moisture meter on it's end .
Wait 6 months or more then scrape the wax off the sides and a year or two later scrape it off the ends. Usually, by the time you have had the wood 4 or 5 years it is ready to go, unless it is snakewood, then you can never be sure if it will ever be ready. Or not.
A big part of what to do depends on where you live and how the enviroment is. You live in NC so one would think a more humid climate than say the midwest, so it will take a bit longer for the wood to lose it's moisture naturally. A more dryer climate will dry it sooner, and sometimes, too soon:grin: A moisture meter can be a good tester, but I believe that weighing the pieces and marking the weight and date on it, then redoing that every couple months may work better. When the weight stops dropping for a few months, take the wax off the sides. If it drops again, then keep weighing it every so often until it stabilizes again. Then turn round and then restart the weighing for a bit. If it doesn't change after a few months, then start your normal cutting schedule. Of course this also depends on the actual type of wood, as an example, maple will dry quicker than ebony, so research of the woods and their normal drying characteristics will be a must to do it properly, IMO. As stated above, a wood such as snakewood takes a long while and still may not be ready. Ebony takes about 10 years of seasoning, where as maple can be used much sooner due to kiln drying and the fact that it isn't so dense as the above examples. Hope this helps,
Good luck ,
Dave
Eric Wynne
Banned
Depending on your array of machines , I plane all 4 sides , cut the corners off on a band saw with a 45 jig . Save corners for point stock . Round down on a shaper to about 1.350 to 1.4 and use a sanding sealer to reseal . The moisture content of your wood should be around 8% . The real exotic hardwoods , such as gaboon or snakewood , etc. , should always be kept sealed and in a stable temp . Some will check no matter what you do , even after coring , don't sweat it , it's part of life ... Good luck ...
