I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a month ago. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?

Larry

PS They were free!

On 4/25/2017 5:01 PM, Gramps' shop wrote:
I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a month ago. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?

Larry

PS They were free!



Rule of thumb, 1 year per inch.

"Gramps' shop" wrote:

I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a month ago. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?


To help prevent checking, I would paint the end grains with a few coats
house paint or varnish. Nothing fancy or expensive.

http://www.woodworkersjournal.com/qu...vent-checking/

https://www.hunker.com/12371430/how-...-wood-checking

I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a month ago.
I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick.
Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are ready
to be worked. Any thoughts?
Larry
PS They were free!



Rule of thumb, 1 year per inch.


Just curious - what part of the world ? What type of willow ?
Our most common ? or most obvious, here in southwestern Ontario
is weeping willow - I've never heard of it being used for anything -
not even firewood ... the one in my brothers yard was huge when we
were kids - has been in decline for 25 + years. ~ 8 - 10 feet in
diameter ... a big messy beast.
John T.

Not my tree, but suspect the weeping variety. It has a nice grain pattern and the worms and insects have created a couple of very interesting slabs.

Sorry -- southeast Wisconsin

On Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 5:01:23 PM UTC-5, Gramps' shop wrote:
I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a month ago. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?

Larry

Plenty of info out there on drying, and you have a great start here. If you are going to air dry, make sure you have the wood "stickered" to speed drying and keep it from molding, and every 90 days or so turn it move it around in your pile. Plenty of air circulation is a good thing!

As mentioned, I would take a piece of that wood and dry it in my microwave, then try some wood working tests on it. The willow we have down here in S.. Texas can get quite large, but the wood is soft and very fibrous. When I was turning a lot I traded for some of that stuff, and while the grain was pretty, the tear out was ferocious. Even with sharp tools and quality sandpaper, the surface remained fibrous and I never could get it smooth.

Robert

On Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 5:01:23 PM UTC-5, Gramps' shop wrote:
I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a month ago. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?

Larry

PS They were free!

Yes, get a bathroom scale and weight it NOW. Then each month weight it and write the date and the weight on the piece. When it quits losing weight (i.e., reached its moisture equilibrium), its ready to use. ALSO, paint, as said elsewhere, paint the ends. You should have done that the day you got it, but later is better than never.

On 4/25/2017 7:30 PM, Spalted Walt wrote:
"Gramps' shop" wrote:

I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a month ago. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?


To help prevent checking, I would paint the end grains with a few coats
house paint or varnish. Nothing fancy or expensive.

The method I found works best is to melt wax into the end grain with an
old iron. Another I've used recently is to stick painters tape on the
ends of the boards. That is really easy and seemed to work well.

--
Jack
Add Life to your Days not Days to your Life.
http://jbstein.com

On 4/26/2017 9:45 AM, Jack wrote:
On 4/25/2017 7:30 PM, Spalted Walt wrote:
"Gramps' shop" wrote:

I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a
month ago. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3
inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18
months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?


To help prevent checking, I would paint the end grains with a few coats
house paint or varnish. Nothing fancy or expensive.

The method I found works best is to melt wax into the end grain with an
old iron. Another I've used recently is to stick painters tape on the
ends of the boards. That is really easy and seemed to work well.


No one has yet mentioned playing classical music so it drys more mellow
and less checking. Do not play Ride of the Valkaries though.

Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 4/26/2017 9:45 AM, Jack wrote:
On 4/25/2017 7:30 PM, Spalted Walt wrote:
"Gramps' shop" wrote:

I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a
month ago. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3
inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18
months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?


To help prevent checking, I would paint the end grains with a few coats
house paint or varnish. Nothing fancy or expensive.

The method I found works best is to melt wax into the end grain with an
old iron. Another I've used recently is to stick painters tape on the
ends of the boards. That is really easy and seemed to work well.


No one has yet mentioned playing classical music so it drys more mellow
and less checking. Do not play Ride of the Valkaries though.

nor Moonlight Sonata (3rd Movement)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/X7rQaysy5wI

On Tue, 25 Apr 2017 15:01:20 -0700 (PDT)
"Gramps' shop" wrote:

I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a
month ago. I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3
inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18
months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?

depends

you going to make natural edge style or traditional

if traditional you may want to rough cut
then seal edges with paint or wax

saw some high end furniture makers harvesting an old dead tree
think it was walnut

but they acquire wood for use 10 to 15 years later
they slabbed it and edge sealed it and stored outdoors in a covered space



PS They were free!

price is right

On Tuesday, April 25, 2017 at 5:01:23 PM UTC-5, Gramps' shop wrote:
I came into 5 slabs of nicely splayed wormy Willow, freshly cut a month ago.

Freshly cut, aye? Keep an eye out for more worm activity. If small holes (not channels) it may be powder post beetles (treat PPBs with Timbor). If it's other larvae, you might have to fumigate the wood.

*I've fumed small boards with gasoline... don't pour it on the wood. Put the gas in a small container next to the boards and cover with tarp type material.... but not in your basement. Takes about 2 days of fuming, for the gas fumes to drive off the bugs. *Pouring gasoline onto the boards will leave a gasoline smell on and in the boards for (almost) forever.

Just keep an eye out for more insects, since the wood is freshly cut. Maybe the miller has some info about the (previous?) bugs. The latest hickory I had milled, grubs were coming out as we sawed the boards.

I see coffee tables in their future. Slabs are 2 to 3 inches thick. Will be stored in dry basement. I am thinking 18 months before they are ready to be worked. Any thoughts?

18 mos sounds about right. If shorter boards, 3' and shorter, (such that you are limited to how much you can cut off the ends, later), another option is to screw/attach a "bread board" onto the ends, to prevent checking. If a shorter board seems to be checking fairly significantly, then, likely, it will be, somewhat, weak along the whole length, even if you don't see a crack all along its length. The wider the board, the more significant this effect.

PS They were free!

All the mo betta!

Sonny

On Thursday, April 27, 2017 at 1:34:26 PM UTC-5, Sonny wrote:

Just keep an eye out for more insects, since the wood is freshly cut. Maybe the miller has some info about the (previous?) bugs. The latest hickory I had milled, grubs were coming out as we sawed the boards.

Sonny

I am reminded of how important that is after reading your post.

Several years ago I got some wormy ash to turn on the lathe to make some traditional, flat shaped oil lamp holders. The wood turned well, and the blanks were reduced in size by at least half with no sign of bugs. The rouged blanks at in the hot garage for about three months to stabilize before final sanding and finishing.

No bug stuff of any kind showed up. Sanded, finished, and presented. Six months later frass started showing up on the display shelf. Those little *******s had been turning at an average of a bout 2000 rpms for several sessions, even lived through my finishing, and they still survived.

Good point!

Robert

Just keep an eye out for more insects, since the wood is freshly cut.
Maybe the miller has some info about the (previous?) bugs.
The latest hickory I had milled, grubs were coming out as we sawed the boards.
Sonny


I am reminded of how important that is after reading your post.
Several years ago I got some wormy ash to turn on the lathe to make some traditional,
flat shaped oil lamp holders. The wood turned well, and the blanks were reduced in size
by at least half with no sign of bugs. The rouged blanks at in the hot garage for about
three months to stabilize before final sanding and finishing.
No bug stuff of any kind showed up. Sanded, finished, and presented.
Six months later frass started showing up on the display shelf.
Those little *******s had been turning at an average of a bout 2000 rpms for several sessions,
even lived through my finishing, and they still survived.
Good point!
Robert


Powder post beetles can live as larva in the lumber for 4 - 5 years
before emerging as adult beetles - I know - my hickory flooring
had several pieces infected ...
Hopefully they didn't find a good place to lay eggs after emerging ..
John T.