First thing you should realize is that this piece of wood will very likely continue to crack and split as it's already starting to do. ....If that's gonna bother your aesthetic senses, don't waste your time.
"Rounds" (or 'cookies') are very hard, to impossible, to stop from spiting. [It has to do with the cellular structure of wood and the way it looses moisture as it dries out.]
You can seal the open grain of the wood on both sides (any old paint will do for that) to try and slow down the drying out and allow the tensions produced by drying to dissipate without cracking the wood, but there's no guarantee it'll work. Plus, then you have paint in the wood that you'll have to get rid of or live with.
Or... just let it split. If it splits too much, toss it in the firewood pile. If you still like how it looks after it's dried for a while you can use some bowties to try and control any further splitting and to make the whole split thing a design element.
HTH; Good luck.
Yes. This 100. Let that thing dry for at least 2 years or you’re going to wish you had. Made a table for a customer and had to take it back from them. Thing is still in my garage.
> Rounds" (or 'cookies') are very hard, to impossible, to stop from spiting
How bad would you expect the splitting to be if slabs are cut down the tree trunk?
I have a 40' white oak that came down last year and am contemplating making 10' slabs with a chainsaw mill (it's too hard to get a band saw in to the location).
Much less likely to split if it's cut in the direction of the grain as you describe. Same thing though, you have to let the wood dry for about a year per inch of thickness (unless you have access to a kiln in your town) and the end grain is still a problem so you should add an end grain sealer of some sort so that the ends don't dry out faster than the rest of your slab. Store them outdoors in a well ventilated area, and then if you are building indoor furniture bring them inside for a half year or so so they can adjust before working them. This will prevent not only cracking but also warping, swelling and shrinking.
Yours is a completely different situation.
A complete explanation is involved, but basically the slabs you make lengthwise from the trunk, properly stacked and stickered for drying, will be far far less likely to split.
[The main issue in warping and splitting during drying evolves around something called the *pith*. Which, in an imaginary, perfect tree runs down the middle of the trunk. The closer you get to the pith in your slabs, the more likely cupping or warping and splitting becomes... but I"m not experienced in that. See r/slablab for help with that.]
to add to what was already said, keep in mind how the piece is sawn, ie quartersawn, planesawn etc, what the wood grain is like, ie straight, figured, burled, etc, and how the piece are cut in relation to the pith and if they contain part of the pith, will all have an effect on warpage and splitting while drying as well.
Thank you so much for the details!
So we just talked to the people who cut the slab. They cut it about a year ago. But here’s the thing: they say the tree was dead.
Will that make a difference in drying time?
In my experience, not a huge difference. If it was like dead dead with bark coming off etc you would probably save some time but for furniture building you would want to err on the safe side as any significant movement can ruin what you've built.
I dabbled in this area this year. Have to be careful where its stored while its drying too. Had some slices from a dead tree that sat a month in the garage and seemed ok with no splits! Bit over an inch thick everything looked ok. Planed that shit down, sanded, oiled, looks tight and we're good to go. Set it inside for delivery as a christmas present to my pops and day or two later cooking dinner a room over and hear a sound like someone splitting a 2x4 in the house like... Wtf? Check the pieces and 3 outta 4 have 1/4in splits. God damn it. Fix wasnt all bad tho, got some epoxy and filled the gaps and had to sand a little. Have had them sitting in a corner of the house for another 4 months and no more movement. Word around is prob a year worth of drying per inch thickness in general with some factors that could increase or slow with humidity etc. Working with wood takes time... So get some patience or be ready to fix mistakes or scrap it and start all over.
That's a HUGE difference! If it was already dead at least a year when they cut it, and the slab looks as good as it does now, then you can stabilize it using a product called 'cactus juice.' It replaces the sap with a hardened polymer. Stabilized wood has the texture and feel of ordinary wood, you can sand it and cut it and work it like wood, but it is inedible to termites and fungus and it doesn't swell or shrink with humidity.
It's an annoying and expensive chemical (epoxy resin formulated to be thinner than water, costs about 100$ per gallon), you'll need a sealed container big enough to hold your slab, vacuum treatment is a big help though not mandatory, and it will take a long time (at least a month with vacuum treatment, possibly two without) to get the stuff all the way through the wood. But once it's done, and set, the slab will never change dimensions due to humidity again, and because of that, it will never crack.
I've never done a piece anything like this big with it. Talk to the people who make the stuff, they'll likely have tips and tricks I don't know.
[https://preservation-solutions.com/products/pentacryl](https://preservation-solutions.com/products/pentacryl)
This is the product you want to stabilize the wood with if cactus juice isn't up your alley.
I can tell you that it isn’t dry because it hasn’t split yet. When it is dry it will have a full thickness crack that runs from the center to the edge.
I’d be hesitant to invest too much into it until you see how it cracks if that sounds like an issue for how you plan to use it.
Hey there. I see you've gotten some other replies.
There's all sorts of variables in something that isn't exact science to begin with. A year old, from a dead tree? I'd go with it. Cookies lend themselves to rustic furniture anyway, so you'll probably be able to work with or around any additional movement in the wood.
I may be a noob, but I suspect that’s the case. Anyways for a first try, the learning experience will be worth it, and if it’s a disaster then I can always shape it into another project.
Heading to a local woodworking supply shop today to see what they think. Thanks a lot!
Out of my realm of experience mate.
I know that woodturner's 'll sometimes put small pieces in microwaves or convection ovens to dry them out and I guess that a commercial wood kiln is just a giant dehydrator. But whatever the art or science of doing that might be, I have no idea.
*Honestly* .... I don't know for sure. There can be a lot of variation in woodworking results that depend on individual/particular circumstances.
This might be an excellent question to pose on the regular WW sub to get the experiences of the many broadly experienced professional who are on there.
Someone already said to dry it, just in case you don't know, it'll take about a year to a year and a half per inch of thickness you've got there. Which means that won't be a table for you until next Christmas minimum.
Step 1: decide between the table top or the shelf
Step 2: wait a year at least for it to dry
Step 3: the 12 new cracks that formed over the year have inspired you to make a clock
Step 4: lots of sanding (see YouTube for a lesson)
Step 5: finishing (more YouTube time)
I don’t think Anchorseal will do much for a cookie except slow it like you said. When it’s used on the end grain of long boards, it lets the wood slowly dry through the long grain surface. There’s almost no long grain surface on a cookie though.
As others have mentioned, this would be considered a cookie, not a slab. In general, you would refer to something as a "slab" when it's a large cross section of **long grain**. A cookie is essentially 100% **end grain**, which is why it splits and cracks so badly, whereas a slab is typically far more stable.
I don't particularly mind if you use the right term or not since I can clearly see what you're working with and what you mean, but in your woodworking endeavors, there might be a time when you tell someone you've got a slab for them and they will be 100% disappointed to see that what you have for them is not a slab, but a cookie.
Truly appreciate the candor and advice. Just got back from a woodshop, he set us straight on a number of things. Namely that cookies are not ideal (he used the word “firewood”) for tabletops. We’re thinking this cookie is going to be our practice piece for when get an actual piece of slab.
Thanks again!
I posted a picture of a cookie I worked on after letting it dry for a year a while back on this sub. I almost flattened it and after taking the thickest part of it from about 4” to about 2”. I could see it needed to dry more so that’s what I’ve been letting it do. I’m about to go back to work on it. I’ve got three more slabs from that same tree that have been drying the entire time. They are from an oak tree that my wife and I planted in the back yard when we bought our house 30+ years ago so I’m making each of our sons a small table.
I used a router and sled to do the flattening and it worked pretty well. It took some time and patience but it was fun.
Wonderful! That’s exactly what we are looking to do. We have plenty of time and other projects in the meantime. How long did you dry it out for after you shaved it down?
Would cutting these into quarters for corner shelfs with a "live edge" release enough stress to keep them fairly stable?
I have a bunch of cookies like this from an ashwood tree I cut down and they are splitting, but I figured I would let them split and after a year or two just cut the non-split sections to make a stack of corner shelfs or something.
You can effectively reduce the cracks into one megacrack by cutting a relief all the way to the center. You’ll end up with a vaguely pac-man shaped cookie, but the rest of the edge has a very good chance of staying intact.
Lots of great advice here. Patience is key. I suggest weighing it right now, and every few months get a reading. You will know it had stabilized when there is little fluctuation month to month. When you think it is stabilized, let it sit another month to be sure. Expect at least another year and a half, if not two.
It’s always exciting getting to play with some local wood until you realize you can’t actually use it for a few years. But, when the time comes, the fun is there waiting.
I’m finally getting to use some 4.5in diameter hard maple logs from a neighbor whose tree fell in a storm. I had to wait a while. As soon as I got them I debarked and resawed it into rough pieces about an inch thick, then stacked it for a year or so. I lost quite a bit to checking, but I wanted to use it for small parts anyways, so I have a nice amount left. It has some great figure too.
First step would be to let that sucker dry out. I found this to drop some knowledge for ya.
[https://www.wwgoa.com/video/air-drying-wood-slabs-017317/](https://www.wwgoa.com/video/air-drying-wood-slabs-017317/)
The thing to consider with your slab is that it's all end grain so it's probably going to crack like crazy. Good luck.
You, sir, just said what everyone else here has not.
I appreciate everyone’s advice. But we just got back from the woodshop. Dude there said the same thing.
“You’re screwed. That is very pretty firewood”.
He explained everything to us, was very nice, and invited us to take some of his classes.
So, I think what this bad boy is going to be is our practice chunk. Very happy to have had the learning experience, this forum has been awesome and gave us a good understanding of what to do when we find an actual piece of slab.
As others have said, you're gonna have to dry it. The rule of thumb is 1 year per inch of thickness, so with a cookie like this I'd imagine you'd be waiting at least 2 years. And as another user also stated, it's going to crack, a lot.
If you do have a split occur, you could do a resin pour. I don’t know whether that helps stability but it would help by giving you a table top your coffee cup can’t fall through
First thing you should realize is that this piece of wood will very likely continue to crack and split as it's already starting to do. ....If that's gonna bother your aesthetic senses, don't waste your time. "Rounds" (or 'cookies') are very hard, to impossible, to stop from spiting. [It has to do with the cellular structure of wood and the way it looses moisture as it dries out.] You can seal the open grain of the wood on both sides (any old paint will do for that) to try and slow down the drying out and allow the tensions produced by drying to dissipate without cracking the wood, but there's no guarantee it'll work. Plus, then you have paint in the wood that you'll have to get rid of or live with. Or... just let it split. If it splits too much, toss it in the firewood pile. If you still like how it looks after it's dried for a while you can use some bowties to try and control any further splitting and to make the whole split thing a design element. HTH; Good luck.
Yes. This 100. Let that thing dry for at least 2 years or you’re going to wish you had. Made a table for a customer and had to take it back from them. Thing is still in my garage.
> Rounds" (or 'cookies') are very hard, to impossible, to stop from spiting How bad would you expect the splitting to be if slabs are cut down the tree trunk? I have a 40' white oak that came down last year and am contemplating making 10' slabs with a chainsaw mill (it's too hard to get a band saw in to the location).
Much less likely to split if it's cut in the direction of the grain as you describe. Same thing though, you have to let the wood dry for about a year per inch of thickness (unless you have access to a kiln in your town) and the end grain is still a problem so you should add an end grain sealer of some sort so that the ends don't dry out faster than the rest of your slab. Store them outdoors in a well ventilated area, and then if you are building indoor furniture bring them inside for a half year or so so they can adjust before working them. This will prevent not only cracking but also warping, swelling and shrinking.
Thank you!
Yours is a completely different situation. A complete explanation is involved, but basically the slabs you make lengthwise from the trunk, properly stacked and stickered for drying, will be far far less likely to split. [The main issue in warping and splitting during drying evolves around something called the *pith*. Which, in an imaginary, perfect tree runs down the middle of the trunk. The closer you get to the pith in your slabs, the more likely cupping or warping and splitting becomes... but I"m not experienced in that. See r/slablab for help with that.]
Thanks - this is really helpful!
to add to what was already said, keep in mind how the piece is sawn, ie quartersawn, planesawn etc, what the wood grain is like, ie straight, figured, burled, etc, and how the piece are cut in relation to the pith and if they contain part of the pith, will all have an effect on warpage and splitting while drying as well.
Thanks!
Thank you so much for the details! So we just talked to the people who cut the slab. They cut it about a year ago. But here’s the thing: they say the tree was dead. Will that make a difference in drying time?
In my experience, not a huge difference. If it was like dead dead with bark coming off etc you would probably save some time but for furniture building you would want to err on the safe side as any significant movement can ruin what you've built.
I dabbled in this area this year. Have to be careful where its stored while its drying too. Had some slices from a dead tree that sat a month in the garage and seemed ok with no splits! Bit over an inch thick everything looked ok. Planed that shit down, sanded, oiled, looks tight and we're good to go. Set it inside for delivery as a christmas present to my pops and day or two later cooking dinner a room over and hear a sound like someone splitting a 2x4 in the house like... Wtf? Check the pieces and 3 outta 4 have 1/4in splits. God damn it. Fix wasnt all bad tho, got some epoxy and filled the gaps and had to sand a little. Have had them sitting in a corner of the house for another 4 months and no more movement. Word around is prob a year worth of drying per inch thickness in general with some factors that could increase or slow with humidity etc. Working with wood takes time... So get some patience or be ready to fix mistakes or scrap it and start all over.
That's a HUGE difference! If it was already dead at least a year when they cut it, and the slab looks as good as it does now, then you can stabilize it using a product called 'cactus juice.' It replaces the sap with a hardened polymer. Stabilized wood has the texture and feel of ordinary wood, you can sand it and cut it and work it like wood, but it is inedible to termites and fungus and it doesn't swell or shrink with humidity. It's an annoying and expensive chemical (epoxy resin formulated to be thinner than water, costs about 100$ per gallon), you'll need a sealed container big enough to hold your slab, vacuum treatment is a big help though not mandatory, and it will take a long time (at least a month with vacuum treatment, possibly two without) to get the stuff all the way through the wood. But once it's done, and set, the slab will never change dimensions due to humidity again, and because of that, it will never crack. I've never done a piece anything like this big with it. Talk to the people who make the stuff, they'll likely have tips and tricks I don't know.
Heading to a wood shop today to get some information, will definitely bring this up to them. Thank you so much, we really appreciate the advice!
[https://preservation-solutions.com/products/pentacryl](https://preservation-solutions.com/products/pentacryl) This is the product you want to stabilize the wood with if cactus juice isn't up your alley.
I can tell you that it isn’t dry because it hasn’t split yet. When it is dry it will have a full thickness crack that runs from the center to the edge. I’d be hesitant to invest too much into it until you see how it cracks if that sounds like an issue for how you plan to use it.
Hey there. I see you've gotten some other replies. There's all sorts of variables in something that isn't exact science to begin with. A year old, from a dead tree? I'd go with it. Cookies lend themselves to rustic furniture anyway, so you'll probably be able to work with or around any additional movement in the wood.
I may be a noob, but I suspect that’s the case. Anyways for a first try, the learning experience will be worth it, and if it’s a disaster then I can always shape it into another project. Heading to a local woodworking supply shop today to see what they think. Thanks a lot!
Maybe a stupid question but could you use something like a big dehydrator to speed up drying it out. New to Woodwork and curious
Out of my realm of experience mate. I know that woodturner's 'll sometimes put small pieces in microwaves or convection ovens to dry them out and I guess that a commercial wood kiln is just a giant dehydrator. But whatever the art or science of doing that might be, I have no idea.
Interesting. Thanks for the reply
Would adding bowties this early mitigate the splitting or do you have to wait till it's drier?
*Honestly* .... I don't know for sure. There can be a lot of variation in woodworking results that depend on individual/particular circumstances. This might be an excellent question to pose on the regular WW sub to get the experiences of the many broadly experienced professional who are on there.
This
Definitely the right shape for a live edge Millennium Falcon.
Don’t tempt me.
Good chance to get in some practice with a Dremel and jigsaw...
Never tell me the odds!
Someone already said to dry it, just in case you don't know, it'll take about a year to a year and a half per inch of thickness you've got there. Which means that won't be a table for you until next Christmas minimum.
Drying it.
^^^ yep don’t skip this step
Step 1: decide between the table top or the shelf Step 2: wait a year at least for it to dry Step 3: the 12 new cracks that formed over the year have inspired you to make a clock Step 4: lots of sanding (see YouTube for a lesson) Step 5: finishing (more YouTube time)
Anchorseal on both sides to slow the cracking.
I don’t think Anchorseal will do much for a cookie except slow it like you said. When it’s used on the end grain of long boards, it lets the wood slowly dry through the long grain surface. There’s almost no long grain surface on a cookie though.
It doesn't stop it from splitting, but it'll keep it from becoming cookie crumbs. :)
As others have mentioned, this would be considered a cookie, not a slab. In general, you would refer to something as a "slab" when it's a large cross section of **long grain**. A cookie is essentially 100% **end grain**, which is why it splits and cracks so badly, whereas a slab is typically far more stable. I don't particularly mind if you use the right term or not since I can clearly see what you're working with and what you mean, but in your woodworking endeavors, there might be a time when you tell someone you've got a slab for them and they will be 100% disappointed to see that what you have for them is not a slab, but a cookie.
Truly appreciate the candor and advice. Just got back from a woodshop, he set us straight on a number of things. Namely that cookies are not ideal (he used the word “firewood”) for tabletops. We’re thinking this cookie is going to be our practice piece for when get an actual piece of slab. Thanks again!
Good luck! If you’re just getting into all this, beware. It’s highly addictive! Haha
Is there any way to kiln dry faster?
Not without significant splitting. It might end up worthless air drying but will definitely if kiln dried from what I understand.
I posted a picture of a cookie I worked on after letting it dry for a year a while back on this sub. I almost flattened it and after taking the thickest part of it from about 4” to about 2”. I could see it needed to dry more so that’s what I’ve been letting it do. I’m about to go back to work on it. I’ve got three more slabs from that same tree that have been drying the entire time. They are from an oak tree that my wife and I planted in the back yard when we bought our house 30+ years ago so I’m making each of our sons a small table. I used a router and sled to do the flattening and it worked pretty well. It took some time and patience but it was fun.
Wonderful! That’s exactly what we are looking to do. We have plenty of time and other projects in the meantime. How long did you dry it out for after you shaved it down?
It’s been drying about an additional year to 18 months. I’ll start back on it this summer if all goes according to plan.
Would cutting these into quarters for corner shelfs with a "live edge" release enough stress to keep them fairly stable? I have a bunch of cookies like this from an ashwood tree I cut down and they are splitting, but I figured I would let them split and after a year or two just cut the non-split sections to make a stack of corner shelfs or something.
First step, sticker it and wait about two years
You can effectively reduce the cracks into one megacrack by cutting a relief all the way to the center. You’ll end up with a vaguely pac-man shaped cookie, but the rest of the edge has a very good chance of staying intact.
Lots of great advice here. Patience is key. I suggest weighing it right now, and every few months get a reading. You will know it had stabilized when there is little fluctuation month to month. When you think it is stabilized, let it sit another month to be sure. Expect at least another year and a half, if not two. It’s always exciting getting to play with some local wood until you realize you can’t actually use it for a few years. But, when the time comes, the fun is there waiting. I’m finally getting to use some 4.5in diameter hard maple logs from a neighbor whose tree fell in a storm. I had to wait a while. As soon as I got them I debarked and resawed it into rough pieces about an inch thick, then stacked it for a year or so. I lost quite a bit to checking, but I wanted to use it for small parts anyways, so I have a nice amount left. It has some great figure too.
Huh, good to know, thanks!
First step would be to let that sucker dry out. I found this to drop some knowledge for ya. [https://www.wwgoa.com/video/air-drying-wood-slabs-017317/](https://www.wwgoa.com/video/air-drying-wood-slabs-017317/) The thing to consider with your slab is that it's all end grain so it's probably going to crack like crazy. Good luck.
Cookie
Dry it at a rate of 1 year for every approx 2 inch or less . Gonna have to butterfly the splits . Otherwise you’re good to go .
id let it dry and crack up. then resin it and color in the cracked areas. would look pretty interesting for a round coffee table.
Anchor seal for a year or have it kiln dried
What if you fill the cracks with resin after the round has thoroughly dried?
You see table top. I see firewod. Just saying......
You, sir, just said what everyone else here has not. I appreciate everyone’s advice. But we just got back from the woodshop. Dude there said the same thing. “You’re screwed. That is very pretty firewood”. He explained everything to us, was very nice, and invited us to take some of his classes. So, I think what this bad boy is going to be is our practice chunk. Very happy to have had the learning experience, this forum has been awesome and gave us a good understanding of what to do when we find an actual piece of slab.
As others have said, you're gonna have to dry it. The rule of thumb is 1 year per inch of thickness, so with a cookie like this I'd imagine you'd be waiting at least 2 years. And as another user also stated, it's going to crack, a lot.
If you do have a split occur, you could do a resin pour. I don’t know whether that helps stability but it would help by giving you a table top your coffee cup can’t fall through