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woodworking question
callktulu
Member Posts: 3,451 ✭✭✭
I have a pine log from our yard that I'm turning into an art piece. I stripped the bark and uncovered a beautiful maze of beetle trails, and I'm ready to now preserve the piece.
Do I need to stain the wood first before applying a clear poly coat? Or will the poly perform the same preservation task without the stain underneath?
Do I need to stain the wood first before applying a clear poly coat? Or will the poly perform the same preservation task without the stain underneath?
Comments
And fiery auto crashes
Some will die in hot pursuit
While sifting through my ashes
Some will fall in love with life
And drink it from a fountain
That is pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain
i think u will find that pine doesn't take stain very well. also i don't know how long u have dried this piece but if not done properly it will crack on you. be best to seal the ends with wax and put away somewhere dry for about a year.
It's been drying for a year, which is how it got all the beetle abuse!
The poly coat will seal it but if you want it darker, stain it first, then put the polyethylene on. It will take several coats to seal it.
OK, that's what I thought, and no, I didn't want it darker, so I was going to use a clear stain if necessary.
Thanks!
Where are the beetles now? If you're bringing it in , its something to consider.
I'm pretty sure I got all the grubs. If not... I think the poly seal will do them in (I'm hoping).
"Preserve the piece"? Why not just leave it age naturally?
Good things are better when wet. [:p] Or at least look wet. [;)]
If you have the type of beatle(kill) that kills millions of trees in Colorado every year you might want to have part or all of the log sawed into planks for various projects.
Thanks for the heads up. This log is from a healthy tree we took down (among a few others) in our yard. All of the trees were healthy, and we did inspect for beetle kill among all the trees.
The beetles in this particular log came once it was cut down and sitting dormant outside to dry. Hopefully I got them all...
quote:Originally posted by forgemonkey
If you have the type of beatle(kill) that kills millions of trees in Colorado every year you might want to have part or all of the log sawed into planks for various projects.
Thanks for the heads up. This log is from a healthy tree we took down (among a few others) in our yard. All of the trees were healthy, and we did inspect for beetle kill among all the trees.
The beetles in this particular log came once it was cut down and sitting dormant outside to dry. Hopefully I got them all...
If the log is small enough then throw a tarp over it and seal the edges to the ground as good as you can then throw a couple of bug bombs in with the log. Let it sit for a coupls days and you should get the beetles.
Pine is very porous and will take the finish differently in different places leading to a blotchy look. Hitting it with a coat of sanding sealer or a natural stain prior to the poly will help reduce the blotching.
Pine is very porous and will take the finish differently in different places leading to a blotchy look. Hitting it with a coat of sanding sealer or a natural stain prior to the poly will help reduce the blotching.
Thanks!!
So how do I get rid of them?[xx(][?]
UGH! So, apparently there are still active beetles (and/or grubs) still int he wood, because this morning there's a nice small pile of sawdust (beetledust?) below the log.
So how do I get rid of them?[xx(][?]
See my post above.
quote:Originally posted by callktulu
UGH! So, apparently there are still active beetles (and/or grubs) still int he wood, because this morning there's a nice small pile of sawdust (beetledust?) below the log.
So how do I get rid of them?[xx(][?]
See my post above.
Yeah, I saw that, but decided I was far, far too lazy to go to that kind of effort. Instead, I bought some insecticide and sprayed it on and in the beetle holes. It seemed to work pretty well, and the gloss poly I put on is making it look very nice. I'll post pics when it's all done.[8D]
That would make one cool, one off, lamp.
That IS nice. Cool as 'ell the way the heartwood emerges from the top.
That would make one cool, one off, lamp.
Thanks! Never heard the term heartwood before. I assume that's when it grows around a dead material?
quote:Originally posted by asphalt cowboy
That IS nice. Cool as 'ell the way the heartwood emerges from the top.
That would make one cool, one off, lamp.
Thanks! Never heard the term heartwood before. I assume that's when it grows around a dead material?
Heartwood is the inner dense wood of the log.
https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/80/65080-004-260A62CD.jpg
The dark wood in the center of your piece is heartwood while the outer, lighter colored wood is sapwood.
Heartwood is the inner dense wood of the log.
https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/80/65080-004-260A62CD.jpg
The dark wood in the center of your piece is heartwood while the outer, lighter colored wood is sapwood.
No, that's definitely not heartwood. If I had taken a "before" pic, you would see it was a dead branch growing out from the healthy wood, which broke off at some point. It's definitely not the center of the log.
UGH! So, apparently there are still active beetles (and/or grubs) still int he wood, because this morning there's a nice small pile of sawdust (beetledust?) below the log.
So how do I get rid of them?[xx(][?]
Fire kills the bugs in the logs.....Oh, wait; never mind.
quote:Originally posted by callktulu
UGH! So, apparently there are still active beetles (and/or grubs) still int he wood, because this morning there's a nice small pile of sawdust (beetledust?) below the log.
So how do I get rid of them?[xx(][?]
Fire kills the bugs in the logs.....Oh, wait; never mind.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
That is a cool looking piece of wood, you are an artist!
I think that a couple coats of polyurethane and it will be "Auf Wiedersehen" to the bugs. They will be all smothered if there are any left.
Drying that for a year it ought to be dry, as small as the branches are I doubt you will get any splitting.
"The Beatles carry a type of fungus, in their mouth, that causes what is known as 'blue stain' or 'denim pine' ,,,,,,,,"
You mean Paul and Ringo? John and George have passed away.
At any rate that is a cool piece of wood. A sculpture from Mother Nature.
Is the dark piece of wood, about 1 inch diameter, a vine, or is it a weird branch or what? The little tree is wrapped around it.
At any rate that is a cool piece of wood. A sculpture from Mother Nature.
It's all 100% pine tree. The dark piece is not heartwood, it is without a doubt an older, dead branch around which the rest of the tree grew.
If you look closely or zoom in on the dark, long-dead piece, you can see miniature stumps where it once had branches. Those had long-since died and broken off, as well, leaving only the very base of themselves.
I did put about 4 or 5 coats of poly on, and it gives it a subtle and wet shine. The beetles are now all gone, I think. I haven't seen any fresh sawdust or other signs of their infestation.
As far a me being an artist....hardly. All I did was use a small chisel and hammer to remove the bark. Fortunately, the beetles did most of that work, as it sloughed off very easily due to their boring. All I did was a very light sanding and poly coats to preserve the colors.[8D]
The heartwood is the little dark spots that are visible, right in the middle of the little trunks where the branches were sawed off.
The heartwood in these branches is about 1/2 inch in diameter.
Perhaps you have heard the expression "heart pine." This used to be a common building material. This was the wood from the heart of the giant pine trees that we used to have in America. If you had, in 1880, a 4 foot diameter yellow pine tree, the heart might be 20 inches in diameter. So you could saw a 12 x 12 beam out of that, and it would be entirely heart wood.
Heart pine is very dense and packed with sap, is just about invulnerable to insects. You still see it used in flooring, most of it is a hundred years old, because there aren't any more 4 foot pine trees growing today that you can get decent heart wood from.
I didn't say the dark one inch piece is heartwood.
The heartwood is the little dark spots that are visible, right in the middle of the little trunks where the branches were sawed off.
The heartwood in these branches is about 1/2 inch in diameter.
Perhaps you have heard the expression "heart pine." This used to be a common building material. This was the wood from the heart of the giant pine trees that we used to have in America. If you had, in 1880, a 4 foot diameter yellow pine tree, the heart might be 20 inches in diameter. So you could saw a 12 x 12 beam out of that, and it would be entirely heart wood.
Heart pine is very dense and packed with sap, is just about invulnerable to insects. You still see it used in flooring, most of it is a hundred years old, because there aren't any more 4 foot pine trees growing today that you can get decent heart wood from.
[:0][:0][:0][:0][:0][:0]
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! OK, I follow you now! I apologize for misunderstanding. Thanks for the little bit of history and pine trivia, that's cool stuff!
[:D][8D]
EDIT: It was asphalt cowboy who said the stick coming out of the top was heartwood.
Is the dark piece of wood, about 1 inch diameter, a vine, or is it a weird branch or what? The little tree is wrapped around it.
At any rate that is a cool piece of wood. A sculpture from Mother Nature.
I sort of agree with Allen. Just doesn't look right. This looks like a tree that grew around another tree or a dead branch or some such thing.
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
Is the dark piece of wood, about 1 inch diameter, a vine, or is it a weird branch or what? The little tree is wrapped around it.
At any rate that is a cool piece of wood. A sculpture from Mother Nature.
I sort of agree with Allen. Just doesn't look right. This looks like a tree that grew around another tree or a dead branch or some such thing.
That's sure what it looks like!
Nice work, Callktulu!
quote:Originally posted by mlincoln
quote:Originally posted by allen griggs
Is the dark piece of wood, about 1 inch diameter, a vine, or is it a weird branch or what? The little tree is wrapped around it.
At any rate that is a cool piece of wood. A sculpture from Mother Nature.
I sort of agree with Allen. Just doesn't look right. This looks like a tree that grew around another tree or a dead branch or some such thing.
That's sure what it looks like!
Nice work, Callktulu!
Thank you! Since everyone is insisting it's art and I'm an artist, I decided to name the piece. I've decided to call it "A Hard Day's Night."
You know, because it was made by beetles, and they should be sleeping like a log....
Looks cool. But dude, that's not a log, that's a stick.
The pine trees here (along Colorado's Front Range) rarely get big. And of the ones we were culling from our back yard, even smaller. It was a tree, and this was the main body of the tree, but nearer the top than the trunk.
And it's a little bigger than stick between my legs, therefore I categorize it as a log.
You are cracking me up. An artist and a poet.
"You know, because it wad made by beetles, and they should be sleeping like a log...."
You are cracking me up. An artist and a poet.
I do what I can. [;)][:D]