Finishing end grain table

[Markcw]

Hi all my first post on the forum, looking for some advice for finishing end grain table tops, these are ash, have tried a bit of osmo on a small sample but it drinks it, was thinking if there was anything else people could recommend.
Many thanks.

 

[Distinterior]

Try sealing it with Sanding Sealer first,...before you try the Osmo on it.

 

[Markcw]

Thanks for the kind reply, I might try this on the back first, hopefully it won't discolour it ?, Will definitely use it on the cedar table tops

 

[alex robinson]

Nice looking slice! Pretty much any finish will darken the wood as it will make it look permanently wet. ON the plus side, this should really bring out the grain. As with all of these questions, it depends on what look you are going for. Osmo or tung oil would give a fairly flat, low sheen finish. Alternatively polyurathane varnish and car polishing wax will give you a high gloss, glassy sheen.

End grain slices are quite fragile, especially with bark (currently) attached. Another option is to paint with an epoxy resin. If you thin the resin with acetone, it will soak into the fibres and when it sets will greatly improve the strength and resistance to cracking with changes in moisture. You can also use the same progressive sanding and polishing approach to get a nice finish. If you stop at 1500 grit or so it will have a satin finish. Go all the way through the automotive compounds and it will look like glass. If you try epoxy, make sure you look up about them and do some practice first! They can be great, but if you make a mistake they are quite toxic and can make a terrible mess of your project.

 

[Markcw]

Thanks for all of the advice everyone, I think with this first one I will use osmo, I will try some other finishes on some of the smaller ones to see how they come out. It will be interesting to how the car polish comes up ,
Thanks again for all your helpful advice, will post a pic of it when I have finished it.

 

[Chrispy]

Can I ask is this wood dry? As either you have been very skilled or very lucky to dry it with out the bark falling off and no splits developing or as I suspect this piece is still quite green, in which case your finish will have have a war on its hands with the water in there.

 

[Markcw]

Yes they are all dry, with a moisture content of about 17. I have been working on a process with a close friend for one year now on how to dry them out without them cracking or reduce the cracking due to natural shrinkage, you can't get the bark off them so it will be staying on the slice,

 

[Hornbeam]

Yes they are all dry, with a moisture content of about 17.

This not fully dry. If going into an indoor environment you need to get down to around 10% or less

 

[rogxwhit]

17% would be fine for the woodburner ...

 

[alex robinson]

Yes they are all dry, with a moisture content of about 17. I have been working on a process with a close friend for one year now on how to dry them out without them cracking or reduce the cracking due to natural shrinkage, you can't get the bark off them so it will be staying on the slice,

17 isn't bad for air drying, but as other have said it will be dryer if inside in a heated room. If it is an even 17% all the way through you will have got past much (but not quite all) of the potential times for cracking. What has been your special method?

 

[Markcw]

Yes I agree 17% is not kiln dry or what you would expect of joinery grade timber, a lot of them are about 15% or less. Ash has a moisture content when green of about 50% but it is very hard to get that out unlike willow or cedar which can hold twice as much water but be dried faster. The wettest part of an ash slice is the centre it holds less moisture on the outer part of the log/slice . Cracking starts as the moisture content gets below 30% and tends to slow down and stop when it reaches about 22% ,it's just controling how it dries , but there are other factors like thickness and time of year best to cut the log, and where to cut the log, and yes when we first started there was quite a few for to log burner you can't kiln dry them as they even crack or split even more.

 

[Markcw]

Thanks for all the advice which was most helpful, anyway I have managed to get some of them finished now , I think they have come nicely, have ow started drying the maple and beech for next year
Once again many thanks for all of the advice.