Help with wood log drying/sealing

[stefan007]

Hi,

New to the forum. I have aqquired two logs which i am going to make into side tables. They have been outside in the elements for around a month. One has a very large crack in the top. See pictures. What is the best way to fill the large crack? Epoxy resin??

One side of the log is very wet. What is the best way to dry the logs out and is it neccessary to seal the logs? And what with?

Any help would be greatly appreicated.

 

[Noggsy]

Think of logs as bundles of straws which lose moisture more quickly from the ends, often causing them to shrink and split if left to their own devices. Ideally, the idea is to split the logs down the middle and remove the middle bit (pith). Then paste up the ends with anything (old paint or PVA is a favourite and some people use wax) in order to slow down the evaporation from the ends to be closer to the rate from the sides and therefore avoid splitting. I haven't done a huge amount of drying, but I often read that you should allow around a year per inch of timber in terms of drying time, but this is affected a lot by where the timber is left, what wood it is, what the temperature and humidity is where the logs are left.

If you want to cut across the grain and leave the gap as it is, then I would foresee a problem in that the gap would probably continue to open as the wood dried, making your filler a bit redundant. Anyway, good luck with it.