So I've been debating for a while to make some of those rustic picture frames that are thinly sliced rounds, often with bark still on for some photos, or other arts & crafts type stuff. After a bit of research it seems that usually these are prone to splitting while drying. Some suggestion of the use of expensive stuff to help mitigate this, anchor seal, Pentacryl, PEG... I'd like to avoid anything expensive (I'm not making money of this, just seeing if I can do it for inexpensive decor for myself and/or gifts to my family that have rustic tastes). One slightly less expensive chemical solution I've heard is soaking in denatured alcohol, anyone have experience with this? From what I can tell there are maybe 3 non-chemical options, please fill me in if there are more... 1. cut disks at an angle, which minimizes radial cracking since the grain is perfectly radial anymore, more like 33-45 degrees. 2. some species are more prone to cracking. I think this has to do with straight grained? Would something like twisty elm be better suited? I am very interested in the answer to that since I have a pile of elm which is primarily what I want to experiment with. 3. Cutting out the center I hear relieves a lot of the pressure... which for the picture framed ones would be want I want to do anyhow. I am guessing I'll roughly cut out rectangles of a little smaller than 4x6, 5x7 etc depending on the size for the photos, as soon as the disk is cut. I can slightly enlarge it after being dried. I assume drying slowly is a requirement. Any particular method? Just set them in the shed for a couple months? Thanks for any advice!
I’ve not tried it myself but the pentacryl is what I’ve heard used. 1. Yes. The reason cookies are weak is because the grain is oriented the wrong way. Sawing at an angle gives you some long grain more like a board. This is a walnut cookie which was sawn that way. It’s remained fairly stable for quite some time now. 2. Yes. Elm is a generally a better choice than something like straight grained ash or oak. It will still crack but will tend to hold together because of the interlocking grain. 3. Yes. If you don’t go with a diagonal cookie you’ll probably want to drill out the pith and saw a kerf to the center to relieve the tension that will build up as it dries. Good luck!
Thanks Shawn! Pardon my ignorance of proper terminology but what is saw a 'kerf'? Is that a cut like on my radial arm saw that doesn't go all the way through? And how many and how far across would you do the cut? And pith is the very center correct? Are we talking about just like a 1/4" or so drill? Some I would like to be intact without holes - for things like a drink coasters. I suppose if drilling a hole really helps this a lot I could fill it back in with wood putty and maybe it'd still look like its suppose too.
Usually “kerf” refers to the width of your saw cut - for example a chainsaw makes a wider kerf than a bandsaw. You’re correct with your radial arm example but I actually meant a cut that was all the way thru - starting somewhere on the outside and stopping in the very middle (aka the “pith” or heart center) of the cookie. So think of the cells in the tree basically as a bundle of straws which are fused together, running vertically up the tree. As the wood dries out, the straws begin to shrink. Now they can’t all stay fused together anymore so cracks begin to appear between them. You’ve probably seen this happen to the ends of your firewood. The idea of sawing a kerf is that by opening a major crack you can allow the rest of the wood to shrink hopefully without much additional cracking. The idea of drilling out the center would be to hopefully prevent any additional cracks that might occur later from running out to the other side and splitting off a whole section. I’d probably want the hole big enough to be into good wood. But of course, none of this may apply to your situation. If it was me I’d go for the diagnonal cut for a picture frame and then the kerf and or drilling is not needed. And drink coasters - heck I could get like 200 out of one branch so if any did crack or split, I’d just pitch them into the kindling box.
