Post #294963 by Lake Surfer on Tue, Mar 27, 2007 10:23 AM

Its a roll of the dice... depending on your climate. I was reading on Belgium's climate and it sounds like you get as much variety as we do in the Midwest. Even more if you are closer to the water. Even after you think your logs are dry they will act like a sponge. Even after you think your tikis are stained and sealed they will act like a sponge. They will take on moisture and they will dry out. Season after season, year after year. I have things that I carved 5 years ago that are just starting to crack.

You can take steps to minimize splitting and cracking. Many have been mentioned. Many times you can do all these and still get cracks and splits.

A big part of the whole picture is the type of wood. How tight or loose is the grain? Is the wood very pourous? Some woods dry quicker than others.

I've had pieces of ash that never split. Pine dries out quickly and splits easily. Cedar too.

Trees hold a lot of moisture. The wood swells. As the wood dries out it looses mass. It pulls back on itself, splits, cracks.

Even kiln dried wood cracks and splits and twists. I have some 1" x 2" s that look like corkscrews. They were straight a week ago. I buy wide boards now and cut them down.

Best is to keep a lot of wood on hand, start collecting and have it seperated by how long its been seasoned. Use the wood that has dried the longest. Usually by then you can work around cracks and splits and put them to the back.

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2007-03-27 10:23 ]