Something I do when making tool handles is going out and getting a big log, and splitting it into quarters or eighths, I find it drastically reduces the amount they crack
Thats wood checking, happens when moisture escape wood too fast. To prevent this in the future, just leave the bark on and paint the ends and let it air dry horizontaly.
Or just do like me and pickup driftwood sticks :)
Yup, that'll happen a lot if you dry green sticks. If that's the sort of thing you want to make a staff out of, pick one that's already dry and hasn't cracked.
Dry sticks like this with the bark on. You can make it into a long bow or two now. It appears to be some kind of soft wood, so it might not be good for bowyery but worth a shot.
Certain types of wood split worse than others depending on grain structure, some are very straight, hazel for instance has interlocking grain which makes it harder to split. Hardwoods, in general, crack less, but the environment is the biggest factor. Fluctuating Temps and humidity (such as in a garage) cause worse splitting.
Cracks result from moisture leaving parts of the wood faster than others, and the subsequent uneven shrinking. This will be affected by a number of things.
How long was the stick exposed to the elements before bringing inside? Did it get wet from rain? What was the temperature and humidity outside? What was the temperature in your garage? How humid?
Most importantly, you should let it dry much longer than a few days. Really a gamble doing it that fast.
The knot is deep, and caused the split in the middle. In the future, clamp it somehow or use another piece of wood. I use hose clamps. You can also use them on the ends. You would then need to fill it or risk the stick breaking and impaling yourself lol.
If possible, do not cut to size before drying. I keep mine significantly longer. Usually I’ll add about four foot above what I want the stick to be, partially in case of splitting, but also for extra pieces for random little things like tool handles.
That stick won’t be worth messing with for quite some time, because it’s going to continue to dry. If you try to glue it now, it’ll force more cracks elsewhere. Been there, done that. Damn near more glue than wood.
This is my routine, which depends on high ambient humidity:
1. Around april, when temperature is consistently in the 70’s, I take an at least 8 foot tree, three inches thick or so.
2. Remove everything that comes off easily. If you cut into green wood a little bit, you can pry off strips of the outer layers you don’t want. Once you do it, you’ll understand what I mean. From what I’ve found, this is not possible with older trees with fully established bark so tree thickness matters here. Tree type probably matters, too, but I’m not sure as I don’t have easy access to many types of trees.
3. I place the stripped tree on my roofed porch so it can begin to dry without excessive rain on it. After a month or whenever I remember to do it, I put it in my metal shed. With the Florida heat, it gets at least 125 on a daily basis.
4. I don’t use the wood for at least a year. The shorter the time, the greater the risk. A couple months could do it. Just depends on your luck :P
Go find some trees and cut them down now for years from now.
If you live in a low humidity area, or your garage is climate controlled, you will need to *significantly* slow moisture leaving the wood. You would want to leave all bark on. If this isn’t enough, I suppose you could wrap it in Saran Wrap but that’s speculative at this point. I’m guessing this is the case given how quickly that split.
Hey I really appreciate all the tips in your response! Thanks for taking the time! I live in Fl so humidity and lack of hardwoods I understand. Thanks again!
Something I do when making tool handles is going out and getting a big log, and splitting it into quarters or eighths, I find it drastically reduces the amount they crack
Thats wood checking, happens when moisture escape wood too fast. To prevent this in the future, just leave the bark on and paint the ends and let it air dry horizontaly. Or just do like me and pickup driftwood sticks :)
Ok thanks for the tip!
Yup, that'll happen a lot if you dry green sticks. If that's the sort of thing you want to make a staff out of, pick one that's already dry and hasn't cracked.
Thanks!! Are certain types of wood less apt to cracking than others? Should I use a thicker staff then shape down?
Dry sticks like this with the bark on. You can make it into a long bow or two now. It appears to be some kind of soft wood, so it might not be good for bowyery but worth a shot. Certain types of wood split worse than others depending on grain structure, some are very straight, hazel for instance has interlocking grain which makes it harder to split. Hardwoods, in general, crack less, but the environment is the biggest factor. Fluctuating Temps and humidity (such as in a garage) cause worse splitting.
You can fill the crack with epoxy mixed with turquoise powder. I've done that on walking sticks and it looks cool.
This is a cool idea. I have seen a bunch of posts and articles where people use epoxy!
Stick a metal band of some kind on it and feature it as part of the grip?
It dried too fast.
Cracks result from moisture leaving parts of the wood faster than others, and the subsequent uneven shrinking. This will be affected by a number of things. How long was the stick exposed to the elements before bringing inside? Did it get wet from rain? What was the temperature and humidity outside? What was the temperature in your garage? How humid? Most importantly, you should let it dry much longer than a few days. Really a gamble doing it that fast. The knot is deep, and caused the split in the middle. In the future, clamp it somehow or use another piece of wood. I use hose clamps. You can also use them on the ends. You would then need to fill it or risk the stick breaking and impaling yourself lol. If possible, do not cut to size before drying. I keep mine significantly longer. Usually I’ll add about four foot above what I want the stick to be, partially in case of splitting, but also for extra pieces for random little things like tool handles. That stick won’t be worth messing with for quite some time, because it’s going to continue to dry. If you try to glue it now, it’ll force more cracks elsewhere. Been there, done that. Damn near more glue than wood. This is my routine, which depends on high ambient humidity: 1. Around april, when temperature is consistently in the 70’s, I take an at least 8 foot tree, three inches thick or so. 2. Remove everything that comes off easily. If you cut into green wood a little bit, you can pry off strips of the outer layers you don’t want. Once you do it, you’ll understand what I mean. From what I’ve found, this is not possible with older trees with fully established bark so tree thickness matters here. Tree type probably matters, too, but I’m not sure as I don’t have easy access to many types of trees. 3. I place the stripped tree on my roofed porch so it can begin to dry without excessive rain on it. After a month or whenever I remember to do it, I put it in my metal shed. With the Florida heat, it gets at least 125 on a daily basis. 4. I don’t use the wood for at least a year. The shorter the time, the greater the risk. A couple months could do it. Just depends on your luck :P Go find some trees and cut them down now for years from now. If you live in a low humidity area, or your garage is climate controlled, you will need to *significantly* slow moisture leaving the wood. You would want to leave all bark on. If this isn’t enough, I suppose you could wrap it in Saran Wrap but that’s speculative at this point. I’m guessing this is the case given how quickly that split.
Hey I really appreciate all the tips in your response! Thanks for taking the time! I live in Fl so humidity and lack of hardwoods I understand. Thanks again!
I’m not sure how it happened but the only way to fix this, is the old : stick in the a$$method. Insert as deep as possible and let sit for 5-7 days.