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bobbotron
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2012 01:57pm - Edited by: bobbotron
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There are two good sized ironwood (Ostrya virginiana) trees on my property that have been blown over (almost parallel to the ground) but are still living. I'm considering harvesting one or both of them for project wood - it's incredibly hard/strong wood, and you can't get it commercially.
I doubt I'll be able to get a sawyer to cut it up for me, so my plan is to put a wax based sealer on it (from Lee Valley), remove the bark and store the logs in the cottage to dry.
Just wondering if anyone had any good tips for drying this kind of wood. The logs are about 6" across and probably 20 feet long.
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Just
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# Posted: 27 Sep 2012 08:51pm - Edited by: Just
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it would be better to dry the log out side, but covered or in a open shed with lots of air moving past . never in a closed building,, the log might mold under the bark or worse inside... put it under the cabin if it has open sides but up off the earth a few in's
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bobbotron
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2012 05:20pm
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That's fair.
I plan on de barking the logs after I cut the trees down. From what I understand, ironwood doesn't have a great resistance to rot so I'll have to make sure the spot under the cabin is far away from splash back from the roof, etc...
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Just
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2012 07:33pm
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most hard wood will last forever if kept dry, but, better cut wet, i would,, try,, to get it cut as soon as you harvest it .
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exsailor
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# Posted: 9 Oct 2012 11:24am
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I would look closely at the characteristics of this wood when dry. Seems I recall it is like black locust and dries rock hard and impossible to work. It would make great posts.
It is also best to debark while it is green wood. If you leave the bark on it attracts bugs and is harder to remove once the wood cures. Where ever it ends up keep it dry, of the ground and let air circulate around it to cure the wood.
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bobbotron
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# Posted: 9 Oct 2012 04:14pm
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Hey exsailer.
It would make great indoor posts - it doesn't have the rot resistance of black locust for outdoor posts.
It is going to be pretty obnoxious to work with when dry. I'm planning on mostly using it for tool handles, wooden mallets, etc...
The traditional use for ironwood around here is firewood. It is pretty much the hottest, longest burning wood; people say you can screw up a wood stove if you pack it too full of ironwood!
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christianosusanoo
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# Posted: 10 Jul 2015 04:15pm
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I'm looking for a way to cure ironwood without any chance of it checking. Any help is greatly appreciated. Oh I'm trying to make a pair of Casuarina equisetifolia (Beach Ironwood). 
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bldginsp
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# Posted: 10 Jul 2015 08:29pm - Edited by: bldginsp
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I don't know about these species specifically, so I suggest you find out from a local sawyer or woodworker about its peculiarities, but I've dried and used various woods, so here's a few tips-
Some woods split a lot no matter what you do. Eucalyptus is useless for any woodworking or construction because it splits badly no matter what precautions you take. Other woods are no problem. Gotta know your species.
Clog up the end grain with wax, paint, old varnish, anything that will slow the rate that water leaves the end grain. This allows the wood to dry more evenly and gives fewer end splits.
Mill up the wood to the basic dimensions you need, stack it with stickers between each piece for air circulation, be sure the stack is on firm ground and the pieces lie straight in the stack. Keep it out of the sun but in free air circulation, inside or out.
Green wood generally takes one year per inch of thickness to become air-dry, meaning the moisture content of the wood has equalized with the moisture content of the air.
The wood will dry faster if you slice it up green since it is thinner to begin with, and slicing it up reduces the chances of it splitting because thinner pieces of wood will have less tension in them as they dry. All large timbers have large checks, this is not a problem for timber framing, but if you slice the log after it has dried the checks will have formed already and you have to throw out the split stuff.
Black locust is impossible to work when dry but I've heard of people building whole porches out of it while green and then just letting it dry in place. Tremendous rot resistance. You can build with any green wood, but if you do you just have to leave the walls open until the wood is fairly dry. If you close up the walls with wet wood you'll get mold inside.
A good book on wood characteristics and drying wood is Bruce Hoadley's "Understanding Wood" published by Taunton decades ago, an oldie but goodie.
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