Take 3 Khaya Senegalensis

[DarwinStrings]

The tropical sky has just opened up as I was about to start up my chainsaw and saw a bit more mahogany up so I sat down, ate a mango and took some pics for this thread.

If you remember, I asked about getting some tips on drying the local garden variety of African mahogany. What I got out of it was that when I first tried to dry it 15 years or so ago I think I was letting to much breeze get to it (compounded by drying in the "dry season" here). So now it is the beginning of the "wet season", the humidity is up so I have sawn up a few boards to stick up. This time they will be stored in a small garden shed with little ventilation, that being the gap around the door and the gap between the roof batten and the corrugated iron. I mainly saw up a bit of radiata pine for sticks for dry wood but did not want to use it on the wet stuff so I have bought those disposable chop stick you get with take away food, not the bass wood ones but the bamboo type(or maybe it is some sort of cane?) they are just a little shorter than my back sets but close enough.

The photos tell the reason I am so keen to get this wood happening, Here is a few shots with different light and angle so you can get the idea of it.

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Jim

Life is good when you are amongst the wood

[Bob Connor]

You could slow down the drying by keeping it covered by sheets of plastic just after you've cut it Jim.

Check it regularly to make sure that it isn't going mouldy.

[DarwinStrings]

You could slow down the drying by keeping it covered by sheets of plastic just after you've cut it Jim.

Thanks Bob, do you mean cover the stacks in plastic once they are sticked up? I have been wrapping them in Glad Wrap after sawing till I get them in the shed and sticks as I am sawing outside in the sun and breeze.

I will keep a check on the mould as I am a bit worried about it, walls mould up here at this time of year (as well as other things, the gory details would make you wince)

Jim

Edit. I also gave them a good ring of surface spray to stop the cockroaches living in them and encouraging mould.

[Allen]

Were's the pictures of the mango's? Your season is about a month ahead of ours. Still hanging out for the local ones. The imported ones just are picked too green and don't taste as good as the locals.

Oh, nice wood btw.

[Bob Connor]

Yeah - cover them in plastic once you've stickered them just to slow the drying process down.

Keep 'em covered for a few days then take the plastic off for a few days maybe.

I'm not quite sure of how it would work in your climate - just play it by ear so they don't start going mouldy.

Maybe you could get some of that blue plumbers glue and put a coat on the ends as well. That's where a lot of your moisture will get out first.

[Steve]

Maybe you could get some of that blue plumbers glue and put a coat on the ends as well. That's where a lot of your moisture will get out first.

Bondcrete also works a treat. We've often used it at work on log-ends to reduce end-splitting. Dries clear, so not quite as attractive as the plumbers glue.
Steve

[DarwinStrings]

The rain continues and has saved the neighbours from this arvos chainsaw session.

Cheers Bob and Steve, I used two coats of external acrylic paint to end seal, maybe it is not as water proof as the pipe glue but I figure it should at least help match the end grain moisture loss with the side grain loss. Do you think the pipe glue or Bondcrete is better? if so I will switch.

I imagine they want a high price for the imports too Allen, We are about three weeks into the season and I have probably eaten too many already ( I need a emot that sits back and pats its bloated belly).

Seeing this is about wood I will post a pic in case anyone is looking for any mangifera indica wood. This fruit about 120mm long will help with identification of the tree.

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Yours drooly

Jim

[DarwinStrings]

This is a bit of it chainsaw cut and ran over the buzzer, you can see the pale fresh cut oxidises out to that mahogany orangey brown fairly quickly. It is not quite as dark and less brown than the Honduras mahogany I have here but then it has not been sitting around as long.

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Jim

[Steve]

Jim,
I've used acrylic paint & Bondcrete - both seemed to work ok.
We've had our share of rain down here too - 400mm so far this month. The mango tree in my backyard is still flowering - our harvest is months away. The first truck-loads from Humpty Doo have been arriving, but not much flavour yet.
Steve

[DarwinStrings]

Advice taken, as you can see I wrapped it in clear so I can keep and eye on it, The stack next to the wrapped one is ironwood and I have no fear of that being a problem, it has very little water in it even when green, which is part of the reason it is so stable in service.

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Jim

[Kim]

Ooow nice racks Jimbo

[DarwinStrings]

Ooow nice racks Jimbo

Ha , you know I must be a fairly simple man. I find myself standing in that shed just looking at the stacks as if they were a TV or some other type of dynamic entertainment. The pine packing crate shelves were home to all sorts of junk (that might come in handy one day) that had to make way for the more important goods. Judging by the amount of logs/trees I have been offered lately just about everything else in that little shed is going to have to find a new home, like that box of old plumbing bits you can see that I have had for 15 years and never used.

Jim

[DarwinStrings]

After wrapping in plastic I eventually noticed a little fur growing around the sticks (none in the ironwood racks though which are not wrapped). So I pulled them apart rinsed all the boards with a mild bleach solution and have re-racked them without plastic, I will keep my eye on them again till I am sure the mould won't come back.

Jim

[DarwinStrings]

A little further on this one. It looks as though the mould problem is with my choice of sticks. I noticed that some sticks I had set aside from the stacks in the shed have started to grow fur without being in contact with the wood and also noticed that with the ironwood stacks any part of the stick that is not in contact with the iron wood has started to mould ( a quick spray of exit mould has stopped it). I have now changed to the Basswood chopsticks and am treating them with exit mould before I stick up the boards.

Jim

Life is good when you are amongst the wood, unless it keeps bloody growing mould and you keep having to pull your stacks apart to clean them