LATSA Picturez! Tiki Table! - Tiki Carving

G GMAN Member My Island Joined: Jul 14, 2005 Posts: 2999	G GMAN Posted posted on Fri, Mar 28, 2008 4:56 AM Surfin', Get that bark off quickly as boring beetles attack the wood very fast (at least here). I lost a dozen nice cedar logs because I was lazy and let them sit in the garage with the bark on for a few weeks while I was away hunting. The beetle eggs are deposited on the bark and the larvae live in and on the bark until they are old enough to bore into the wood. Once you get the bark off, look for small entrance holes in the log. The holes can be from pin head sized and round, up to 1/4" or better and oval. If you see holes, wrap the logs in plastic and freeze them for 2 or 3 weeks to kill off the beetles. Some of these beetles have long life cycles with some living in the wood for many, many years before emerging. When they are mature, they cut exit holes and emerge to mate and lay eggs. Many of these bugger's larvae will then reinfest the log or attack other wood in your house. I have a few good links discuss boring beetles if you wanna lookee. Here, my cedar logs have stayed fairly wet for a log time. Keep in mind I drop the trees myself (they are real fresh) and we are very humid for much of the year. I generally wait until I see where the log is checking and design my carving around the cracks so that they do not cause real problems (~ 6 months). Paint the ends to slow the water loss and sit and wait a while. My last Teko was carved from a log that had been down and curing since like 2004. Since you have two logs, dig into one in a few weeks and then let the other sit and cure. That way you can compare and see how YOU prefer to carve it. You may like it better wet as it gets chippy and scary when it is dry. I also keep my "wet" carvings wrapped up in blankets or towels to keep them away from the air flow and slow water loss/cracking. If you do that, just watch out for mold. I'm glad you found some! I was gonna ask if you wanted one of these new chunks to make something out of. Now I don't need to mail you any :D Email me if you wanna talk cedar some more. -G$

Surfin',

Get that bark off quickly as boring beetles attack the wood very fast (at least here). I lost a dozen nice cedar logs because I was lazy and let them sit in the garage with the bark on for a few weeks while I was away hunting. The beetle eggs are deposited on the bark and the larvae live in and on the bark until they are old enough to bore into the wood. Once you get the bark off, look for small entrance holes in the log. The holes can be from pin head sized and round, up to 1/4" or better and oval. If you see holes, wrap the logs in plastic and freeze them for 2 or 3 weeks to kill off the beetles. Some of these beetles have long life cycles with some living in the wood for many, many years before emerging. When they are mature, they cut exit holes and emerge to mate and lay eggs. Many of these bugger's larvae will then reinfest the log or attack other wood in your house. I have a few good links discuss boring beetles if you wanna lookee.

Here, my cedar logs have stayed fairly wet for a log time. Keep in mind I drop the trees myself (they are real fresh) and we are very humid for much of the year. I generally wait until I see where the log is checking and design my carving around the cracks so that they do not cause real problems (~ 6 months). Paint the ends to slow the water loss and sit and wait a while. My last Teko was carved from a log that had been down and curing since like 2004. Since you have two logs, dig into one in a few weeks and then let the other sit and cure. That way you can compare and see how YOU prefer to carve it. You may like it better wet as it gets chippy and scary when it is dry. I also keep my "wet" carvings wrapped up in blankets or towels to keep them away from the air flow and slow water loss/cracking. If you do that, just watch out for mold.

I'm glad you found some! I was gonna ask if you wanted one of these new chunks to make something out of. Now I don't need to mail you any :D

Email me if you wanna talk cedar some more.

-G$

Post #369775 by GMAN on Fri, Mar 28, 2008 4:56 AM