water curing wood

[JoJoDapyro]

I've been curious about water curing wood for some time now. Has anyone tried it? Was it in a controlled setting or at the bottom of a lake or pond? Thanks in advance.

[JW_Halverson]

I dunno about science, but there sure is a lot of opinion!

[alwayslookin]

From what I have heard it wasn't necessarily curing in the water more so keeping it in the water to prevent bug damage and checking if the wood wasn't to be used soon. Purely opinions I gathered from another thread.

[DC]

I've always thought it was kinda like drinking a dozen beer to sober up

[Drewster]

I've always thought it was kinda like drinking a dozen beer to sober up

LOL, there are a lot of things in this olde world that I don't know, but curing wood under water makes me think someone needs to revisit botany 101 and brush up on their wood technology  ;-)

[JoJoDapyro]

Why is curing and drying taken for the same thing?

[Drewster]

How do you "cure" wood without drying it?

[JW_Halverson]

My under, is that drying removes the water.  Curing involves the evaporation of other compounds and the molecular changes that take place in the lignin and so on.

To my mind, they are inextricably linked much like the upper and lower crusts of a pie.  You could sink a log and the water stays in the log, but some of the other compounds may disperse or dilute.  Then you have to dry the water from the wood.  In effect, you are baking  your pie twice in order to get both bottom crust and lower crusts done.  Seems to me to be like an old Scandanavian saying about cutting down some trees to build a bridge over a creek so you can cross over to draw a pail of water from the well on the other side. 

[Drewster]

JW, interesting perspective on curing wood.  So do you cure wood in a specific manner which controls those other chemical changes so as to produce a finished product with particular properties.......other than a low moisture content?

My life experiences have taught me that curing wood is the process of drying wood.  The need of the finished product can range from dry firewood to a high quality cabinet or bow wood that is dried in such a manner to yield the highest quality finished product with the fewest defects......including internal stress reduction.

[make-n-break]

I was always under the impression the natives 'water cured' staves in a running stream to drive out the sap, and then sat the bow out in the air a short time later to remove the water. Correct me if I'm mistaken though.

[Pappy]

Here we go, seasoning/curing or drying. Love this subject. Break out the pop corn. :)I have put it in the pond or creek to keep if from checking until I could get to it and care for it properly, but that was only for a short time, maybe a few days. Eddie [Mullet] will chime in on this one soon I bet.
   Pappy

[Eric Krewson]

I have always suspected it was to kill bug larva, not too much diazanon around in ancient times. Considering how much damage my untreated wood can sustain, imagine how frustrating the same kind bug onslaught would be to some stone age guy who spent two days chopping down a tree with a stone ax.

[bubby]

I tgink wood dries from the middle out and if you soak it a good while it will equalize the moisture helping to prevent checking

[JW_Halverson]

No Drewster, I really do not.  I can't even get information online about what all different chemical compounds there are in different species of woods, what their evaporative rates are, or even what effect their evaporation/oxidation/reduction has on the wood.  No, I just like to leave wood to slowly air dry for a few months, then if I have to, hurry the drying process by moving it into sunlight and wind, or sometimes even putting the wood in a car in the sun to bake to a finish! 

Now I have seen firsthand what effects long term curing can have on woods such as osage and douglas fir.  I was able to work some 100+ yr old osage beams from a cow shed once. Under a draw knife, taking off growthrings, the wood almost seemed brittle as it flew off the stave!  It was an absolute cakewalk to chase a growthring.  Beautiful wood, virtually impossible to get grain tear-out!  The douglas fir were arrow shafts from a fellow here in South Dakota.  The wood came from boards that lay in a barn loft for almost 100 years.  They were stickered between layers and the sheer weight of the bunk of wood had kept it pressed tight and resistant to warping.  After how many seasons of variable humidity, the wood absorbing and releasing relative humidity, it was as stable as you could get.  Tom ripped blanks with a saw, ran 'em thru a doweling machine and matched for spine.  He never straightened!  From a dozen shafts, I would have three or four that needed a small correction, the rest were ready to shoot. (That wood is all gone now.  I weep.  It was true old growth...one arrow shaft had over 50 rings in it's 11/32ths thickness.  I had to cut it at a steep angle and count rings using a magnifying glass)

I can't add any knowledge to the basics of curing wood:
1) Keep the bugs out of it
2) keep the back sealed to prevent checking
3) keep it out of excessive heat and out of the rain 
4) keep it off the ground 
5) keep your mitts off it as long as you possibly can.

If I had the patience, the materials, and the conditions, I would love to age one sister stave in my garage for 20 yrs and the other at 400 ft of depth in Lake Michigan.  But that is beyond me at this time.

[gutpile]

one of the elders in our Cherokee tribe spoke of burying a stave in mud by a creek to cure..I havent tried it but suppose to make the wood easier to work, is the only reason I can think of....of course they were using stone tools back then too...gut