Thread: Waxy coating on wood blanks

So I ordered my first set of wood blanks from Bell Forest to try to make my first set of scales.

I opened the box to find the blanks had a waxy finish on the outside...just wondering what purpose this serves. This might be a dumb question to some but I'll be the first to admit I have zero experience in woodworking

-Robert

Originally Posted by rshaw

So I ordered my first set of wood blanks from Bell Forest to try to make my first set of scales.

I opened the box to find the blanks had a waxy finish on the outside...just wondering what purpose this serves. This might be a dumb question to some but I'll be the first to admit I have zero experience in woodworking

-Robert

Its to stop the wood drying out too quickly and cracking, if I cut some nice wood I usually coat the end grain with PVA but some people use hot wax. In fact I have a massive Birch burr here that was recently cut and its had several coats of PVA on the cut face, I'll probably leave it like that for a couple of years.

Once the wood is seasoned you can remove the wax no problem, course you dont know when it was cut but a decent vendor shouldnt be sending it out green without telling you. It doesnt hurt to keep the wood in the house as long as you can wait which is why its good to build up a stock but you'll probably be ok using it now.

Iit is there to help reduce uneven drying of the wood. Even if it is kiln dried there is still residual moisture in the wood and will dry at diferents rates [ends vs sides] and can warp the wood.