Two of my sons have found some ways to use some of the smaller pieces of wood that are available or accumulate around the farm.
James uses some of the smaller branches when we cut firewood to make coasters for our glasses around the house.
First he picks a branch of the right size and starts cutting blanks that are about a half inch thick. He keeps them around for about a month or so to get rid of the ones that develop cracks. Most of them are usually okay.
He has tried freezing them as a means of keeping them from cracking. And he has tried putting them into a zip-lock bag to keep them from cracking, because this supposedly keeps them moist and makes them dry out more slowly with less cracking. Both of these methods really don't work any better than just letting them sit for a while.
Once he thinks the wook will be okay, he breaks out the wood burner and gets to work. After the design is burned into the wood he usually coats them with some polyurethane clear coating.
Michael likes to carve thngs from wood he finds around the farm.
He uses knives and other hand tools to make his creations.
When he is finished carving he usually coats them in some type of oil. A lot of time he just uses canola oil. Sometimes he uses olive oil.
He also makes handles for knives, hatchets and axes.
Most of the time he makes something functional, but sometimes he just carves something whimsical.
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