Brendon_t Posted May 2, 2016 Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 When I stacked my recent walnut haul, I couldn't find my jug of anchorseal so I grabbed two cans of latex spray paint. I painted the ends with a generous coat, twice. I'm noticing very small checks starting. Under 1/2"long. When sealing the ends, I was thinking you just wanted to slow loss, not seal it completely. Two coats made a decent barrier I thought. Should the ends be totally sealed off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted May 2, 2016 Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 Generally speaking, latex paint is very vapor permeable. Aerosol would be even more so. Oil based primer is good, but you'll need multiple coats over rough end grain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted May 2, 2016 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 Interesting. Is "seal the ends with latex paint" just one of those myths that refuse to go away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
midtnwoodworker Posted May 2, 2016 Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 42 minutes ago, Brendon_t said: Interesting. Is "seal the ends with latex paint" just one of those myths that refuse to go away? From my experience latex will seal the ends, but not using spray paint. I suppose it would if I had put more than 2-3 coats on it, but I figured like you that would be plenty. Anytime I use latex I get a roller and roll on 2-3 heavy coats. I am usually using whatever paint is old and I want to get rid of. I am also doing it while it is still in log form so I am able to make a mess and not have to worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom King Posted May 2, 2016 Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 Latex paint that I use is leftover stuff in cans that should have been thrown away a long time ago, and is so thick anyway that you can't help but put on a thick coat. It seems to work fine, but some boards are going to end check some regardless of what you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bombarde16 Posted May 2, 2016 Report Share Posted May 2, 2016 Yup. I've been using leftover latex paint on my harvests and the ends do indeed check a bit. I haven't used a product specially formulated for sealing end grain. If I had to guess, I'd hypothesize that latex paint (especially the old crap that everyone wants to get rid of) is actually too thick for the job. It brushes on thick, sure. But what you want is something that will travel a bit into the pores of the end grain. Who knows? Just cut your stuff overlong and assume you're going to lose some off the ends. Sent from my QTAIR7 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob493 Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 you can get a pound of beeswax for 5-10 bucks. That ALWAYS works, and you can go as thick as you like. Its cheaper, works better, and is more friendly on the lungs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Wright Posted May 3, 2016 Report Share Posted May 3, 2016 this is my weapon of choice for sealing the ends of lumber when I mill it from logs on my property http://www.woodworkingshop.com/product/sk60000/?inMed=GSTORE&gclid=Cj0KEQjwmKG5BRDv4YaE5t6oqf0BEiQAwqDNfMPxAbBSTz0E-7yjBsYx6nxx9I9y-5kJL0hzyBUiwo4aAg-x8P8HAQ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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