underwater log harvesting in mn

[popolarbear]

toilet bowl method doesn't address the need to slowly remove water from wood matrix to prevent curling, splitting and warping of the wood as it dries out. I heard of a similar method to the peg using alcohol. 50% slowly increasing percentage until 100% then  into wax.Ive tried this with soft bodied spiders and it can work but takes a long time and futzing to get it to preserve.

[arcFlash]

This all sound familiar to wood turners turning green logs because they cut fast and easy. After they rough cut the shape, they soak them in cattle tanks and P.E.G. to stabilize them. In something like 6 months they remove and let dry and re-turn them on the lathe to finish size and then apply a finish of choice (PEG stain and all). So you may be able to read about working with green wood at the library or on-line as it's very common to turn wet wood (it's also a blast to turn but you have to wear a raincoat!)

Also familiar, is when I worked on the wreck of the Ely, we bored holes in the sides to add the steel support rods and the oak that came out as chips was hard and looked new but did not float. So you may be able to harvest, resaw it and then sticker as you would with green wood. Follow the drying charts for the specific wood for at least the first year (per inch air dry) and then tent it in tarps, add a 150w incandescent bulb (if you can find one) and a cheap dehumidifier that drains to a graduated cylinder or measuring glass. You can only pull so much moisture out (per 100 board feet) a day or your wood will case harden and be mostly junk.

Warp, bow and cup can be resawn out or planed off from normal 4/4 or 6/4 when you machine to S4S. Twist is junk, burn it. What you want to avoid is end checks, ring checks and case hardening. Case being the most common even in professionally dried woods.
Checks can mostly be prevented by painting end grain before drying but you can buy a pro product, I don't know if it's better. (for what it's worth, i've made fine furniture on and off for 10 years but I don't dry my own wood, I just live with what I can find in the pile) Plug, Youngblood Lumber in Minneapolis has been very good to me.