# how wooden pen blanks should be stored?



## MedWoodWorx (Sep 21, 2022)

My stash of wooden blanks keeps growing and i need to store them properly since i don't know when i am gonna use them all. I ve seen blanks sold by shops that are dipped in some kind of waxy substance at the ends. I suppose this is to prevent cracking since their end grain is more vulnerable. Does anyone know if that's paraffin or something similar? What do you do to preserve your pen blanks?cheers


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## SabertoothBunny (Sep 21, 2022)

Blanks with wax were wet when cut and the wax prevents warping and splitting during drying. The wax slows drying on the ends which protects the wood's stability. If you want something for wet wood drying you can use basic latex paint or AnchorSeal or AnchorSeal II. Those products are pretty much the standard used for drying.

If the wood is dry you only need to store them in a cool, dry place with stable humidity. Climate controlled is ideal but it doesn't have to be. Wood blanks that are dry are typically very forgiving on the environment they are  stored in. My wood blanks are sorted in a cubbied shelf system and just wait there for me covered in dust in hopes that someday I will get to them....


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## egnald (Sep 21, 2022)

Greetings from Nebraska.  I store most of my blanks in 5x8-inch plastic bags with a hole in the top so I can hang them on hooks under a shelf in my workshop.  Each bag holds 5 standard sized blanks (3/4 square x 5-inches). The bulk blanks I store in  6-quart plastic storage boxes that I get from one of our local hardware stores. Each one will hold about 70 blanks either in bulk or 14 bags of 5. I store them all in my workshop so they are all acclimated to the temperature and humidity in the shop.

I keep any uncut or wax covered boards on a shelf in the workshop. For the wax covered, like ebony, I test the moisture content and when it falls below 10% I let them acclimate for another few months before I scrape off any wax and cut them up into blanks.  (I also ask the supplier if they tested the moisture content, how long since they were cut, and how & where they were stored. Sometimes they are already dry enough when I get them so I just wait a few months for them to acclimate to my shop before cutting them into blanks).

Regards - Dave


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## penicillin (Sep 21, 2022)

If the wood is green wood from a branch or tree that I cut myself, then I coat it with whatever is convenient. For pen blank size pieces, I just take a candle and melt wax over the ends. For larger pieces, I paint the ends with a few coats of latex paint. Armorseal is better, but I have not found enough need to buy some yet.

For most pen blanks, I wonder whether people are overthinking this. Pen blanks are small and dry to equilibrium fairly quickly. I wonder whether @MedWoodWorx is worried about a future issue that may never occur. I have seen old pen blanks shared around our club often. Some must be many decades old because they were harvested long ago, before the CITES list existed. I see them in old boxes or bags or whatever. 

Is there a specific problem now? Have people seen issues with old wood pen blanks on a scale more than "once or twice, here or there"? Something associated with poor storage that would register concern?


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## MedWoodWorx (Sep 22, 2022)

penicillin said:


> If the wood is green wood from a branch or tree that I cut myself, then I coat it with whatever is convenient. For pen blank size pieces, I just take a candle and melt wax over the ends. For larger pieces, I paint the ends with a few coats of latex paint. Armorseal is better, but I have not found enough need to buy some yet.
> 
> For most pen blanks, I wonder whether people are overthinking this. Pen blanks are small and dry to equilibrium fairly quickly. I wonder whether @MedWoodWorx is worried about a future issue that may never occur. I have seen old pen blanks shared around our club often. Some must be many decades old because they were harvested long ago, before the CITES list existed. I see them in old boxes or bags or whatever.
> 
> Is there a specific problem now? Have people seen issues with old wood pen blanks on a scale more than "once or twice, here or there"? Something associated with poor storage that would register concern?


I have seen pen blanks coated with wax but i didn't realise that they were coated when cut. Also i have tried to coat blanks that started to crack in order to prevent future problems but that didn't work much. Thank you for your input, cheers


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## MedWoodWorx (Sep 22, 2022)

egnald said:


> Greetings from Nebraska.  I store most of my blanks in 5x8-inch plastic bags with a hole in the top so I can hang them on hooks under a shelf in my workshop.  Each bag holds 5 standard sized blanks (3/4 square x 5-inches). The bulk blanks I store in  6-quart plastic storage boxes that I get from one of our local hardware stores. Each one will hold about 70 blanks either in bulk or 14 bags of 5. I store them all in my workshop so they are all acclimated to the temperature and humidity in the shop.
> 
> I keep any uncut or wax covered boards on a shelf in the workshop. For the wax covered, like ebony, I test the moisture content and when it falls below 10% I let them acclimate for another few months before I scrape off any wax and cut them up into blanks.  (I also ask the supplier if they tested the moisture content, how long since they were cut, and how & where they were stored. Sometimes they are already dry enough when I get them so I just wait a few months for them to acclimate to my shop before cutting them into blanks).
> 
> ...


Dave your shop is a penturners dream; congratulations for being so tidy well organised! I like your plastic bag idea; have you or anyone else tried to use silica or coarse salt? Is there a point doing so? Cheers


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## 1080Wayne (Sep 22, 2022)

Silica isn`t very effective as a drying agent for wet wood , because it`s moisture holding capacity is not high . For those in humid coastal climates doing stabilization , adding some to the sealed plastic bag holding pieces removed from the oven would help to keep them dry , if there will be a day or two delay before beginning stabilization . 

The only thing you need to guard against with dry blanks is that they don`t become wet , and stay in that condition for weeks . That will cause staining , initiate the spalting process , and allow various bugs to thrive .


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