Hardwood Cookies

Drying and Working with Hardwood Cookies/End Grain Disks

Need a Cookie To Start From?

We have a limited supply of hardwood cookies available for purchase or we can cut you a new cookie from our log inventory: walnut, oak, ash, elm, etc.

Contact us with the specie and dimensions of the cookie you are looking for.

What Does It Take?

Just like you, we like everything to be easy to understand. Some people call these "cookies"; others call them "hardwoord disks" or "end grain disks". Whatever you want to call them, here are the steps involved in making them up. We can do it all for you or you can save money (and have fun to boot!) by doing some of the work yourself. First acquaint yourself with the process, and then decide if you want us to build it all for you or if you want to do some of the steps yourself. Finally use the calculator to see what it will cost.

The Process

  • Let's Start Cookin'

    The process starts by cross cutting the cookies. We can either do this on our band sawmill for smaller logs or our chainsaw mill. We can cut cookies up to 53" diameter. It is always a good idea to cut a couple of extra disks. Cookies can be very reactive through the process; cracking, twisting, cupping, etc is common. It is hard to predict how the disks will come through the process. It is good to start with disks that are 1" thicker than the desired final thickness for the pieces.

    $125/Hr for cutting -- 1Hr Minimum

    First Step is To Flatten the Slab

  • "Drying" The Cookies

    OK -- not really drying. Usually kiln drying wood before you use it is the next step after cutting, but NOT so with cookies. Cookies should NEITHER be kiln dried NOR air dried do to excessive cracking & wrapping. Instead a wood stabilizer should be applied. We prefer Pentacryl Wood Stabilizer. It is easy to use and a great option for DYI(!!!). You can treat your own cookies and save $$$. Pour and spread it on both side of the cookies. Let it rest for a day or two and then repeat. Typically we do 5 or 6 coats. You will need around 8-12 oz per bdft of your cookies.

    $12/BDFT

    Pentacryl to Preserve The Cookies

  • Flattening & Preparing The Surface

    Next rough preparation of the cookie is done. This includes flattening, rough sanding for smoothness, small crack repair and edge sculpting.

    Included in the step is mortising in basic, steel stabilization bars to help improve stability/longetivity. PLEASE BE AWARE -- larger end grain cookies tend to crack and twist. Proper drying and stabilization helps to limit this but it can not be avoided!

    $12/BDFT

    Second step is rough sanding, edge sculpting and small crack repair

  • Major Repairs/Enhancements

    It is common to find cracks, insect holes, small sections of rotted/soft wood, etc in cookies taken from large, old trees. We love to emphasize this natural character in the wood. Depending on your preference this can either be left in it's natural state or can be stabilized/enhanced with bow ties/butterflies and wood epoxy. For larger diameter and/or high character cookies, we frequently recommend stabilizing the cookies by inlaying flat bar or angle steel in the underside. If this applies to your surface contact us for recommendations on how to best do the enhancement and what it will cost.

    Enhancements: $125/Hr. Est hours given before work begins.

    Use wood bow ties, epoxy, inlays, etc to enhance the surface

  • Finish Sanding & Finish
    DYI?

    Breakout the sandpaper! Your cookie/disk is ready for final detail sanding. Disks are sanded several times at progressively finer grits up to 240 using hand tools. If you are want to be part of building your surface and save money to boot, this is a good step to consider taking over.

    The last step is applying the finish. We use a variety of both water and oil-based finishes based on the color and durability requirements. For most projects we apply at least 5 coats to top/3 coats to the bottom surfaces to both seal and protect the wood for generations.

    $12/DBFT

    Careful, detail sanding is done in preparation of finish.
address
Office: 122 Mapleridge Dr.
Mankato, MN 56001. USA

Shop: 56815 178th Ln,
Good Thunder, MN 56037

Phone
1-507-420-9908
Email
sales@runthemill.com
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