Tree stump preservation

[heaflaw]

We had to cut down a 200 year old white oak in my family home's front yard.  I want to mark the rings with tags showing the dates of my grandparent's & greatgrandparents births, marriages, etc.  How can I preserve the stump to last & easily show the rings for at least several years?  Shellac, varnish, wood preservative maybe.

[fish_stix]

Cut a 2"-3" slab off the stump, label the rings and then cover it with tabletop resin. Hang it on a wall like a plaque. 

[Cindi]

Oh Heaflaw, what a most wonderful and great thing you are about to do.  What a more honourable method of remembering your family, I am just overcome with this beautiful thought.  What pride your ancestors would have in what you are about to do.  This final result must definitely be preserved so it can be kept in the family.  A 200 year old tree, wow!!!!  When you have done this work of art, you must have some nice pictures to show to us, I would love to see this. Take great thought about how it is to be done, you cannot make a mistake, it must be done to perfection, I am sure that you will endeavour greatly to do this though, so I should just shut my mouth, smiling.  Go, Heaflaw, go!!!  Have that most wonderfully great and awesome day, life, and that health too.  Cindi

[hankdog1]

fish_stix has the right idea but if you really want to keep it in tact in the frount yard probably a fortune in spar vanish is your best bet for a 200 year old tree i hate to think of how many gallons it's gonna take oooh yeah and you need to wait until it's good and dry before you start

[nella]

Woodturners use a commercial product that they paint on green wood so it won't crack and warp for bowls and other green wood  turning projects as the wood dries. I don't know if it is for outdoor use. It might help if you cut a slab and keep it inside. Do a search on the net for it, I don't have any recommendations.

[G3farms]

I read some where on a wood turners forum, that to keep green burls or blanks from drying too fast pack them in the chainsaw shavings and keep in a cool place, preferably with a slight bit of dampness (root cellar). The idea was to let it sloooowly dry out, if the outside dries too fast it will crack and split. Might take a couple of years to get a slab that size dried out. If you seal it up before the moisture content comes down it will crack open for sure.

What is it 4 1/2 to 5 feet across, maybe bigger.

What happened to the tree and the logs out of it???

sounds like a GREAT project, you could take it back to George Washington days.

G3