Dan Mosley
Member
- Messages
- 1,169
- Location
- Palm Springs, Ca
New to the website and been turning for a short time and have been having alot of difficulty with the drying of green wood. I have read alot of articles about many ways to dry green wood and have some problems with drying. Thought i would explain what the kids and i have been trying and doing and see if anyone else has a better way or suggestions
For practice i picked up alot of citrus wood from a friend who had cut down some trees (grapefruit trees). Have made alot of blanks and sealed one end with wax/thinner (6-1 ratio) and put them under cover with one end into the soil. So far they are check free. So i decided to try a few methods of drying without having to wait months.
So i wanted to explain what ive been doing and see how everyone else is doing the drying or have any suggestions. I am in California and temps are hitting well into the 110's outside the garage.....Anyway
1- brown bag techique - rough turned and placed n brown bag with some moisten wood chips. Works fine but takes way to long to dry for finishing and the kids do not have the patience to wait months so i ventured into other methods of drying.....next
2- Alcohol bath drying - works good on many types of woods and i have used a 5 gal pale to do the soaking in. Soaked from 5 hrs to over night and have had good lucking doing it this way with min warp. However i wanted to find another way to dry green wood (kids,animals etc around and denatured alcohol is not cheap)
3 - Soap method - 50/50 with concentrated liquid dish soap - does not work well on this type of wood - rough turned and soaked over night and put on the bench in the garage to dry still wet. Result was each of the pc's cracked out bad.
4 - completely turned to finish on the lathe - turned and wet/dry sanded and placed in a brown bag and sometimes just on the shelf in the garage for about 5 days. Then Oil/varnish for sealer, the sand and put on several additional coats. After that turn the tenon off and finish the bottom. Results are good with no checking.
5- same method as 4 and soaked in alcohol overnight and dried for several days in the garage and then finished. Results are good this way also
6 - microwave, Ethenol, boiling etc- dont want to try them, I guess just no interest in the technique.
Conclusion - i have had mixed results and still looking for a good way to to dry without the checking and problems. I and the kids like the warping and its fun but i thought i would see how others are drying their green wood.....
Thank you in advance for sharing any ideas or outlining your drying technique
Dan in California
For practice i picked up alot of citrus wood from a friend who had cut down some trees (grapefruit trees). Have made alot of blanks and sealed one end with wax/thinner (6-1 ratio) and put them under cover with one end into the soil. So far they are check free. So i decided to try a few methods of drying without having to wait months.
So i wanted to explain what ive been doing and see how everyone else is doing the drying or have any suggestions. I am in California and temps are hitting well into the 110's outside the garage.....Anyway
1- brown bag techique - rough turned and placed n brown bag with some moisten wood chips. Works fine but takes way to long to dry for finishing and the kids do not have the patience to wait months so i ventured into other methods of drying.....next
2- Alcohol bath drying - works good on many types of woods and i have used a 5 gal pale to do the soaking in. Soaked from 5 hrs to over night and have had good lucking doing it this way with min warp. However i wanted to find another way to dry green wood (kids,animals etc around and denatured alcohol is not cheap)
3 - Soap method - 50/50 with concentrated liquid dish soap - does not work well on this type of wood - rough turned and soaked over night and put on the bench in the garage to dry still wet. Result was each of the pc's cracked out bad.
4 - completely turned to finish on the lathe - turned and wet/dry sanded and placed in a brown bag and sometimes just on the shelf in the garage for about 5 days. Then Oil/varnish for sealer, the sand and put on several additional coats. After that turn the tenon off and finish the bottom. Results are good with no checking.
5- same method as 4 and soaked in alcohol overnight and dried for several days in the garage and then finished. Results are good this way also
6 - microwave, Ethenol, boiling etc- dont want to try them, I guess just no interest in the technique.
Conclusion - i have had mixed results and still looking for a good way to to dry without the checking and problems. I and the kids like the warping and its fun but i thought i would see how others are drying their green wood.....
Thank you in advance for sharing any ideas or outlining your drying technique
Dan in California