Dan Mosley
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- 1,169
- Location
- Palm Springs, Ca
Well I can't help myself from constantly experimenting and trying new ideas and techniques. So I decided to embark awhile back on figuring out a way to control the drying process of green rough and/or final turned pc's.
Background - yep...... there is dishsoap soaking - wood chips - anchor seal - brown bags etc......blah blah blah...............i wanted something simiple and consistent so I tried this stuff called "Turners Choice" because i got a good deal on it and thought I may as well give it a whirl. I read thru the directions on the label and it mentions soaking or submerging the wood for a period of time for best results...................pffffffffffffffffffffffffffft !!!!!! to much cost and hastle..........................
Well I started thinking why would I do that ? well because it needs time to penetrate throughly thru the turning - Well I may have a better idea that will accomplish the same thing. So what i did was to turn 2 green wood vessels - 1 from Red Euc and the other 1 from some scrap stark white tree (junk wood laying around). I then sparyed the inside of the turning with the Turners Choice, Then spun the lathe at 1200rpms for a bit say 10mins - then soaked the inside again and using my Typhoon blow gun I blasted the fluid thru the side walls of the vessel as it was spinning (you can see it bleed thru easy) - then wiped own the outside and set them to dry. Red Euc sits inside (swamp cooler on all the time) on my counter where i sit so i can watch it closely to see what happens - The other white junk wood sat out in my garage on a table (So. Calif - 108+ in the garage during the day).
Results so Far - Pic 1 - White junk one 1 week sitting out it the hot garage - moisture content 6.8% average - wall thickness about 1/8 or a bit thicker - no cracks so far
Pic 2 - Red Euc -moisture content 9.5 highest reading over multiple areas - 1.75 days - wall thickness 1/8 or a bit thicker - no cracks so far
Pic 3 - Mesquite - same as above applied finish after 5 days sitting out in the garage
Pic 4 - All these sitting inside now for almost a a week and half - there was shrinkage because the inserts do not slide in and will need some additional sanding to fit - but there are no cracks - the small cracks in the pic on the one sleeve were there when i used the Turners choice and i wanted to see if the cracking would continue or not - so far I dont think so but if it did it has not been noticeable or only a minor amount - the little bowl had some warping.
Conclusion - I am not suggesting anyone go buy this stuff and do what I did - I am just posting my experiment results and I am liking what i see so far. The small Mesquite I finished today seemed a bit easier to sand also - If it turns out like im hoping my days of the other methods are numbered..............
The mixture is half the story - the method of penetration is what seems to be the other half of the sucess so i am hopeful this works.
As a side note im am also trying another mixture and ill post those results to when I have a chance to try it out.
Background - yep...... there is dishsoap soaking - wood chips - anchor seal - brown bags etc......blah blah blah...............i wanted something simiple and consistent so I tried this stuff called "Turners Choice" because i got a good deal on it and thought I may as well give it a whirl. I read thru the directions on the label and it mentions soaking or submerging the wood for a period of time for best results...................pffffffffffffffffffffffffffft !!!!!! to much cost and hastle..........................
Well I started thinking why would I do that ? well because it needs time to penetrate throughly thru the turning - Well I may have a better idea that will accomplish the same thing. So what i did was to turn 2 green wood vessels - 1 from Red Euc and the other 1 from some scrap stark white tree (junk wood laying around). I then sparyed the inside of the turning with the Turners Choice, Then spun the lathe at 1200rpms for a bit say 10mins - then soaked the inside again and using my Typhoon blow gun I blasted the fluid thru the side walls of the vessel as it was spinning (you can see it bleed thru easy) - then wiped own the outside and set them to dry. Red Euc sits inside (swamp cooler on all the time) on my counter where i sit so i can watch it closely to see what happens - The other white junk wood sat out in my garage on a table (So. Calif - 108+ in the garage during the day).
Results so Far - Pic 1 - White junk one 1 week sitting out it the hot garage - moisture content 6.8% average - wall thickness about 1/8 or a bit thicker - no cracks so far
Pic 2 - Red Euc -moisture content 9.5 highest reading over multiple areas - 1.75 days - wall thickness 1/8 or a bit thicker - no cracks so far
Pic 3 - Mesquite - same as above applied finish after 5 days sitting out in the garage
Pic 4 - All these sitting inside now for almost a a week and half - there was shrinkage because the inserts do not slide in and will need some additional sanding to fit - but there are no cracks - the small cracks in the pic on the one sleeve were there when i used the Turners choice and i wanted to see if the cracking would continue or not - so far I dont think so but if it did it has not been noticeable or only a minor amount - the little bowl had some warping.
Conclusion - I am not suggesting anyone go buy this stuff and do what I did - I am just posting my experiment results and I am liking what i see so far. The small Mesquite I finished today seemed a bit easier to sand also - If it turns out like im hoping my days of the other methods are numbered..............
The mixture is half the story - the method of penetration is what seems to be the other half of the sucess so i am hopeful this works.
As a side note im am also trying another mixture and ill post those results to when I have a chance to try it out.
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