Box-Sleeve Drying Question

Dan Mosley

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Palm Springs, Ca
I suppose this can be a follow up to my last post but I wanted to see how other people are drying boxes they turn and/or coffee mug sleeves.

Boxes:: I have roughed out some small boxes to about 3/4 thickness and sealed with anchor seal. A few others I have just coated inside and out with BLO and have them sitting inside to dry. Watching to see what happens is probably a better way to say it.

Sleeves:: I turn to finish thickness - spray the inside with BLO and outside with thin CA. Leaving it on the tennon to sand and finish after a few days of drying.

Anybody else have thoughts on this...................?
 
I have not turned any coffee mug sleeves so I can't help you there.

I have rough turned many boxes and I turn them with a box shape in mind so it is important to think about which box form you are going to turn before you rough.

I probably rough to 3/4" but don't really measure. I don't coat them with anything but I do tape them tenon end to tenon end just as described in the Raffan book. I just let them sit in a bucket or on shelves for several months or longer. On occasion I will use a moisture meter to see how dry the wood is. Here it is very humid and seldom does the moisture level get below 10%.
 
Mike - thanks for the explanation from Raffan technique. I do have his video but he takes a dry pc of wood and finishes it out totally. I am guessing the taping of tenons end to end (box tenon to lid tenon) is to help it not to distort during the drying process.

On boxes I have put CA on the inside lip of the lid and outside of the box itself this seems to stop most of the warping. On the box my thinking is it wil dry more from the inside (it is also dependent on the type of wood etc....). Bernie also mentioned Raffan's way of drying by taping the ends which im going to try. My bigger issue has been the sleeves to keep them from warping during the drying - seems the CA and BLO have helped out alot though.
I suppose rough turning the sleeves may be a better way to go but I am having some luck on turning thin and drying the way I mentioned so I like the idea of not having to wait months for a cylinder to finish...................

I also rough turn to about 3/4 and put aside with the methods I mentioned on boxes - Moisture meter less than 10% or whenever I feel like finishing something.............................thanks
 
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