Controlling water spray from green "wet" wood

[John Spitters]

Thought that I would post a new addition to my turning corner, I was getting tired of the fact that whenever I turned green "wet" wood the spray of water would get all over the wall and ceiling behind and above my lathe, coupled to that is that I had wall plugs and overhead lights that were in the line of fire of this water spray.

So here is my solution, since I already had the articulated arm for the dust collection I decided to work off of that. As a plus I could also cut a hole through this if I wanted to use it for dust collection as well.
I've also posted a few pics of how I put together the swinging arm for the DC port, very simple solution and works extreamly well.
Attached Thumbnails

 

[john lucas]

Good idea. I'm redoing my dust collection system at the lathe. It would not be hard to use the arm on my powermatic that is designed to hold the safety cage. I would put an articulating arm on that and then I could mount a screen like you have and put it wherever it needs to be.
Hey maybe I cold put a small window in it, make it out of steel and use it to protect myself as well as stop the spray.

 

[Dave Roller]

I drape an old bathmat over the lathe ways just under the workpiece and that makes cleanup a lot easier.

 

[odie]

Very ingenious, John!

It's always enjoyable to see how others have solved problems......and from the looks of the wall behind your lathe, it's obviously been an issue for you.

I have had some water spray issues at times, but don't think I've ever had that much to deal with......or seemingly not as much as you are dealing with. A few of my bowl blanks are in the upper 30's MC range. What kinds/species of woods do you find give this much water spray? Are you measuring the moisture content?

Very few hardwoods here, so all of my wood blanks are from out of state. This, it would seem, would naturally mean that the bowl blanks I use have some time element from the tree to my lathe.........I wonder if that is a reason why I'm not experiencing as much water issues as other turners might have........?

ooc

 

[John Spitters]

Odie,
Pretty much everything i turn is from wood that I cut down myself, since I live in BC close to Vancouver or as we locals say the "wet coast" whenever I rough turn blocks I get a lot of water that flings itself out of the wood. To such a degree that it literally rains down from my ceiling. I have heavy plastic curtains that I can pull in around me to protect the rest of the shop but this was doing nothing for in behind the lathe and the ceiling, this setup should help to improve that. I also usually drape a old towel over the ways when roughing out.
Woods I turn are whatever I can find which is lots of Maple, Birch, Alder and yard trees such as apple, cherry, etc. Reguardless of the time of year that they are cut they always hold a tremendous amount of water. I've never measured the level of moisture though as I do not own a moisture meter.

John

 

[MichaelMouse]

Odie,

Woods I turn are whatever I can find which is lots of Maple, Birch, Alder and yard trees such as apple, cherry, etc. Reguardless of the time of year that they are cut they always hold a tremendous amount of water. I've never measured the level of moisture though as I do not own a moisture meter.

Fiber saturation point (bound moisture) for almost all woods hovers around 30% of dry weight, and it's the unbound moisture that flings. No meter can tell you what percentage of dry weight that is, only a scale. Varies with species, season and habitat.

Nice to see something more formal than my method, visible here, of putting up a splatterboard. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/ContactSheet-1-1.jpg Of equal, if not greater importance for me is to protect the iron table of the saw which is also in the throw zone to my left. It has its own set of cardboards. If there were no wall close behind my lathe, I'd make one to catch not just water, but shavings. As I mentioned above - bring the wall to the lathe.

Don't neglect any horizontal iron surface in the shop, especially when using corrosive woods like oak or cherry. One neglected shaving brushed from your apron can put you to work with 600 wet/dry, WD40 and warm curses next day.

 

[robo hippy]

I gave up trying to control it. I have a nice 2 ft wide reddish brown stripe from floor to ceiling, and some on my grinder as well. Mostly I avoid getting it on me, but some times it would be nice to get glasses or a mask that has wiper blades.

robo hippy

 

[MichaelMouse]

I gave up trying to control it. I have a nice 2 ft wide reddish brown stripe from floor to ceiling, and some on my grinder as well. Mostly I avoid getting it on me, but some times it would be nice to get glasses or a mask that has wiper blades.

Another of the joys of slicing straight ahead rather than standing in harm's way. What gets wet is the left forearm. Glasses stay clean.

 

[AlanZ]

Okay, I've resisted long enough.

John, with a family name like yours, you should just embrace water being flung around the shop.

(Oh, come on... someone had to say it <vbg>)

 

[KellyDunn]

John, I also get soaking wet roughing green wood. I have an old sheet I undo from a holder to try and keep some of the chips and water away from some stuff. I get real liberal with the wd40 on the ways before starting but some woods have sticky sap or high tannin or both and make a mess. I wear a glove on my left hand. A long sleeve shirt and for real wet wood a waterproof turning apron. I have to keep a damp washcloth and a dry towel for my face shield. There is no way to get out of the line of water fire so to speak. It comes from the whole piece of wood not just where the cutting is taking place. But if I can I do try to use the gloved hand to catch most of the spray when its heading my way.