Drying green wood

[Devin Howard]

I've seen alot of back and forth about drying green wood.... Could someone walk me thru the DNA method so I can test it on a couple of pieces? 😎

Thanks, Devin

 

[James McClure]

Dave Smith's article on Woodcentral

Here's the link to Dave Smith's article on Woodcentral:

http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=turning&file=articles_473.shtml

 

[Devin Howard]

Thanks!

That was very helpful.... just got a couple of large cherry logs... cant wait to try it out😎

 

[MichaelMouse]

That was very helpful.... just got a couple of large cherry logs... cant wait to try it out😎

While you're at it, remember that you can't dry anything by soaking it. You dry it by allowing the air to carry the moisture away. If wood loses moisture too rapidly it will shrink enough at the surface to start splits.

So think relative humidity and keep it high for the first two-three weeks. You can do it by adding a close barrier like wax, a container like a box or bag, or you can let the basement floor take care of it by tossing things down there.

If you want to soak or chant, do so, but take care of the wood as above so you can tell other people how the magic worked.

Most important thing is to inspect the wood for heart checks and not make the bottom too broad. Wood is predictable and science is there if you care to try it.

 

[robo hippy]

In my opinion, the wrapping the outside of the bowl in paper and leaving the inside open does far more than the DNA.
robo hippy

 

[Charlie Knighton]

box or bag

So think relative humidity and keep it high for the first two-three weeks. You can do it by adding a close barrier like wax, a container like a box or bag,

with fall cutting season fast approaching, i have been looking for some cardboard barrels to put blanks up in, seems i could have found some used locally but i have not

i did find some on the internet from unites states plastic corp 1-800-769-1157 the cost was about what i expected, with the freight as much as the cardboard barrels but i am now looking forward to colder weather with no posion ivy and no deer ticks the company has 30 gal and 55 gal barrels for sale

i am not an advocate of oak, but would like to turn more of it and there is plenty around, i like cherry and apple better and think the blanks would hold up better in the cardboard barrels, that's the way Chester Lane does it with no anchoseal or sealing

 

[Ron Warman]

I have tried everything I know to dry green wood and I have come to the conclusion - do what you want but if you -

1. Never expect wood with a crack to dry without that crack

2. Keep the wood away from air movement any way you can.

Ron

 

[john lucas]

I'll admit I haven't tried any of the fancy methods. DNA seems expensive,messy and possibly dangerous. Dish washing soap seems just plain messy, Boiling adds to the expense due the the heating method. For those reasons I have avoided those.
I live in the hot humid south and wood goes bad very quickly. The best methods I've used were to leave the logs as long as possible. Keep them covered and out of the sun and wind with the ends sealed. If you can get them off the ground. Bugs are one of my worst wood ruining problems.
For bowls I simply don't have the best place to store them. I rough them out so all of the bowl including the bottom is about the same thickness. coat all endgrain and then put them in a paper sack. I try to turn enough that I don't have to weight them and worry about how soon they will be dry. I always have some dry ones ready now. Of course I also turn a lot of other stuff so it's easy to have enough bowls.

 

[MichaelMouse]

with fall cutting season fast approaching, i have been looking for some cardboard barrels to put blanks up in, seems i could have found some used locally but i have not

Why barrels? Cardboard is cardboard, it would seem to me, and I've mildewed a bunch of bowls in cardboard boxes in my time. It's a great choice for winter rules indoors, though. Circulation is at a minimum, and the cardboard acts as a buffer as it adsorbs and loses moisture pretty much as the wood it was, only with interlocked fibers, it won't split.

In the spring and fall I just pitch my roughs into the garage where the temperature hovers barely above freezing most of the time. They dry just fine out there, and even though it's slow, the cool keeps 'em from mildew.

I would leave the wood in the log and harvest as turning pace allowed. It has to get cooler in the winter, even in Va. For me, it's freeze. Box the roughs indoors or leave them in the shed.

 

[Charlie Knighton]

Why barrels? Cardboard is cardboard

how do you stack your many boxes???,,do you use shelving?????

I just pitch my roughs into the garage

😱 i guess everyone has their own way


Chester has three 55 gallon barrels of blanks which are at different cut times in the corner of his shop, i only bought two and am using them for some apple and cherry now, i should be able to get oak this fall and more cherry
my maple does fine on an outside pallet with a tarp with air flow through it

i am mainly going to use the barrels for wood that is freshly cut without cracks that i have had touble cracking while awaiting turning, i do not rough out any vasses but finish turn my hf in one or two days

i expect to lose some blanks (espically oak) but have turned one of Chester"s year old oak bowl blanks that did have some warpage but no cracks, mainly i do hf

 

[MichaelMouse]

I stack boxes on boxes. They make their own shelves. Or at least I did before I went to the "system" I use now. Shelves after a week or so in the damp.

Out in the dry of California I had a plywood transmitter box I used to load up. Portable closet. Then I decided to come out....

 

[Wally Dickerman]

Woodturners have found a lot of ways to dry wood. Some more sucessful than others. My methods have worked for me for a lot of years. I seldom leave wood in the log form for very long. I cut blanks and seal them well with a good wood sealer like Anchorseal. I rough turn everything, wet or dry.

If I rough turn wet wood that's prone to cracking such as olive or fruitwood I seal the outside with wood sealer and paper bag it for a while. Other wood such as maple, myrtlewood etc. I coat the piece very heavily with Johnson's paste wax. Actually I just slather it on while the lathe is turning very slowly. Then it goes on shelves in my shop. I want the air to get at it. I buy The wax direct from Johnson's in cases of 6 cans.

Right now, I have perhaps 65 or 70 rough turned bowls and vessels in my shop. Not one is cracked. I live in hot dry Arizona and my shop has no AC.

I've been using the Johnson's wax method very sucessfully for at least 30 years. The key is to put on a lot of wax. I don't wax the inside of HF's.

Storing wet wood in barrels or boxes will promote mold. It needs air.

 

[John Jordan]

Woodturners have found a lot of ways to dry wood. Some more sucessful than others. My methods have worked for me for a lot of years. I seldom leave wood in the log form for very long. I cut blanks and seal them well with a good wood sealer like Anchorseal. I rough turn everything, wet or dry.

If I rough turn wet wood that's prone to cracking such as olive or fruitwood I seal the outside with wood sealer and paper bag it for a while. Other wood such as maple, myrtlewood etc. I coat the piece very heavily with Johnson's paste wax. Actually I just slather it on while the lathe is turning very slowly. Then it goes on shelves in my shop. I want the air to get at it. I buy The wax direct from Johnson's in cases of 6 cans.

Right now, I have perhaps 65 or 70 rough turned bowls and vessels in my shop. Not one is cracked. I live in hot dry Arizona and my shop has no AC.

I've been using the Johnson's wax method very sucessfully for at least 30 years. The key is to put on a lot of wax. I don't wax the inside of HF's.

Storing wet wood in barrels or boxes will promote mold. It needs air.

That can't possibly work, it's not complicated enough.

You're my hero, Wally.😀

John

 

[Wally Dickerman]

LOL...Thanks John.

Wally

 

[Devin Howard]

Thanks!

New question... what should the moisture content be when the bowls are finished (dry enough to return)? I saw a web sight that said in Arkansas the content should be around 8%. Oh yeah... I also have 7 bowls ranging from 6 to 14 inches drying in the garage using the DNA method now. 😎

 

[MichaelMouse]

Dry enough to be at equilibrium with their environment. That's why you weigh them. When they are as stable as the hygrometer over a week or so you're ready to re-turn. Not that they won't lose more (possibly deform) when the humidity goes down, or gain when it goes up. The magic won't stop that, either. If you want to put numbers on it, you can check the tables in Ch 3 here (or elsewhere) or buy a moisture meter. Won't change anything, just put a number on it.

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/fplgtr113.htm