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Need some green wood info

J

jason slutsky

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Jan 31, 2007
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I'm a fairly new turner and was wondering what some of you would say about this topic.

I have heard and read plenty on turning green wood...especially with bowls...but not much about spindle turning with green(ish) wood.

My question is on what to do with exotic wood blanks that I have bought? They are wax sealed and (from my limited experience) are not 100% dry. I have three kingwood blanks that I plan on making a gavel and strikeplate out of. I want to do everything that I can to make sure that they warp as little as possible.

Any suggestions??

Thanks in advance!

Jason
 
Need a bit more information . .

Like what species of wood are the blanks? You're right that they may not be dry, but they could be an oily type. If you're spindle turning, you certainly can rought turn your spindles, just re-seal the ends when you're done and let them sit. You want the wood to dry slowly through the unsealed surface and not fast through the ends.
 
Walt,

The wood is Kingwood...1.5"x1.5", 3"x3", & 2"x2"x5". So just turn them to cylinders and put some anchorseal on them? Hopefully 2-3 months will be good, I'll need to finish it up by June.
 
Search about microwave drying. You can finish turning those (and apply finish) tomorrow if need be 😎

I used that technique in pens and bowls.

Beware...do it right. Slow is better than very aggressive heating. You want it warm but not boiling hot. Else you might end up with charcoal.
 
Don't forget to check the toxicity (e.g. http://www.mimf.com/archives/toxic.htm) before you plan your project, especially if you're using a heating method (e.g. microwave) as the volatiles in some woods can sometimes cause more grief than simple direct contact with the skin (http://www-gatago.com/rec/woodworking/41577900.html)
Have you considered alcohol for drying your material? It has become my favorite method in recent months. It's clean, requires no special devices (save for a suitable container) and controllable with little chance for error.
 
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Dario,

I haven't read much on microwave drying but have used the alcohol method. Nuturner makes a good point about toxicity and Kingwood is in the same family as Cocobolo. I'm a little hesitant to put it in the family microwave. 😱

I plan on looking into microwaving for some of the "safer" woods.

Thank you,
Jason
 
For spindle orientation you can almost neglect the current moisture content. The movement you'll encounter is the difference between the radial and tangential shrinkage. In other words, it might seem a little oval after drying. What I'd do is turn the handle and put it in with the quarter grain facing 90 degrees to the grain in the head, so the head tightens on the tenon as it dries. Even in a worst case like 7%/15% shrinkage http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/ch03.pdf you won't see a lot of difference in a 2" piece. T/R difference is 8%, shrinkage begins at 30% MC and ends when equal to the environment, say 10%. Gives us less than a 6% difference between face and quarter, 16th entire, or a 32nd of an inch deviation in circularity.

In any case, with as much time as you have available, roughing to an 8th or more over finish dimensions and letting them sit is going to get them equalized even closer. Be sure and give yourself good artifact centers to re-true the pieces, wax if you've got 'em, though it's probably not going to be a player. Ethanol will do you more good than the wood, and heat will melt wax, so I'd avoid both.

Mount that striker on a hollowed block for best acoustic effect.
 
Michael,

Honestly, a lot of what you said is over my head but thanks for the link...it will make very interesting reading.

What I get from what your post is that:

- Shrinkage with spindle turning is not as big of a deal as in bowl turning. Maybe even more-so with a gavel as opposed to something like a thin stemmed goblet.
- Not sure what you meant by quarter-grain but here is my guess: The end grain of the head will be on the ends of the head itself. The end grain on the handle will be on the ends of the handle. Put the handle in the head so that its grain runs perpendicular to, not with, the grain of the head.
- Turn the pieces very close to the finish dimensions and just let them sit for...maybe a couple months?
- Waxing after rough turning will probably not make a difference in this case. Avoid the wax and microwave in this case.
- When you say artifact centers, do you mean just to leave good centerpoints after the initial turn?

I already planned on making the strikeplate somewhat hollow as I wanted to use my chuck as a spreader. What you say about acoustics makes sense and I will make a deeper cut when mortising out.

Thank you for the info and again for the link. I'm off to visit it for the next couple hours at least.

Jason
 
Looks like you've got the ideas, just haven't the terminology. Face/quarter/end grain and such will become clear when you read the wood handbook chapter one. As will the moisture content versus shrinkage in the appropriate direction. Use it to your advantage.
 
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