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Platter Question

B

Brian Grenia

Joined
Mar 17, 2011
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Location
Lake St Louis, MO
Poor chainsawing has turned a nice bowl blank into a potential platter. I have a 17x17 chunk of cherry about 2.5 inches thick.

Do I

1) seal ends and put on shelf for couple years to dry
2) cut round on my bandsaw and let dry for couple years before turning platter
3) rough turn now while green, let it contort and move while it dries, and then finish turn in year or so-- similar to green bowl strategy.

If option 3 is best route, then how thick to I leave the platter after first turn. If it 16 inch round, do I leave it 1.5 inches thick?

Also, would you take all the sap wood off during rough process or leave a little on?
 
Brian You could rough turn it now and seal the end grain. Don't know how you cut it from the log but you should be able to predict how it will warp, maybe not how much.
I sealed the end grain on some pieces just about that size. That was about 6 months ago and my moisture meter tells me it's dry. I know that's not correct but it must be drying faster than I thought. I'm guessing because of the large surface area. I have them in my shop on a concrete floor sitting on end.
I have a suspicion that if I turn it now it probably won't crack but will probably warp. I will probably wait a full year just to be sure. At least one of them I have to have so I don't want to rush it.
 
Rough turn will cure more rapidly. You do have a couple of calls to make, though. Which side is up is important, because you can get almost pure quarter figure that way. Pleasing for some woods. Using the other side for a bottom will get you a rift or face grain figure.

Second is how/where to store it, whether or not you seal the endgrain. It's heating season for many of us, so indoors will be dry. My place is 33 percent RH at the moment, which would demand a coating or a container for a couple weeks at least. The garage is another matter, and that's where fresh thick roughs will go. May not lose much now, but as spring arrives, it'll come down gently. No coating or container. Quarter figure takes the longest to cure, but you don't have to guess or let it go forever. When the distortion is about five to seven percent across the entire, weigh, leave in shop conditions for a week, reweigh. Same or close, good to go.

How thick? Inch or so average unless you have unusual figure. Quarter and rift lose the least total dimension, so you'll get nearly full diameter even on a flat piece. What you might expect.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/Heart-Down-Platter.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d160/GoodOnesGone/Heart-Down-Platter-2.jpg
 
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I would suggest roughing it out and then sealing endgrain, and placing in a place with little to no air movement. Roughed out, it will take less time to dry and you may relieve some stress/tension in wood that would have caused it to warp or check.

As others have said the thinkness depends on how consistent your grain is throughout the piece. If the piece of wood has any part of it near the pith, includes a crotch or knots you can expect alot of warpage. Some turners on this site have found that placing their plates and platters on a drying rack with weights pressing down on them significantly reduced the warping.

One of the easiest and most reliable ways to dry it, is to wrap it in grocery bag paper and store in an area with little to no air movement. The grocery bag allows the piece to breath and dry gradually, but blocks air movement over the piece which helps to prevent rapid uneven drying.
 
Since you have one and it is square.
Follow the rough turn advice. That is you best chance of getting a 16.5 inch platter.

When I get a big tree, I often slab a bunch platter blanks 4 or 6 inches longer than wide.
I stack these with stickers after coating the endgrain with anchor seal.
Then I turn green hollow forms or bowls from the rest of the wood.

A year or two later and I have useful platter blanks. Some may crack beyond use for platers but most just have end checking that can be cut away.
the time to make the platter blank is one rip cut with a chainsaw and a minute to coat it.

Al
 
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