Wax Sealed Blanks

[Jon Minerich]

Hi Everyone,

I just purchased 2 spalted maple blanks. The seller said they were cut wet and sealed in wax. Sure enough, when I rec'd them they were sealed in wax. I have 2 questions: 1) will the wood dry out through the wax? and 2) how long should I wait before it is dry?

Thanks for your help!

 

[hockenbery]

Hi Everyone,

I just purchased 2 spalted maple blanks. The seller said they were cut wet and sealed in wax. Sure enough, when I rec'd them they were sealed in wax. I have 2 questions: 1) will the wood dry out through the wax? and 2) how long should I wait before it is dry?

Thanks for your help!

The purpose of the wax is to prevent drying so you can turn the wet blank.
Depending on your definition of dry it may take 10-12 years or more to reach 8%

For a traditional salad bowl, I rough turn the bowl to a wall thickness about 10% of diameter with the bottom 1/3 a little thinner to accommodate the chuck tenon which I turn at 2.5 inch diameter so that when the bowl dries I can turn the tenon round and still have a 2 inch tenon.

I also turn bowls to finished thickness green 1/2 to 3/8 wall let them dry a week sand them.
These I like to turn rim opening on the bark side, if there is enough wood. There are lots of logs with a flat side.

Hollow forms I turn to finish thickness 3/16

I'll post a bit on drying the rough blanks later
Al

 

[hockenbery]

Jon,

experienced turners rarely have a wet turned piece crack. Newer turners often have the opposite results. When it comes to working with green wood the deck is stacked against new turners.

successful green wood turners do the following:
1. Use good wood
2. Turn the piece in one session working quickly
3. Turn pleasing curves
4. Turn even wall thicknesses
5. Control the initial drying

new turners often 1-use crappy wood because it is what they have, 2-work slowly letting the piece dry excessively while turning, 3- turn sharp angles into the profile that cannot move, 4- get thick spots in the form.
it is just a fact of life that it takes practice, and learning to get good curves and even walls in a short amount of time. classes speed the process.

the attached pdf are a few slides i show in a working with wet wood demo and then turn a bowl showing what I talked about.

For me, working with green wood is one of the most enjoyable parts of woodturning.


have fun
work safely
al

 

[Jon Minerich]

Al,

Nice tutorial! Thank you very much!

I can hardly wait to try turning one of the blanks this weekend! I will let you know how things turn out.

It is so nice that you guys are helpful to us beginners. Thanks again!

Jon

 

[Pete Blair]

Working with Green wood

Hey Jon. When I click on the link in your post I seem to only get part one? Is there a way to see the rest of the article?

 

[hockenbery]

Hey Jon. When I click on the link in your post I seem to only get part one? Is there a way to see the rest of the article?

Pete it is a PDF file. Not sure why you would not get it all.

Last page will say "let's turn a bowl". This could be misleading and make you expect more.
In the demo that is when the Chips start to fly.

I have it on the web. This link will work for a while. But someday I'll update it.

http://aaw.hockenbery.net/Working With green wood CFW 2011.pdf

 

[Pete Blair]

Pdf

Hey Jon. Your guess was right on. I expected a second part . . . sorry.

 

[hockenbery]

Hey Al Your guess was right on. I expected a second part . . . sorry.

I'm "Al" the way, 🙂
That Jon Hockenbery guy was on TV.

To get the other 2/3 you need to come to the live demo.
🙂


-Al aka "Jon"