new cut wood - now what?

[cskipper]

We scavaged some wood from my brother-in-laws downed trees this morning. What do I need to use to prevent checking? And my next question will probably be - how do I do that?

 

[NCPete]

There is some product you can use to paint the ends with, to keep them from drying to fast. don't recall what that may be.

Is this going to be bowl stock?

 

[cskipper]

That what is aspires to be - hard to tell with me turning it!:lol:

 

[NCPete]

I'm sure they will turn out beautifully. What kind of tree?

 

[cskipper]

Oak with some nice burl in it and Black Gum.

 

[DaveO]

Anchorseal is the most common product, but you can use several coats of latex paint. Anything that will prevent or slow the loss of moisture from the ends.

http://www.anchorseal.com/Main.html


You just paint it on, pretty simple and don't worry about brush marks:lol: :lol:

Dave

 

[cskipper]

Sounds like you've seen some of my painting!

Do I need to rough turn it first?

 

[McRabbet]

Cathy, the product you need is called Pentacryl Wood Preservative and it is available over the net from this source.

Rob

 

[Monty]

You need to have some idea how big your bowls will be. For me, this is limited by the swing of my lathe - 10". I try to get pieces of wood that are about 10-12" diameter, and I saw it up for storage with some consideration of how it will be processed later. I generally make the logs about 24" long - that's long enough to trim any checking off the ends later if needed, and still get two 10" long sections out of each piece (that willl make four bowl blanks at a time - about as much as I ever have time to work with). Each log is painted with an end-grain sealer on each end, and stored in a pile of logs outside.

Alternatively, you could go ahead and make up bowl blanks per CAD's tutorial, and paint those with end grain sealer.

 

[Canuck]

Cathy,

There is a short article in this months (Feb./Mar) Wood magazine that talks about "trees to Turning Blanks", Page 102. They recommend sealing with a commercial green-wood sealer available from Packard Woodworks. Evidently it drys clear, cleans up w/water and superior to paraffin (which may flake off) and paint that requires several coats for good seal. Here is the URL to their website:

http://www.packardwoodworks.com/

They also discuss the best way of slicing up the log into blanks. (Need to make sure you have a chainsaw in your tool arsenal though.:-D

Regards,

Wayne

 

[mkepke]

Woodcraft sells a green wood sealer in a one gallon jug. I have had good luck with it on oak, cherry, pear, etc. The exact name escapes me, but it shouldn't be hard to find.

-Mark

 

[gsdoby]

You can also get sealer at Klingspor's.

 

[Big Mike]

Cathy, I am not an expert on green wood turning although I have done a bit of it. My friends who turn green wood exclusively use Anchorseal to seal up blanks in preparation for rough turning.

I and most of my friends that turn green wood rough turn them and then soak them in denatured alcohol to assist in the drying process. The process was developed by a turner named Dave Smith and I will provide you a link to his article explaining the process. I have turned more than 30 green blanks this way without any splits or cracks resulting from drying. If you try it just follow the directions and you will be okay. The best part of rough turning the blanks is how much fun it is to turn green wood with wet "noodles" flying all over the shop. I strongly recommend a face shield and maybe a rain coat.:rolf:

Dave Smith's Alcohol Method for Drying Bowl Blanks:
http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=turning&file=articles_473.shtml

 

[JRD]

Cathy,

I too have been making use of the alcohol drying method and can attest to it seeming to work very well.

One additional process I've been having luck with is after the alcohol soak, and a month or two slowing drying while wrapped in a half dozen or so sheets of newspaper, try the refrigerator method.

My last step has been to put your next finish project in the refrigerator several weeks ahead of doing the final turning. Think of what a refigerator does to dry out an uncovered piece of cheese or meat. Just a few days draws almost all of the water out.

Why not do the same with wood? It has worked very well for me as a final step after alcohol drying.

Jim

 

[Handturnedbowls]

Hi Cathy,
I have used Anchorseal for over a year now. For the price I prefer it.

Depending on how soon you want to have a bowl in hand, that determines your method.

Its always better to cut the log to turning blank sizes at the very least. This will eliminate dealing with cutting the waste away later after its dry and harder. Wet wood is much more easy to handle.

If you go with a t block, cut it to the directions on my tutorial. Wax both ends with the achorseal. To be safe wax all faces. Then put it up somewhere dry, and no direct sunlight or heat can get to it for at least 4 mths.

If you want a bowl sooner, decide on the shape you want before you ever let a sawtooth lick the log. Know what your end product is going to be first. Then go from log to lathe. Rough out your shape, it doesnt need to be pretty. Leave 10% of the diameter in thickness (10" bowl, leave 1" thick walls). Before you dismount the roughed bowl, slip scrap plywood or cardboard on your lathe bed below your bowl and wax the entire outside surface. Be sure to wax the opening good, and a inch or so down inside the opening. This rim will be the weakest spot and take the brunt of the checking.

Dont be too disappointed if you still get some checking. If you have some sapwood mixed in with heartwood, there will be much distortion and even some cracks. But this is what your 10% does for you. It gives you some meat to turn the cracks away with. Let it dry well on the lathe so you dont handle it and remove waxing.

There is an alternative to drying with the alchohol method. I use a microwave.

When I want to go from green to finished bowl in the least time, I rough out and wax as I mentioned above. Then I take it in the house and set it on the counter next to the microwave. Everytime I walk by and have a minute, I put the roughing in for 44 seconds on high. Just enough to draw some slight steam. Then set it on the counter, on a junk plate to cool. I do this as many as 20 times as I remember to, and it does a good job. Just remember to let it cool completely before you do it again.

One wood of caution, using this method can cause internal staining in the wood of some types. Spalted Maple, especially wormy maple, tends to be very sensitive of this. I have to go only 25 sec at the time with this wood. If you have any evidence of worms in the wood, limit the m-wave time.

I have taken a green roughing all the way to dry in 2 days doing this. Some of the bowls on my site, the poplar bowls many times, were dried this way.

I like this method because I can rough out a bowl shape in a few minutes, as opposed to up to 2 hours on a dry blank. The wood is very forgiving when its green like this.

cad