Now what?

[Tom from Clayton]

I've often thought I would be interested in bowl turning but really haven't done much to move that thought forward. I talked to a guy selling bowls at a craft show in Clayton late last year and he got me thinking so when I had a fairly large Bradford Pear cut down shortly after the craft show I had the trunk set aside for me. It's about 10 inches in diameter and I (finally) cut it into three pieces last week. Today I put a 1/2 inch Timberwolf blade on the band saw and sliced out the pith leaving me with 6 bowl blanks. I'll use my circle jig on them this afternoon and then put them away for use later. My question is should I wrap them with stretch wrap, put them in plastic bags, or do nothing until I'm ready to use them? I need to keep them away from the rest of my lumber stash because it's pretty clear that bugs really like Bradford Pear.

 

[awldune]

I would encourage you to rough-turn the bowls immediately after putting them on the circle jig. Fruit wood likes to check.

There are different approaches to storing rough-turned bowls. You'll want to leave the bowls 3/4'' - 1'' thick. Then you could store them in paper bags along with shavings, or you could paint the endgrain on the outside of the bowl. There are other options too but that's what I can think of offhand.

After several months to a year in storage the bowls should be ready for finish turning.

 

[Raymond]

I would encourage you to rough-turn the bowls immediately after putting them on the circle jig. Fruit wood likes to check.

There are different approaches to storing rough-turned bowls. You'll want to leave the bowls 3/4'' - 1'' thick. Then you could store them in paper bags along with shavings, or you could paint the endgrain on the outside of the bowl. There are other options too but that's what I can think of offhand.

After several months to a year in storage the bowls should be ready for finish turning.

+1

 

[Flute Maker]

Yes def +1 I turned a small piece of bradford pear while it was still green. ( Fruit woods are more prone to cracking is what Ive heard...I havent tried or had access to much.I guess bradford pear would fall into this category.) When I was turning that one piece it was splitting almost immediately..Id rough turn asap and anchorseal at least the end grain. (Some people use old latex paint)There are a lot of different things people try to slow the drying...Some put them in a bag with some shavings,some anchorseal the entire piece,some wrap it in plastic wrap or a paper bag and so on..

 

[Mike Mills]

What the others said but...
I always leave 2-4" extra for cracking so I leave mine in half log form and anchor seal the ends. If you cut into a circle to start with your 10" blank may become a 8" blank if you have much checking at all.
Storing in plastic bags may be OK for the short term (week) but some folks say mold can develop pretty quickly. I don't know as I have never left mine in plastic over 24 hours. In half log form I have some 2-3 years old with very little checking but it may not work for you. Best to do as others say and turn ASAP.

 

[Raymond]

Tom, I should have added to my post to not only turn right away, store in a paper bag with shavings but the critical step is to weigh the entire package and write it on the paper bag. Every few months, weigh it again and record your weight - when it stops losing weight, it is ready to begin the final turning.

Good luck! Let's see the photos.