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We cut down a really old macrocarpa tree and there are a few pieces I've kept aside for either turning into bowls/shallow dishes or chopping boards. Never done anything like this before so unsure how long and in what conditions to season the wood for. Anyone got any ideas?
couple of years to dry, go asap if you're cutting green
meehaja - sorry but when you say go ASAP when cutting green do you mean turn it as a soft wood now and leave as an almost finished bowl until it is dry?
OK, I am new to wood turning too, first year in for me 😉
[b]
The following tips have been giving to me by a so called expert, me, I don't have a clue and still in the nappy stage of woodturning, but loving it.[/b]
Paint the cut ends to your wood with emulsion before you store them, this stops them drying out and cracking before you turn them. (has worked so far for me).
Turn some roughs out green.
Once you have turned the roughs, store them in a cardboard box or large paper bag, with the shavings, this helps them dry out slower and reduce the chances of cracking.(I have bagged up 20-30 bits so far, only one has cracked so far, Oak and Ash) Still trying to work out when is the best time to finish turning them though.
Last one, cut or split your wood down the centre so you dont have the centre split out on your work, so avoid turning with the centre part of your wood.
I have read Macrocarpa can be prone to splitting too.
Albanach - if you do turn some, would love to see some pics of the results, feel free to drop me an email.
Thanks ski I might email you in the morning after I've thought of more questions and taken some photos if that's cool?
That's cool with me, good luck with the turning 🙂
If your naturally seasoning the timber its 1inch per year
regardless of length and width of material.
You will also need to place sticks between each piece of wood
you are drying out to allow air to circulate.
So as a rule of thumb
1inch takes one year
2inch takes two years etc
I don't know. I'm new to this turning malarky, and that was the advice given to me re: some trees I'd cut down into blocks for turning, Ski seems better informed!
meehaja - Member
I don't know. I'm new to this turning malarky, and that was the advice given to me re: some trees I'd cut down into blocks for turning, Ski seems better informed!
Oh sorry just City & Guild trained in high end furniture for a total of 33 years
and including my own bespoke furniture company in the past 12 years.
Has soon as you bring in your turned piece into your central heated home
it will start to rapidly dry out and split to high heavens.
I also hand turn all my own wooden door handles if the client chooses.
I was told recently If you're aiming to turn the wood green and you don't have time to finish the job sticking the wood in the freezer. Not tried it yet to see what the effect is.
TheBrick - Member
I was told recently If you're aiming to turn the wood green and you don't have time to finish the job sticking the wood in the freezer. Not tried it yet to see what the effect is.
Kinda obvious as your freezing the water content in the timber
I'm not a gnu but I've done a bit, one inch per year sounds right to me, make sure the wood is stored somewhere cool and dry though, not in a centrally heated cellar or garage.
You can turn wood when it's green/freshly cut, make sure you have goggles or a screen on and a change of clothes handy as the moisture content can be surprisingly high. I've turned a couple of things that were only weeks from being felled and the two finishes I came up with we're very different. One I finished and left to dry, it went all wavy and odd and interesting. The other I put in the microwave, having checked for nails etc. checking often and having a paper towel under it. It was hot, damn hot and the steam coming off was interesting but it dried pretty true and stayed true ever since. I'd do it again...
I've got a book called Turning Green Wood by Michael O'Donnell which explains how to cut different sections of the tree to get the right grain pattern for different bowls / goblets.
He also explains microwave drying, which does work OK but in my experience is not fool proof, but we are dealing with wood here, every piece varies.
I have seen charts for microwave drying that gives timing and then weight loss figures, you weight the bowl, zap it, weigh again to evaluate moisture loss, leave it to stand....... you get the idea.
When I've been given lumps of tree I have turned some of it green and stored the rest. As mentioned above it takes years to dry and the pile in the garage is now quite extensive.
Good idea Peter
So the microwave is simulating Kiln drying
excellent good info
I have tried microwaving some bits, you will need a decent scales to monitor the weight keep going untill you stop seeing the weight going down and watch the microwave like a hawk, little and often seemed to work best for me.