I have been turning in a wing of my basement, which is not insulated and lately has had a humidity of 60-80%, which is higher than it was in the winter.
I had a hunch that this space was cool and moist enough to air dry rough-turned bowls without bagging or anchorsealing. After roughing my last few bowls—two maple and one hickory-- then soaking them in DNA, I brown bagged for a day or two then opened them up and let them dry in the open air.
Well this seemed to work, and weighing them every couple of days revealed that about two weeks later the maple bowls had stopped losing moisture.
The moisture content, as measured by my pin meter seemes to be 10- 12%. Is this low enough to be stable and go ahead and finish turn?
I worry that my drying environment is now too moist at 60-80%, and getting bowls to 12% only. (Or maybe after the ten days they simply started drying at a much much slower rate.)
Since I haven’t been through four seasons of roughing, drying, and finish turning, I thought I’d ask for opinions from all the experience around here, so what do you think?
Thanks