Using rice?

[Tim McClelland]

I recently put my cell phone in the wash. I was able to replace it but wanted to retrieve my information. I was told I would have to dry it enough to turn it on in order to do so. It was suggested that I put it in a bowl of uncooked white rice. I did and a few days later was able to turn it on. I have left it in the rice and last time I tried it it not only turned on but was about 98% clear.
I was wondering if putting a blank for a pen or a bowl or a roughed out bowl in a bucket of white uncooked rice would dry it out enough and properly for use/finish. Have any of you tried it or thought of it? Just curious.

[Walt Bennett]

Dried rice is a great poor man's desiccant. It's a lot cheaper than those little packets that come in the box with most small electronic gadgets. Folks in humid climates put a little in salt shakers to keep the salt from clumping up.

As to using it with wood, it'd almost certainly dry the wood quickly. I've never tried it, but as long as the wood piece is thin enough to withstand rapid drying, it should work. The left over rice isn't good for anything though - maybe you could bake it to dry it out and use it over again like those little packets?

[Thom Sturgill]

It seems to me that the rice would speed up the drying from the surface and the normal treatment is to slow it down to prevent the outsides from drying faster than the inside which causes cracking. DNA speeds drying by replacing the water inside the cells throughout the piece so that it dries evenly. A bag is often used to slow down the process.

Microwaving and boiling both speed drying from the inside (if I understand correctly) and are usually done to thin turned pieces to encourage warping.

[Bob Vavricka]

I recently put my cell phone in the wash. I was able to replace it but wanted to retrieve my information. I was told I would have to dry it enough to turn it on in order to do so. It was suggested that I put it in a bowl of uncooked white rice. I did and a few days later was able to turn it on. I have left it in the rice and last time I tried it it not only turned on but was about 98% clear.
I was wondering if putting a blank for a pen or a bowl or a roughed out bowl in a bucket of white uncooked rice would dry it out enough and properly for use/finish. Have any of you tried it or thought of it? Just curious.

Tim,
I have never heard of using rice like that--I'll catalog that away in case I ever need it. As far as your question about using the process for drying a blank, the goal is usually to slow the drying process down and I would think the rice might result in it drying too fast. I'm just guessing--it might be worth a try just to check it out if you don't find someone that has already tried it.
Bob V.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Tim - never heard of anyone trying that method for drying a turning but it sounds interesting. I use the DNA method and after soaking the rough out - you wrap the outside to slow down the drying process but leave the inside exposed to the air. That means the rough out dries from inside area first. If you were to try the rice method - seems to me that it would make sense to wrap the outside of the rough out and have only the interior of the form filled with rice.

No idea how fast the rice would absorb any moisture - so you would have to check on it fairly often in the beginning to make sure it didn't start to check.

If you try it - would be interested in hearing what the results were.

Have fun!

[Wally Dickerman]

A novel idea...As has been said, I think that the surface of the wood would dry too quickly and cause cracking. My suggestion...Do a test run with a scrap or 2 of the same wood that you'd be turning.

If the wood is very heavy I'm sure that it won't work. Surface drying isn't what you're after.

Wally