kiln dried wood

[Christopher Kanda]

My brother is just starting out and I do not turn so this may sound silly but, can you use kiln dried wood to turn with?

[Steve Mawson]

By all means, probably will get a little more dust. There are a lot of turners here that use dry wood and kiln dried.

[John Keeton]

Some of us MUCH prefer bone dry wood!!

[Greg Just]

I use a lot of kiln dried wood for boxes, segmented pieces and travel mugs.

[Tim Thiebaut]

You wont have any problems turning kiln dried at all, as everyone has said above, maybe a little dustier because it is so dry but it will work just fine like that, I have used a lot for the lids on boxes and HF's so far among other things.

[Jim Burr]

I wouldn't hesitate. I'd guess 3/4 of my stock is dried, kiln or otherwise.

[Dan Hintz]

Some of us MUCH prefer bone dry wood!!

I've always wondered about that, John... is it due to reduced movement after roughout? Or maybe because you can go to final turn immediately? Turning green is sooo much smoother...

[Thom Sturgill]

Dan has it right. dried wood can be turned to final shape in one stage without too much worry about wood movement. Yes it cuts differently, but think about this: if you rough to 10 percent and then dry, all of the finish cuts and sanding ARE on dry wood. While roughing green timber is easier, its not that much so for the impatient.

[Lee Koepke]

Christopher,

Here is a bowl I just finished using some 1x6 birch wood base from a jobsite of ours. (Owner was going to throw it out!!!) Its a bit under 9" diameter x 2.75" tall. The only problem I'd say, its sometimes a little more challenging sanding the end grain, otherwise it's just fine .... and you can finish turn it all at once.

web IMG_6153.jpgweb IMG_6154.jpg

[Steve Schlumpf]

Kiln dried wood works well!

We enjoy helping out beginners!! If your brother has any questions - have him check in with us and we'll do what we can to pull him deeper into the vortex! It is what we do!

[John Keeton]

While roughing green timber is easier, its not that much so for the impatient.

Impatient!! That would be me! I enjoy the stability factor, and the ability to complete a project in a short time frame. I understand bowl turners doing rough outs. Most of the forms are rather standard, and one could come back to a rough out and complete it consistent with the original intent. But, for art forms, I need to progress through the turning to completion. If I come back to it, I may not have the same conception or, more importantly, may have lost interest!!

[Reed Gray]

Kiln (kill) dried wood works fine. Air dried, solar kiln dried, dehumidifier dried, or vacuum kiln dried wood is far superior. Difference to a flat work worker like me is that when you rip a board on your table saw, with the kill dried wood you get dust. With the others you get shavings.

robo hippy