Freshly Cut

[chris kelly]

I have been turning nothing but kiln dry stock. I want to turn some green wood.
My question is, I have a small oak tree that I want to cut down for some stock.
what do I have to do to prepare it for turning and for storing till i'm ready to turn it?

[Andy London]

Buy a small container of log sealer, just seal the end grain.

[Jim Becker]

Andy's got the right "formula". But do turn that oak while it's still mildly wet..."hard" stuff to turn once it's dry.

[chris kelly]

Can you turn it right after it is cut or do you have to wait a bit?

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

You can turn ANY wood when it's "Fresh Cut" wet..................Just wear a raincoat!

It will Spray water at you and everywhere else................Actually kind of fun.

When turning WET Oak or other woods with a high Tanin content, it's VERY IMPORTANT to clean and dry ALL metal parts, OR....................RUST CITY!!!!!!!

Bruce

[chris kelly]

Ok, after I turn a piece how do I go about finshing since it is still wet? Do I preturn let dry and finishing turning and then throw a sealer on it, or go ahead turn the piece how I want it let it dry then seal it? hope ya'll can ander stand all that garbage.

[Bruce Shiverdecker]

Always LET it DRY unless you're using Oil, then you can oil it while damp. That will help keep it from cracking.

Bruce

[chris kelly]

Good, tomorrow that there tree is coming down. I appreciate all the help.

[Raymond Overman]

Chris,

I'm a little long winded. I apologize in advance.

If you turn a wet piece of wood to finished dimensions the wood that's left will dry quickly and warp or possibly crack depending on the species. this is due to the moisture leaving the cells of the wood and the wood that was removed not supporting what's left. It shrinks in places. Depending on your desired outcome this may be acceptable. There are a number of artists that use this drying/warping effect to their advantage in extremely thin turnings. If you're a new turner, you're probably looking for a nice rounded finished product so what you'll want to do is turn the oak blank to a thickness that's approximately 1/10th the diameter of the rounded blank.

At this point you have options:

You can wrap the blank up in a wax emulsion (anchorseal) and set it aside.

You can wrap it in newspaper or shavings and put it in a plastic bag. Replace the newspaper or shavings every 2-3 days and turn the plastic bag inside out until the roughed bowl stops losing weight. A standard kitchen scale will work for the weigh in.

You can go through the alchohol drying regimine which is too complicated to explain in this post. It should be archived here or other sites.

You can soak the blank in a soap solution and go through that regimine. Again, look to an archived description.

You can boil the roughed blank. This can be potentially dangerous so read up on it before trying it.

You can build your own wood kiln. Prices range on materials dependent on amenities and size. I've seen a fairly cheap one work wonders. I've seen mention of broken dishwashers and deep freezes being used too.

So, now you have a bowl blank that isn't losing weight anymore. It will still be out of round due to the stresses in the wood caused by the drying process. Have no fear, you can re-chuck the piece of wood since you still have 1/10th of the diameter at this point and turn it down to the final thickness that you want. Returning the outside then inside with light cuts will give you a re-rounded bowl. This bowl, due to the smaller moisture content will not warp as much. However, don't be suprised when it does move with the seasons.

Some experimentation is required and sometimes Murphy is an optimist and I'm impatient.

If you happen to get the DIY channel, there's a good simple example of the twice turned technique running on an episode of a woodturning show that airs on Saturday or Sunday morning. It's sound beginning turning information and a good refresher for everyone else.

[Dennis Peacock]

1. rough turn the bowl to shape and leave the bottom "fat" and the walls about 1" to 1-1/2" thick.
2. Take the wet roughed out bowl and drop it in a 5 gal bucket with enough Denatured Alcohol to cover the bowl by about 1".
3. Put a "tight" lid on the bucket so that the alcohol will not evaporate out.
4. Let the bowl soak in the alchy bath for about 12 hours, even 24 hours don't hurt.
5. Remove the bowl from the alchy bath
6. Let the bowl air dry until its dry enough on the rim for masking tape to stick to it fairly well.
7. Wrap the OUTSIDE of the bowl with a double layer of newspaper and tape the newspaper to the bowls rim. remember to tape all the way to the inner part of the rim but not down inside the bowl.
8. Write on the newpaper the date and type of wood.
9. Place the bowl "upside down" to where air can freely circulate around the inside (bowl) part of the bowl and allow to dry that way for about 15 to 20 days.
10. Reverse mount the bowl and turn the tenon on the bottom of the bowl back "round" as the wood will dry out-of-round.
11. Turn the blank around and turn it back round once more on the outside and refine the outside shape to suit your taste.
12. Turn the inside of the bowl to the shape and thickness of the bowl walls that you want...say 1/4" thick or even thinner if you like thin walled bowls.
13. Turn the bowl around once more and turn the bottom of the bowl and sand the bottom of the bowl.

I have dried about 25 bowl blanks via the alcohol method and I have yet to loose a single bowl due to dry cracking. I have dried White Oak, Red Oak, Maple, Ambrosia Maple, Cherry, Magnolia, Persimmon, Apple and Ash. My largest bowl dried to date is a 13-1/3" Magnolia bowl and the rest of my bowls are 8" to 13" across. I have figured out that I can keep using the same alcohol for about 24 bowls before I have to toss the alcohol and pour in some fresh.

The alcohol method works great for me and I don't have to wait a year after coating with anchorseal before I can have a finished bowl or find out a year from now that the blank has cracked beyond use. The seal method is what I used to use....but not any more.!!!

Try the alcohol method......I believe you'll like it!!

[Christopher K. Hartley]

Always LET it DRY unless you're using Oil, then you can oil it while damp. That will help keep it from cracking.

Bruce can you tell me a bit more about the oil?

• What type
• How much oil
• Method of application

Tnks for your help.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I agree with Dennis. I started using this alcohol method right away and have did 10 bowls and 5 boxes of different variety of woods. I have not had one crack yet. Even the warping is a minimum. I soak 24 hrs. and wrap with 2 layers newspaper or one layer of brown paper grocery sack. Let them dry for about 3 weeks and put them on the lathe and finish them.

[Kurt Rosenzweig]

I use the same exact process as Dennis but I have yet to toss the DNA. I just add some from time to time. I have'nt notice any staining problems even though I have soaked about 50 bowls of all different species. I have about 5 gallons in a rubbermaid tote since I like doing large turnings so maybe I just have not got there yet. I'll have to do an experiment and try soaking two peices of light colored wood. One in new DNA and one in the old DNA to see if there is any discoloration between the two after finished. I'm on it!

[Chuck Beland]

Hi Guy's newbie here, I'm also very new to turning. My name is Chuck. a follow up question.
We have a area where you can bring yard waste including trees. & my neighbor cuts down trees for a living. If i pick up some wood should I take off the bark & put anchor seal the whole thing or leave the bark on & just anchor seal the ends.
My work area is in my basement. Can i just put logs in the basement large enough & wait for them to dry once that happens then rough out blank until no more cracks.

Thanks

Chuck

[Jim Becker]

Chuck, "logs" do not dry. Seal the ends and leave the bark on if you prefer. (Just be wary that creatures tend to live in bark and the layers just below it...outdoor storage isn't a horrible idea. BTW, the reason you seal the end-grain is to greatly slow down moisture loss to reduce the chance of cracking. And with many species, you'll want to split that log to avoid splits from the pith. Most folks will also seal the split area, although it's not required. Trust me, you WANT to work with wet wood as you rough out your projects.