well since i have the shipment of 1000 pounds of norfolk pine coming in next week, i thought of practicing on regular pine from last weeks wood run. this pine even had some nice spalting.
the piece is turned from a whole log, so the center of the bowl is the pith. to prevent it from cracking and checking, i rough turned it yesterday and soaked it overnight in a 32g trashcan with 11 gallons of water and 11 gallons of kirkland(costco) dishwashing liquid. this is what ron kent does with his bowls, so i tried it for the first time. after i pulled it out this morning, i rechucked it and finish turned it right away. it smelled so good since it had an orange/pine scent. the sirup like solution also acted as a lubricant, so turning was smooth. here the bowl without and with light.
so far i only emersed it in my watco bucket(4 gallons of watco in a 5 gallon bucket) for 6 hours. pulled it out and wet sanded it with 600 grit. now let dry for 12 hours, then same again. my goal is to do this for at least 15 times, so the oil will not be on the wood, but rather part of the wood. then i'l buff it.
sascha
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Have you tried the alcohol method of drying your green turned ware? I am relatively new to green wood turning but so far I have been very successful with Dave Smith's method. It works like a charm for me. 
