24 hours ago this white oak was in the log. It had been lying on the ground in a shaded area for over 10 years. The bark fell off. The sapp wood was mush and pealed off with a shovel. The heart wood was a beautiful medium brown and fairly sound. Turned it down to a thickness of a 1/4". Microwave it on short cycles of 15 to 30 seconds on 50% power. Once dry, I mounted it on my vacuum chuck and power sanded it with the lathe stoped. A coat of ting oil and black wax rubbed into the pours