Waxed bowl blanks...what to do next

[Randy Red Bemont]

Hey All,

I just picked up 13 waxed bowl blanks from a lumber dealer (awesome place) and don't know what the next step is. The blanks have some weight to them so they are still green to some point.

Do I scrape off the wax and let them air dry to a workable moisture content?

Do I rough turn them even though I don't know what they are going to be yet?

I'll take your on hand advice. I googled it and came up with all kinds of answers, all different. I've picked up wood varieties such as bloodwood, jobillo, osage orange, queenswood, pink flame and redheart to name a few.

Thanks.

Red

[Dennis Ford]

I would rough turn them as time permits. Make the thickness about 10% of the diameter (the thickness needs to be consistent from rim to bottom, or the bottom can be slightly thinner NOT THICKER). Once a rough-out is turned, you need to choose a drying method. My preference is to coat the entire bowl with Anchor Seal and dry it slowly.
Since you have several, you might want to turn one or two to final thickness; they will warp some but that is not necessarily a bad thing.

[Bruce Pratt]

In wax, the wood is considered wet. If you don't know what you want to do with them, leave them fully covered with wax. When you turn them, either rough or to final, do not let the wood sit open on the lathe, even for lunch or bathroom break. Cover it with a plastic bag when you are not working on it. After turning to rough (as per Dennis' comments) or final, slow dry by method of choice.

[Thom Sturgill]

What Dennis said. The wax coating will keep them 'fresh' for some time.

John Jordan comments in his 'The Aesthetics and Properties of Wood' that we turn green wood to preserve the fresh colors. Turn to thickness and get a finish on it. Most of the free water get flung out when it is spinning once thinned. Dried wood tends to go bland.

Of course with purchased wax coated blanks, you never know what the grain orientation is and can not do much to adjust it.

[Roger Chandler]

Personally, if I were in your shoes, I would decide on what form I wanted, and then rough turn to 1/10th thickness of the turning, then seal it with anchorseal, bag it in a large paper bag, mark the date and then weigh it every week until it stops losing weight, then take a couple more weight measurements to confirm.

Then when it is not losing any more weight,it is ready to take back to the lathe for final turning, and finishing. I would leave each blank with the wax on it until I was ready with my choice of form and ready to rough turn it.........repeat, rinse, spin, etc, etc....

Good luck, Red!

[Al Wasser]

What you do now to me depends on how bad you need wood to turn. If you have other wood that is ready to turn then scrape some of the wax off the side grain and set them aside in a cool dry place (off of a concrete floor) until you need them. Go find some free wood to turn now.

[Aaron Craven]

Not to hijack the thread, but will wood that is fully encased in wax dry? I picked up a small piece of pecan that has a thick layer of wax on it. I can tell it's pretty wet (feels very heavy for its size), but I'm in no hurry to turn it and would like to let it dry slowly. Do I need to remove some of the wax, or will the moisture migrate through it somehow?

[Randy Red Bemont]

I appreciate the advice. I will give it some thought as to what the final project(s) will be and rough turn them down. The wax coating is clear so the grain is easily visible and will help me decide. All my blanks are 6x6x3 so nothing too big. First time working with any of this wood type. Any more info please post along and it is all very helpful!! Thanks.

Red

[Thom Sturgill]

One comment about storing the waxed blanks - Some I bought while on a road trip banged around enough to loosen the wax and one which had been clear spalted before i could turn it.

[Randy Red Bemont]

Just a thought, can latex paint be used instead of Anchor Seal? I have lots of leftover paint and no Anchor Seal.

Red

[Brice Rogers]

Just a thought, can latex paint be used instead of Anchor Seal? I have lots of leftover paint and no Anchor Seal.

Red

I think "probably yes", but I'm not sure if it seals quite as good as a wax as it is probably a bit more porous. But if a person wanted to just slow down the rate of drying, perhaps that could be an advantage. I've used it and it generally worked okay. A couple of times I saw small end grain cracks but that was probably because I was using a very prone-to-cracking wood. The clay in the paint may tend to dull your tools a bit but that is nothing alarming.

[Bruce Pratt]

Latex paint "breathes", so by itself won't do much to keep the end grain from cracking. If you want to use paint, cover the wet (with paint) end grain with Saran wrap (or equivalent) ; it will stick to the wet paint and retard moisture loss and cracking. Note: almost nothing except a full wax dip will last for a long (years) time.

[Randy Red Bemont]

Thanks. I'll pick up a can of Anchor Seal on my next trip out and try that route. Seems the more people I ask the more different things people do. I'll try some of the cheaper blanks first and see how that goes. I appreciate all the feedback.

Red

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Randy,
Wax is slippery. I don't usually buy wood but the few times I did, I quickly learned to scrape off the wax with a scraper blade prior to rough turning. That way I could control where the wax went.

[Thom Sturgill]

Randy, also be aware that there are two formulation of Anchor Seal. Many turners prefer the original and claim the new formulation does not work well. Of course YMMV, depending I guess on climate.