How thin do you turn if you going to from green to finish?

[Toney Robertson]

I have a 12" piece of cherry from a tree that needed to come down in the back yard. I have never done the green turn thin and let warp thing and I thought I would try it.

So how thin should I make it to minimize cracking?

TIA

Toney

[Jason Solodow]

When I turn something thin to warp it, I usually beam my light behind it and turn it until I can see the light starting to come through the sides. I'll usually toss it in a brown paper bag with the shavings for a week or so. The cracking has to do more with the rapid water loss of drying as opposed to how thin it's turned. Just my $0.02.....

[Gary Max]

Several schools of thought on this question.
Less wood = less water

[Jim Underwood]

My impression is that once you are past a certain point thickness doesn't matter as much as consistency in thickness does. I would guess that point is anywhere from 1/4 down to 1/32.

[Reed Gray]

On cherry, I would go down to about 1/4 inch. Fruit woods are notorious for being difficult to dry. On maple, or walnut, I go as thick as 1/2 inch. This does not guarantee no cracks. Turn out all defects, and preferably no knots. If you go much thinner than that, the bowls feel too light for utility/every day use. For how I dry them, check out my post down below in 'Issues with apple wood part II.
robo hippy

[Bernie Weishapl]

Fruit wood I try for 3/8" and for others I go 1/4" to 1/2".

[Toney Robertson]

This piece does have a knot in it so maybe it is not the best to wet turn thin. Might try it anyway.

One other thing, do you sand the wet wood or let it dry and then sand?

Toney

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Hi Toney
If you turn thin, the bowl will be close to dry by the time you are finished turning it. (that's thin to 1/8" or less)
To get thin turn to let's say 3/8" thick first, then turn to final thickness and do that in 1" steps going from the outer edge down, and don't try to come back to this later, as the wood is not round anymore, so you do have to be done with the part you turned before going to the next part.
If you have a knot in the sidewall, you could soak CA glue into the knot, (just the knot only) after you have turned the outside of the bowl, this has worked well for me, though it is not totally foolproof, it usually is.
If you go very thin, leave a bead on the rim to give it some stiffness, I'll ad a picture to show one.
As to how thin to turn it,...... depends a bit on what you want to make/use it for.
For a salad bowl I would not go thinner than about 1/4", though I have an Applewood bowl that we use for our bread/rolls, and it was left 3/8" thick and left to dry and do it's thing, one of my wife's faves in the kitchen, you'll have to decide.
Just make sure to slow the drying down, especially the first week or so, I place mine in a brown paper bag, and set them in a cool and draft-free place.