is dna the best?

[curtis rosche]

i was thinking, is dna really the best thing to use to dry wet wood? i mean, gasoline is cheaper(by a lot), less flamible (by a little bit), has the same evaporitive properties as dna, at least i think it does, gasoline has a different smell but that shouldnt matter. i dont think you could use any of the dyed gasolines, that might change the wood color. i am not planning on trying this since i havent set up shop yet. but i think that unless information can be found on this subject, that it would be worth trying with some cheap wood.

[robert hainstock]

Dna absorbs water. Gas floats on top and also burns much better. Stick to DNA.
Bob

[curtis rosche]

but isnt dna basically the same stuff they use for racing fuels? meaning its more flamible?

i guess it wouldnt it pull the water out and down to the bottom of the bucket?

[Joe Chritz]

DNA is grain alcohol that is denatured (made undrinkable). It is otherwise the same chemically as any other alcohol used for drinking.

Obviously there are other chemical stuff involved but at the basic form it is ethanol. The same ethanol used as E85 fuel or an additive in racing fuels.

The reason alcohol fuels impart more energy isn't directly related to the flammability. It has to do with the ideal/fuel air ratio. That has some fancy name that I don't remember.

Maybe a chemist will be along to give the differences between gasoline and DNA but since they are made from two entirely different processes I doubt they would be comparable.

Joe

[Dennis Peacock]

Curtis,

As Joe has already pointed out....DNA by it's chemical makeup will help encapsulate water molecules and aid in the drying process of green/wet wood. Gasoline is not what you want to put your bowls into as it doesn't do the same thing as DNA. DNA is exactly like EVERCLEAR Pure Grain Alcohol, but you can't drink DNA as it will kill you or make your VERY sick. You can, however, drink Everclear.....but be ready for the after effects. DAMHIKT!!!! From 28 years ago.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Curtis I have been using DNA when I clean clocks. I use a water based cleaner and rinse twice in water. I use the DNA to displace and absorb the water then put it in the air dryer. DNA absorbs the water and displaces it. It does the same thing in wood. Gasoline will displace water off something but not inside something like wood. Curtis don't even think about using gasoline. If gasoline was so good for drying it would have been tried long before now.

[curtis rosche]

ok, just a thought

[Jim Becker]

"Bang".....

BTW, there is NO "best" method for encouraging moisture to leave the wood faster. But there are plenty of choices. Try each that appeals to you to find what works best for your particular needs.

[Jon Lanier]

"Bang".....

ROTFL...

After reading all those.... you 'hit' my funny bone.

-Jon

[Nathan Hawkes]

DNA is a mix of ethanol and methanol--just enough methanol to be toxic, IIRC. I think methanol is the form of alcohol used in alcohol dragsters, not ethanol, which is added to gasoline. I googled methanol & its known as "wood alcohol". Interesting.....

[Reed Gray]

Curtis,
I am one of those who feel that alcohol, and the LDD (soap) soakings do nothing to help wood dry faster, or to keep it stable, and this is the conclusions drawn from drying several hundred bowls in DNA, and several thousand bowls in LDD. I even went so far as to cut 3 identical sets of Madrone bowls, and dry them and weigh them every day until they reached equilibrium (as dry as they would get). The results were identical, about 10 days. I turn thin, to finish thickness, and then let them dry and warp. I haven't tried this on thick turned bowls, which you dry and then return later.

All this being said, I have wondered why the DNA method seems to work so well for some. I long figured it could have some thing to do with the wrapping the outside in paper, leaving the inside open, and letting it dry. I did one test run on some cherry, and some Madrone the most difficult to dry wood I have found. I turned 40 or so bowls out of these woods and dried them with some sort of outside wrap, and turned them all thicker than I would normally do. I wrapped some in paper, and then used the plastic film that you wrap boxes in to keep them from falling off a pallet, around the rim to hold the paper in place. This worked very well. I wrapped some totally in plastic, but kept the inside of the bowl open. These took longer than the paper ones, but again this worked very well, and there was no condensation under the plastic. I wrapped just the rim of some bowls, and left the rest open. This also worked well. I left some knots in some of the Madrone bowls which would normally guarantee failure. Only one bowl cracked out of about 40 total. This is much better than normal.

At present, I think that this works for 2 reasons. One is protecting the rim. Soren Berger, did a demo in our area, and stated that any square/sharp edge on a bowl or a cylinder will increase risk of cracking because the sharp edge will lose water quicker than the rest of the wood. I saw Christian Burschard (spell???) and he would put tape over the edges of his paper thin Madrone vessels for the same reason. The plastic film covering the edge gives the same protection, and some compression which also protects.

The other reason is the theory that by drying the bowl from the inside out, as the inside drys and shrinks, it pulls the outside into it, again causing compression on your bowls.

Maybe by the time I have done a thousand or so bowls this way, I can verify whether this is theory or fact.

I still use the LDD because it makes the warped bowls easier to sand out than either air dried or DNA dried woods. The DNA actually makes the wood harder to sand in my experience.

Anyone care to air dry a thick bowl and wrap without soaking, and with soaking?

robo hippy

[tim mathis]

reed gray,
thanks for your post,
i have been having a hard time drying some wood and getting good results.
what is LDD?
thanks tim m.

[Richard Madison]

stoiciometric, miscible, and liquid dishwashing detergent.

What is ROTFL?

[Bernie Weishapl]

ROTFL is rolling on the floor laughing.

[Richard Madison]

Thanks Bernie.