Turning green to finish "HELP"

[Roland Martin]

I could certainly use some help and info on turning green to finish. I started turning a beech HF today and as I was setting up to hollow, I started wondering what the protocol is when turning to finish is. For one thing, it seems though I remember reading previous posts on beech being unfriendly to dry and unstable or something to that effect. This particular hollow form is approx. 9" x 5" tall.

Any help, suggestions, etc. would be greatly appreciated on this subject, not necessarily only with beech, but green to finish in general.

Thanks, Roland

[Roger Chandler]

Roland,

I have a friend who almost exclusively turns to finish...........he will turn, and spray the inside of a bowl with a mist of water every few minutes.........the centrifugal force will wick the moisture to the outside........this helps eliminate cracking while turning and sanding.............when he gets the sanding done, he will soak the piece [ immerse] in danish oil to get all fibers saturated, then put the thing in a box with some shavings to slow the drying rate down..........then after a couple of weeks go back and put another coat or two of danish oil on, and a lot of times buff the form before the last coat of finish.

He has really good luck with pieces not cracking.......although they do warp some.

[Dennis Ford]

When "green" means water slinging out; try to get the best possible cut on the outside, then do the hollowing. Next I take it off the lathe, sanding and finishing later after dry. If the wood allows it, I will sand the outside before hollowing but final sanding will still be done off the lathe (I use a close quarter drill with hook & loop pads). Pretty much any wood can be done this way if turned thin enough, my most extreme example so far would be a madrone burl. It went from smooth and round to a wrinkled egg shape but did not crack.

[Dan Forman]

Never turned beech, but I think the standard procedure for green to finish is a good soaking with oil or a wipe on varnish, which should slow down the evaporation rate and prevent cracking. I've used antique oil on the few pieces I've done, and had no problems.

Dan

[Roland Martin]

Thanks guys, I appreciate the help on this. I'll be playing around with this, another piece of the vortex.

[Reed Gray]

I have had very little experience with beech, but the few pieces I did (bowls) cracked pretty bad. On bowls, I turn to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, round over the rims, stretch some plastic film over the rim (5 inch roll, 1 inch over the inside, the rest on the outside) and start it drying on the floor. Dry ready to sand in 10 to 14 days. Hollow forms are another thing. Usually the bottom is considerable thicker with a tenon made for remounting. Since most hollow forms are end grain, it is most likely easier to get better cuts, and be able to wet sand the outside before you dry. I would also dip the bottom/tenon end in a danish oil type finish to slow it down. Some times I wrap the outsides in plastic film also, leaving the inside open. You can oil soak the whole thing as well, but would want at least a 220 grit finish before oiling, and after the oil is dry, work your way up from there. Wet sanding is just too messy for me.

If you want extra crinkle, the Madrone burl is perfect, as the surface goes insanely 3 dimensional, and would be impossible to sand after it dries without losing all the texture, which is the neatest thing about it.

robo hippy

[Jamie Donaldson]

Most of my wood is turned "damp," meaning dry enough to not sling water while spinning. Hollow forms are a bigger problem because they can't be turned twice, but usually must be turned to completion, and for me that means sanded and finished on the lathe.

[charlie knighton]

Roland, i much rather turn green wood, turned this bradford pear green, very wet. i turned to finished thichness, 1/4 inch or so, stuff newspaper in opening, but in wooden chest(so no air movement). got that from John Jordan at st paul. i change the newspaper out every 12 hours or so, John just puts it in the wooden chest. you just can not sand wet wood, it just gumms up the sandpaper.