Roughing out wet wood

[Derek]

I normally have used dry blanks.

I am spending a little time cutting some logs into blank sized pieces, this is fine for the bowl type blanks but I have some branches (still to be cut) that I am wanting to use some as vase shaped and boxes by turning them end grain is there anything I should watch for.

In other words can I rough turn them to aid faster drying times without any problems splitting.

I know that I probably lose some as drying is not an exact science at home

[edbanger]

Hi Derek

I'm not an expert, I've only been turning a short time, but I have spoken to a few master turners about this and have turned about 10 items myself. I have had conflicting views so I have turned a few items to around 30mm and the others to around 6 - 8mm some have been oiled some have been left and a couple have been covered in a watered down pva, I have not waxed anything yet has I have no wax.

All have been left in a draft free space in the workshop and I weigh them weekly, none of them have cracked as yet, and all are drying weighing less each week.

Mark Sanger book Hollow forms advocates different types of methods  such as wrapping in bust bin liners and checking every 2 or 3 days turning the bag inside out on each check, or wrapping in news paper for rough turned forms. When dealing with finished thickness forms he recommends to use finishing oils or lemon oil but making sure that you remove any excess so the light oil is just soaked in to the fibers and then place in an opened bin liner so I'm trying this as well.

What I can make of all the advice I have been given form some very experienced turners is that the wall thickness must be even if either rough turned or turned to finish, and they must be kept out of the wind and and heat. One guy I know who has been turning for 60 years rough turns, takes the item in doors and put it behind the settee away from any rad and just leaves it there for up to three weeks, then takes its and finishes turning it.

 I guess that different woods will have different reactions but I've got work in monkey puzzle, tree of haven and Birch (rough turned) because these seemed very wet when turning, horse chestnut burrs and walnut turned to near finish all sitting around the workshop out of any drafts. I'll let you know if anything splits.

Ed

[Bryan Milham]

Derek,

I regularly turn trunks into vases as spindle work, so branches are similar.

My method is to hollow out and turn to a reasonably thin wall. If you want to turn weed pots and small vases I'd certainly recommend drilling out the pith as a minimum, possibly a bit wider depending upon the end product. This can sometimes be difficult on branchwood as it is likely to be off centre.

Now here is my trick. I use jubilee (pipe) clip around the chuck end, you need to check it for tightness quite regularly, if it becomes loose, you allow cracks to form.

Easier to see than read, so here is a picture.

[Derek]

Thank you gents I like the idea of the clips will have to give that a go. I was going to try turning then microwaving to dry but the microwave broke and I certainly was not brave enough to use the one in the kitchen

[seventhdevil]

check out some of my work on this thread of another forum, there's a couple on page 2 page 9 and further on in the thread.

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/woodcraft-forum/65439-bowl-turning-thread-9.html


i leave them at different thicknesses as i'm still learning as to what moves the most. brown oak really goes oval.

[edbanger]

Cherry seems to go where it likes, and of course elm but I think that moves even when it's dry!!!