alcohol drying????

[mat_au]

So was reading the forum topic "Damn Nail" and noticed the topics on drying green wood using metho "denatured alcohol" so done some reading and found that mostly ppl have had some really good results. Now my question to all u aussie woodturners out there has anyone actually tryed it in australia?? every post i read was from the states and well u know what the internet can be like.

So that is my question who has done it?
How did it go?
Would u recommend it?

ive got some green wood i just roughed turned and might give it a go in the next week or so, and just wanted to get feel

[Drillit]

I havent tried it. I think costs would be prohibitive. The old trick of dishwashing liquid in water works well, I (& many others) have found.
Even denatured alcohol isnt pure- just the closest we can get and it isnt cheap and it seems to me that you may need plenty, depending on the size of the piece.
Most of us green turn (well oversize) and then wrap in brown/newspaper with shavings and leave for a few+ months. Drillit.

[dr4g0nfly]

I've never heard of drying wood 'in alcohol' but I have sometimes used it to dry green almost finished turnings.

Now I know this may sound a little dangerous but I have water and an extinguisher on hand, and it's Meths (metho) and only in small quantities.

When you have a thin walled green turning down to the sanding stage rub it with a little Meths and light rotate the lathe by the hand wheel to get a smooth burn as it draws the moisture out. Watch the position of the flame. at first it will be above the surface of the wood but after a couple of repeats the flame will move down to the wood surface. This is now about as dry as you will get it with this method.

If you try it, please, clear any shavings out of the way first, don't leave the meths bottle (or other flammable substances) close by and have a damp cloth (fire blanket) or other extinguishing method available while you master the technique.

[Paul39]

WoodCentral Articles & Reviews (http://www.woodcentral.com/articles/turning/articles_473.shtml)

[Bopper]

I have tried it with great success on pine.

Chopped the log in half rough turned a 3 inch bowl to about 10-15mm thickness soaked it in a bucked of metholated spirit for 24 hours.
Let it air dry for 12 hours then wrap it in single layer of newspaper (proberbly a bit of overkill) then 2 to 4 days later final turn the bowl.
I have done it 4 times now with no issues no warping after the final turn.

Basicaly I turn on the weekends and I soaked it on saturday dried it sunday then turned it the next saturday.

Im going to go out for a drive through the bush on the weekend and get some green jarrah and try it again on some hard wood (the joys of living in a jarrah forest)

[hughie]

I have done a fair bit of it. The down side is it works well on some species but not all.

[NeilS]

I gave metho (DNA), and boiling, and doing what I have always done*, a side-by-side test run. Had about 30 green roughed pieces consigned to each drying method.

I couldn't find any additional benefit for the DNA or boiling methods over my usual method. I may have not applied these other methods with the finesse of their advocates, but did read up on what I could find on each before giving them a go.

*My usual drying method is to bury the rough turned pieces in wet shavings on the floor for a few days (not too long or they go mouldy), then stack in woven polly bags or cardboard boxes, periodically restacking in different order. When apparently dry, stack on open mesh shelving. The super glue gets a work out on any fine edge cracks before they grow. Yes, I get a percentage loss, but as I found from my test run no more than the DNA or boiling methods and with less cost and mucking around.

I haven't tried the dish detergent method, not being convinced that it would be any better.

There are experienced turners who are convinced advocates of each of the above methods.

[mat_au]

bopper let me know how u going im going to give it a try on my days off and see how it works