Thread: Drying small strips of wood - quickly!

G'day Darren.

Strip them out as you would for normal drying.
Place some weight on top of them (concrete block).

Set up a few hair dryers at low temp to blow across the wood.
You want uniform air flow right along the length.
Have the dryers about 900mm from the wood.

Do this, but watch the wood like a hawk.
I have no idea as to how long this will take. You will have to check it as you go.
I suspect it would take a few hours.

It boils down to suck it & see.

Hope this helps.
Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor
Grafton

Originally Posted by ModelShipwright

I assume they wouldn't normally take long to dry, but can I speed up the process with an oven or microwave? Is it possible to cut them a little oversize, and then 'bake' them at low temp in a normal oven for a while? Or perhaps short pieces in a microwave?

Any ideas on 'cooking' time or other ways to ensure they're as stable as possible?

Here's my microwave method. It works for me on the odd occasion I "must" cure a piece of wood quickly. Usually for turning, mainly for play. Rarely for a critical piece. No gurantees attached.

• Put the piece in a clear plastic bag and weigh it. Good scales are a must!
• "Spin" the bag shut, putting it in the microwave with the "twist" under the piece.
• Nuke for 1 min @ High. If the bag starts to puff up, stop and reduce the m/wave setting a notch. We only want to nuke it, not reduce it to its' elemental components.
• Remove the piece from the bag and wipe it down.
• Turn the bag inside out and wipe it down too.
• Leave the wood to "air" and cool down for 10-15 mins. It should only be cool/warm to the touch before proceeding.
• Repeat previous steps over'n'over until there's no appreciable change in weight.

I rough the pieces to shape before curing, to reduce the drying time, but I leave enough meat on to allow cleaning up due to warpage, etc. I've been told that further nukinhg won't hurt the wood, although I haven't tried it. I also prefer to allow the wood to rest overnight after nuking and before working, just to give it a better chance to achieve EMC.

I've turned finished pieces that were hanging off a tree the day before and cured using this method. My best piece ever was done this way! But that's another story, even now it brings tears to my eyes... and a twinge to my butt.



Another method is to make a drying cabinet. Any old cabinet will do, I've seen 'em made from old microwaves (not ones that didn't survive my wood curing, BTW ) but mines from an old laundry drying cabinet some 6' tall.
Fit a 10W light bulb on the inside bottom, with drying racks above. That's all. It works, and is more "gentle" than nuking but takes quite a bit longer. Days rather than mins/hours.

You can use a microwave to dry wood.
Use a low power setting for a couple of minutes, then let it rest a minute.
Repeat until it's dry You dont want to microwave it all the way to 0% as it will then be overdry / brittle and want to gain mositure in use.
Keep a close watch on the temp - if the wood gets too hot to pick up let it rest for a while longer and decrease the nuking time. You can set fire to it if you overdo things. 1/2 hour of this treatment should have things pretty dry.
2 problems -
You are drying FAST without weight to hold the strips stable - they could turn into pretzels.
Depending on the type of wood your microwave will smell of wood for a week.

Drying a small block of wood in the microwave may work better, then resaw it (bandsaw) once it's dry?

A cool oven may work for thin strips like that. Real low setting - criss-cross the sticks and put some bricks on top to hold it all flat. This is just the same as Skews hot box setup. Thin strips like that should dry in 12 / 24 hours?

Some experiments may be needed, I assume you have some spare wood to practise on?

Cheers

Ian

Try hanging the strips behind your fridge. It's a little warmer there and they should dry out slowly. No guarantees, and they may warp a little, but at that thickness it shouldn't be a problem to straighten them out as you go.

try this
http://www.penturners.org/content/Wood-Drying.pdf

Cheers Ian

Hi all,

Thanks for the suggestions. At this stage, I'll probably opt for a go at the oven mmethod, on very low heat overnight and then resaw the strips. They'll be bent anyway on the hull, or for the deck glued to regularly spaced cross-members so slight warping shouldn't be a problem.

But for the future, I think I'll make a small drying cupboard - I have an old crate spare, that was used to transport one of my ship models (box about 30cm x 50cm x 1.5m or so) and I can easily install a bulb and small fan setup to dry things in the future. If I do I'll be sure to post a pic or two of it.

Thanks again!

Darren

Take care you dont get them too dry if you are going to be bending.
Using an oven it's possible to get wood down to 0% MC, it then becomes more brittle and non-bendy
I think air dried wood around 12% MC is best for bending.

Cheers

Ian

You can also wrap the pieces in a plastic bag filled with dry sawdust or paper towels and just leave it in the sun. The timber will sweat and the moisture taken up by the sawdust/paper towels.

That's assuming you can get a sunny day in Melbourne.

Cheers

Originally Posted by ModelShipwright

But for the future, I think I'll make a small drying cupboard - I have an old crate spare, that was used to transport one of my ship models (box about 30cm x 50cm x 1.5m or so) and I can easily install a bulb and small fan setup to dry things in the future. If I do I'll be sure to post a pic or two of it.

If u are going to use this method u dont need a fan. I have just finished making a drying cabinet using an old fridge and a light bulb. (I added a dimmer switch to control the temp.) All u need to do is cut holes in top and bottom of each side to start convective air flow. This will keep the unit at a constant temp - number of holes controls air flow.

What about a drying rack in a clothes drier?

I think you can get a rack for some c/ds for drying shoes, etc.


Cheers..............Sean

Originally Posted by scooter

What about a drying rack in a clothes drier?

I think you can get a rack for some c/ds for drying shoes, etc.

If you mean the big ol' cabinet driers (my mum calls 'em "airing cabinets" ) they're usable but tend to dry out the timber too fast. If you instal a bayonet-mount for a 10W 240V bulb in the bottom then you can either use the element for clothes or the lightbulb for timber. I guess you could just put a small table-lamp in the bottom for a "temporary" conversion, provided you make some allowance to close the door.

Old 'frig racks work well as shelves in these cabinets too. It's hwat I use, anywho.

If, on the other hand, you mean tumble driers... :eek:

Yeah I did mean a tumble drier, which I agree sounds :eek: but as I mentioned, I believe you can get a rack for inside a tumble drier that remains still and the drum rotates around it.


Cheers..........Sean

my parents once had a clothes drying cabinet ( a bit like a fridge) where mum used to hang the clothes and a heating element and fan at the base would direct heat up through clothes.

The clothes used to take a day or two to dry so therefore the electric were designed for "prolonged use" as opposed to a hairdryer where the motor is not designed for long time running.

Maybe a small unit could be found of the above type and rejuvinated at minimal cost

Arthur

can always drill a stack of holes and fit them with corks, removing and adding corks as the temperature needs to lowered and raised. tapered corks were available from laboratory supply places and make wooden spiggots

Arthur