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  1. #1
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    Default How to dry green wood post carving?

    Hi all I am a newbie wood carver. I'm wondering the best way to dry green wood after I've carved my project. Take a spoon just for instance carved from green now do I just let it dry naturally or do I use my old pie warmer set real low do I oil it before drying it etc. All reasonable answers welcome I've already established that I am new to this so helpful hints and tips also welcome


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  3. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2006
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    Welcome to the forum.

    For spoons and very small items air drying works just fine. Those item have so little mass and so they dry quickly and evenly.

    However when you are working with bowls and large items then most people ruff out the bulk say 80% then they dry slowly before finishing the piece.

    A good analogy is to think of wood as a bundles of straw. Held together by glue called lignin.
    Wood looses most water from the end grain and less on the face & edge grain. The differential stress caused by this unequal loss of moister causes the wood to split and crack. By sealing the ends of the straws, the rate of drying is equalised thereby reducing cracking. However cracking & checking is also species specific some wood dry well others shred themselves no mater how much care you take.

    There are a few options. They all aim to slow down the rate at which water is lost, thereby controlling the drying process and reducing the amount of cracking.


    1. Collect all your shavings from said spoon / bowl place shavings in plastic bag and stick item in the middle of shavings and then tie up plastic bag - leave for 4 - 8 weeks.
    2. Heat everyday white paraffin candle wax in a pot dips spoon or bowl in the wax to coat - leave for 4 - 8 weeks.
    3. Brush on PVA glue rather thickly allow PVA to dry - leave for 4 - 8 weeks.


    Method (1) is the most traditional. Method (2) wax can be rather messy. Method (3) is my preferred its simple fast and easy and works really well. I tend to brush on the PVA at the end of every day if I am working a big piece like a giant Elm bowl I am working on at the moment.

    The drying duration depends on the width & thickness of the piece and also how wet the wood is at the start. You can feel the water as you are cutting and as the piece dries you will feel how the feeling of the wood changes as the moistures drops.

    Hope that helps.

  4. #3
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    Wow! A real forum with real answers[emoji3]. Thank you so much that all made complete sense. Bottom line with larger pieces like the mallet I'm shaping from a small limb seal the top and bottom to slow the reduction of moisture, almost sounds like commonsense of I wasn't so new to all of this.

    I have an old pie warmer that a mate use to use on low consistent temps, is this worth keeping or more damaging for any work?

    Thanks again for the response but more for the knowledge.


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    Last edited by Big Shed; 30th November 2016 at 08:10 PM. Reason: Please don't use unnecessary quoting!

  5. #4
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    Any piece of wood that has a pith like the limb will tend to split from the pith centre.
    Most woods will split this way from the pith if allowed to dry uncontrolled. Next time you come across a firewood pile observe the radial splits from the pith.

    log-end-crack.jpg

    ALSO - Limb timber is prone to distortion due to it containing reaction wood. Tree limbs tend to lay down more material at the bottom in an attempt to compensate for the pull of gravity. This excess material tends to cause the limb to respond badly to drying and tends towards being more dimensionally unstable. Think of it as a tug of war 1 guy versus 2 guys. It is for this reason why we do not make furniture from tree limbs.

    2-apple-X-sect-no-woodrot-209i28o.jpeg

    However some woods like fruit woods can have there ends sealed and then allowed to dry over a few years. The ends will split, but once it dries you can cut off the ends and still have a good usable piece in the middle.
    Generally wood is at the very least split down the middle following the pith. The pith checks will form along the lines of stress in the trunk. Splitting on the stress line tends to takes the fight out of the wood.

    white-oak-wedges-2.jpg



    As for your pie warmer they can be useful to help dry things out more fully.
    Timber is hydroscopic and tends to absorb or loose moister relative to atmospheric humidity. If you live in a very humid area or you need to dry something out a little fast then the pie warmer comes in handy.
    I built such a box a few years back see this link I use it to dry spindles for post & rung chairs. Where I want the tenons to be bone dry (less then 5% moisture) and the mortice wet (~20% moisture).
    Or I use it kiln dry a piece of air dried piece of wood.

  6. #5
    Join Date
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    I think that the key concept with the broad term "reaction wood" is simply that the upper half and the lower half of a branch have slightly different anatomies.
    In the conifers, the reaction wood is called "compression wood" which occurs in the lower half of the limb.
    In the broad leaf species, the reaction wood is called "tension wood," the odd anatomy forming in the top half of the branch.
    Worse, the main stems can form reaction wood when growing on extreme slope sites.

    I've had no luck at all, trying to dry any fruit woods for carving. 4" - 6", painted ends,
    cool shade sheltered and splits from end to end in 2' - 4' pieces.
    Into the meat smoker BBQ!

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