Dealing with this orange.

[TreeClimberNick]

So we cut down this tree last week. I made a couple blanks out of it and made a thick bowl.

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It ended up very nice looking-

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And now it's in a brown bag of its own shavings.

The bowl is about an inch (25mm) thick. My plan was to leave it in there for like a month or so- take it out and out it back on the lathe.

Am I going about this right? The wood is AMAZING and I don't want to mess this one up.

Any tips?

love
nick


love
nick

[Ben Dono]

Nice one Nick!

Sorry I cannot help as I don't know anything about wood turning. But it's a damn nice bowl.

[brendan stemp]

Great looking bowl, well done. It can depend on the timber as to how much it will move. I'm not sure about this timber but you probably will be OK with the 25mm thick wall. The wood shavings and paper bag will slow the drying down which can be a good thing, but once again this will depend on the timber. Some move a lot, some want to crack very quickly and others are very compliant and move little. A lot of turners will rough turn the bowl and then just leave it in a stable environment (ie out of direct sun and dramatic temp changes) and won't worry about the paper bag and shavings. This is what I would tend to do with this bowl. Good luck with and looking forward to seeing the final product.

PS I prefer turning the final bowl and then let it move. I like the shape of a of bowl that has been turned green and allowed to warp.

[Cliff Rogers]

I have found that fruit wood goes mouldy quickly.

I've had better results by submersing it in water & changing the water often over a week or so & then sticking it in the freezer for a couple of months.
That requires room in the freezer.

[Paul39]

I agree that fruitwood molds.

Some advise sloshing with lemon juice. I would try enough water to cover and about 1/4 cup of Clorox. Slosh it around in that, air dry, and wrap in 2 - 5 layers of newspaper.

The lemon and grapefruit logs I was given did not crack much.

I have put fresh cut, roughed out bowls in 1/2 hand dishwashing liquid, 1/2 water, soaked for two weeks, air dry, wrap in newspaper.

I have also roughed out fresh cut bowls, put in a slow cooker overnight, air dry, wrap in newspaper.

After the above I have sometimes microwaved the rough bowl in the newspaper for long enough to get warm to the touch. Some have opened up cracks, but closed up when just left in the house to dry.

Do a search here and on Google about drying roughed out bowls.

It takes about 6 months to a year here in the mountains of North Carolina to dry a 1 inch thick bowl, no air conditioning.

With all the techniques, some crack and some do not.

[turnerted]

Worth trying hard to preserve a bowl like this.I would do as you are doing but weigh it and keep checking the weight utill it stops loosing weight,then re-turn it.I suspect it will take at least six months.If you are very impatient,once it looks to be no longer distorting,re-turn it to about half the thickness it is now, then continue to check the weight untill it is stable then re-turn to the final shape.
Best of luck.
Ted

[pommyphil]

I got a Hilux load of green Liquidambar, this first one I roughed out today to 30mm

I'll just stack them in the shed for a few months, never had one crack in the winter

When it warms up I'll take them down to 15mm. 276039

Not as spectacular as that orange though. Phil

[dr4g0nfly]

Citrus fruit wood, something else we don't get here in the UK. And looking at that bowl, damn am I jealous, it looks gorgeous.

[SNAFU11]

Nice bowl and nice looking timber Nick...

Mick!!!

[TreeClimberNick]

Thanks folks!!

Well- there's a lot to take in. 6 months to dry? Yikes!!!

I've never weighed a bowl before. I'll weigh it today.

I took it out today and it "felt" dry- but I know there's moisture in there. It's only been a couple weeks. The wood chips were bone dry though.

I keep all the bowls in my garage. It's pretty cool in there. They are all sitting in brown bags with shavings.

This bowl got quite mildewy. Will that sand out? Or lathe out?

I like the thickness of this bowl. I don't want to make it 1/2" thick.

I should get a caliper to see how thick it actually is.


love
nick

[Cliff Rogers]

Mildew, mould, same same.

Some of it leaves a blue/grey stain in the sapwood that is not pretty, indiscriminate blob like something was spilt on it & not wiped off soon enough.

blue stain in timber - Google Search (http://www.google.com.au/search?q=blue+stain+in+timber&lr=&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=j4DbUbTYFemhigeGwoGwCg&ved=0CEYQsAQ&biw=1600&bih=779)

Timber Building in Australia (http://oak.arch.utas.edu.au/tbia/view_article.asp?articleID=162)

http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1957/5512/Common_Stains_ocr.pdf;jsessionid=81C0DCBF9C8B01A65B801C528682DC3D?sequence=1

http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fpltn/fpltn-225-1958.pdf

[TreeClimberNick]

Here's a close up of the mildew.

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http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/07/11/qe5aqapa.jpg


love
nick

[Paul39]

Standard practice here for mildew on houses is a 1 part laundry bleach, 3 parts water solution, scrub with a brush & rinse.

I would use the same solution on your bowl, do not rinse, air dry, put into a clean bag with no shavings, or wrap in several layers of news paper.

Use rubber gloves when messing with the bleach solution. Probably best done outdoors wearing your grubby clothes. Any splashes will make white spots.

I sometimes use pine that has the blue stain, I just treat it as a feature as with bark inclusions, bug holes, spalting, etc.