PDA

View Full Version : spin dry?



hughie
2nd September 2006, 01:14 PM
I came across this at the World of Woodturners. Its a different method of drying again.

Anybody had a go at this method????

Toasty
2nd September 2006, 01:27 PM
...Spin drying is running the bowl at high speed in the lathe to force the moisture to the surface... ...This usually takes no more than an overnight spin...
All I see is unwanted mileage on my lathe...

weisyboy
2nd September 2006, 01:41 PM
:mad: i would be woried about leaving my lathe going for that long. all that extra wear and tear could not ba good for it

Gil Jones
2nd September 2006, 02:49 PM
Hughie,
I use an old microwave oven to dry wood in the shop (NEVER use the one in our kitchen for wood); it does an OK job on some woods and cracks others.
I also use the denatured alcohol (meths) soak method with OK success.
Lately, I have been testing 'freeze drying' in our old refrigerator (which is now in my shop). I do not know how well freeze-drying will work, but none of the wood has cracked yet. This wood is bowl blanks, not rough turned pieces.
I believe I will pass on leaving my lathe spinning at hi (or any) speed overnight, and/or unattended. Sounds like a fine way to accelerate wear, and shorten its life.
As for the oven drying method, it sounds like, (1) a fire hazard; (2) possible bad smells in the house; (3) I doubt that my wife would go for it in HER oven.
I have good luck turning green wood to a finished piece in one session. If the walls and base are uniform in thickness, and fairly thin, the wood will usually warp instead of crack (sometimes it cracks :rolleyes: ).

rsser
2nd September 2006, 05:25 PM
I admire Gil and others who have the patience for these techniques.

And while I have none for some things (like my partner's driving style :mad: ) for turning I'm happy to rough turn, end seal and wait.

Sure, it doesn't work for everything ... thinking of fruitwoods, almond (the nut variety; lovely figure btw if you come across some) and a lot of green plain Tas myrtle. But for the rest it sits quietly drying in what I like to think of as my bank (cf. Peter Temple's novels).

That said, the garage is too hot in summer and I fear that makes the stuff a little on the brittle side. So the crawl space under the house will this summer host the bank as well as a solitary case of red.

Regardless, your quest for knowledge is impressive Hughie; hope you might record some of it in a more durable form. Have suggested to the forum owner that a wiki is worth considering.

Skew ChiDAMN!!
2nd September 2006, 05:42 PM
Patience? ROFL! It's lack of patience (I want to turn my new acquisition now!) that moves me to try these things. :)

Like Gil, I microwave. Yes, it will destroy some woods but as with anything, experience helps. I don't nuke "important" projects but if I just want to play on the lathe and the only cured blanks I have to hand are exotics, which is usually the case, well... nuking something from one of the stacks outside provides near instant gratification.

My fallback method is LDD (soaking in soap) but the smell started to get more than a bit rich and I dumped the last lot. :( I'll probably start another batch next winter, but over the summer months I'm content to rough and shelf cure.
So long as I have a working microwave anyway. ;)

I don't think I'll be trying the spin-dry method either. With the sawdust, timber & asstd. chemicals scattered around and the amount of powercords/double-adapters lying around in my shed, I kill the power at the fusebox every night for what I think is good reason.

rsser
2nd September 2006, 05:59 PM
Well, yes, when I'm impatient I'll turn in one session. Had some good results that way.

Had some no-name brand once, turned it thin then sanded. All very wet and hot (ah, yes, this is the right forum :o ) and darn me if the stuff didn't start flexing like heavy plastic. Most impressive. Then I screwed up (oh dear!) by trying to buff the sanding sealer with steel wool. Flecks everywhere (figured that's why Neil always says DON'T USE STEEL WOOL).

TTIT
3rd September 2006, 12:24 AM
Good - it's not just me!;):D Once I start turning a piece, nothing else matters until it's finished. I hate waiting for Danish oil to dry let alone the wood itself so I'm also a notorious 'nuker'. There's always something on the kitchen bench getting cooked a bit at a time.:) BUT, this week I decided to do the right thing and just rough a heap of stuff down and throw them in the shavings for a while - now if I can just stay away from them until they're dry....:(

Skew ChiDAMN!!
3rd September 2006, 01:02 AM
Yeah, me too. There's times, though, when turning green just won't do the job. Experimenting with new forms for lidded boxes, for example.

Not worth risking a "good" blank for, but if I do manage to turn out something I'm pleased with I'd like it stay the right shape for at least a fortnight... even if only so I can take it the next club meet, etc. for a brag session. :o It doesn't quite feel the same when you show off your latest pierce of "trick" turning and they say "Very nice, but how do you get the lid off?"

TTIT
3rd September 2006, 01:31 AM
Skew - I sometimes see myself more as a 'performance artist' than a 'producer of heirlooms'!:o Get a finish on it and a photo before it all goes to hell!;):D Remember the Budgeroo flitch a couple of weeks back...:o:(:o:(

hughie
3rd September 2006, 01:34 AM
[.
Have suggested to the forum owner that a wiki is worth considering


Ern Not a bad idea, it could develop in to some thing quite encyclopedic as to volume and depth.

As for patience I like to go at and finish it asap. This waiting months for some thing to dry, nah gotta have my instant gratification :D Instant, goes with my 'Bull at the Gate' policy of turning.

Soap, meths and some nuking is about my lot! Other wise I get it dry some body else who has the patience.

I just chucked this thread in to see what turned up.....sori for the pun:p

bikerboy
3rd September 2006, 02:40 AM
[.


Ern Not a bad idea, it could develop in to some thing quite encyclopedic as to volume and depth.

As for patience I like to go at and finish it asap. This waiting months for some thing to dry, nah gotta have my instant gratification :D Instant, goes with my 'Bull at the Gate' policy of turning.

Soap, meths and some nuking is about my lot! Other wise I get it dry some body else who has the patience.

I just chucked this thread in to see what turned up.....sori for the pun:p

what about if you were to put some wood to dry inside the old ladys tumble dryer,that might clunk a bit, and make a bit of bangin,hell might give it a go, mind you I better wait till her indoors has left the building:D

Skew ChiDAMN!!
3rd September 2006, 03:14 PM
I vaguely recall someone else thinking about trying a tumble-dryer in a similar thread to this one. Apparently there are racks designed to hang inside the front door for "delicate" items.

I don't recall seeing any results from his experiment... and I doubt "success" would've been a part of it. ;)

weisyboy
3rd September 2006, 10:53 PM
its decided

this is the stupidest idea any of us have ever heard:mad: :D

Ray153
3rd September 2006, 11:33 PM
I would love to be the fly on what would be left of the wall of the now smoking ruined house when the insurance assessor came around. "You had WHAT doing WHAT inside your tumble drier????????

tashammer
4th September 2006, 01:59 AM
You know those centrifuge things they always show merikan military having their faces liquified, spins around on a big arm and the last one to puke is the winner?

I wonder if we have one on Oz and could we try some timber in it? Do you reckon the RAAF would be in it?

(Come to think of it, those things would be a bugger on yer piles). One of my nephews is always mentioning the problem in flying (he's in the RAAF) i thought i might get him a book on macrame).

Skew ChiDAMN!!
4th September 2006, 02:35 AM
Hmmm... I wonder if they'll let me on the Octopus with pockets full of wood, at the next Royal Aggie Show?

At least it'd give the li'l buggers running around underneath picking up my smallchange some variety: dodging splinters as well as the usual shrapnel, beads & techicoloured fluids... :rolleyes:

Stuart
15th September 2006, 10:51 PM
I vaguely recall someone else thinking about trying a tumble-dryer in a similar thread to this one. Apparently there are racks designed to hang inside the front door for "delicate" items.

I don't recall seeing any results from his experiment... and I doubt "success" would've been a part of it. ;)
Actually, it isn't as dumb as it sounds. F&P often come with a shoe drying tray so that the shoes don't get tumbled to death. However, is added heat a good idea for drying wood? Wouldn't it just hasten the checking process?

A tumble dryer is at least a much lower heat that an oven on low, but the principle is the same.

Skew ChiDAMN!!
15th September 2006, 11:09 PM
Actually, it isn't as dumb as it sounds. F&P often come with a shoe drying tray so that the shoes don't get tumbled to death. However, is added heat a good idea for drying wood? Wouldn't it just hasten the checking process?

A tumble dryer is at least a much lower heat that an oven on low, but the principle is the same.

My point exactly. To speed up drying with heat, there's only two ways to go: bump the temp up to just a degree or two above ambient, or go all the way and put it through a kiln.

Anything half-way between is just accelerating the shakes. [shrug]

Hickory
16th September 2006, 01:22 AM
Lets see...... :confused: I'm suppose to chuck up a piece of green Timber on my lathe, mount a 100 watt lightbulb near the piece, Crank up the RPMs and walk off and leave it running whilst I snooze overnight. :rolleyes:

Hmmmmmm? Lets consider the Electric bill for electric motor running for 12 or more hours. Not to mention the heat on the bearings and the windings in the motor. Or the 100 watt lightbulb. :mad:

A running piece of electrical equipment spinning wildly and unattended all night? :mad:

Show me where the smart part of this formula lies....:(


I still revert back to my previously avowed statement that Alcohol soaking and resting off the drunken stooper for a couple of weeks is the safest, easiest, cleanest, and most reliable meathod of drying green wood.

Skew ChiDAMN!!
16th September 2006, 01:37 AM
Show me where the smart part of this formula lies....:(

I think the closest part that comes to that is: "And, I always add 30% to the cost of the bowl for the fast service." :D


I still revert back to my previously avowed statement that Alcohol soaking and resting off the drunken stooper for a couple of weeks is the safest, easiest, cleanest, and most reliable meathod of drying green wood.

Sorry, gotta disagree. I'd put natural air-dried @ No 1, followed by kiln-dried and then I'd say that LDD/microwaving tie for equal third. LDD tends to be messy but simple, whlie nuking is extremely quick but not what I'd call reliable. [shrug]

I have this thing about placing potentially flammable items into large amounts of a flammable substance in my workshop which, I've been told, is a fire-hazard in and of itself. Actually, it's more accurate to say that our insurers have this thing... :(

Just as well, really, if we all did things the same way, what a boring old world it'd be!

RETIRED
16th September 2006, 09:05 AM
I see nothing wrong with running a lathe for 12 hours.

When we were going full tilt on legs our lathes ran all day nearly every day.

Most "professional" woodturning places I know of do the same.

The only issue I have is leaving a running machine unattended.