drying blanks

[weisyboy]

has anyone tried drying blanks with salt?

similar yo how you dry meat for smoking or presurving

[echnidna]

plain salt or chicken salt?

seriously though.
soaking green logs in seawater for a few months before milling produces a more stable timber when milled

[weisyboy]

if i was to take a blank and burry it in a pile of salt the salt should remove allmost all the moisture from the timber.

in thery

[joe greiner]

(Also in theory), burying a blank in dry salt should accelerate drying at the surface. Silica gel, as provided in little packets with shipped tools, would be even faster. But accelerated drying from the surface is opposite from desirable. Bob's suggestion sounds better.

Joe

[Skew ChiDAMN!!]

As Joe said.

The idea behind all the "quick dry" methods, whether they be soaking in LDD or microwaving or whatever, is that they penetrate and work on the wood as a whole, drying it out relatively evenly.

I imagine that Salt will only dry the surface... very, very quickly and you'd probably achieve the same result as air-drying in a hot, dry climate without end-grain sealing. ie. a bad one.

There's nothing to stop you from trying it for yourself and reporting the results, though! :)

[weisyboy]

i have decided to give it a try and will report on my results as i go.

i will use pool salt as it can be baught in 20kg bags fairly cheep and i will try a few diferent timbers.

[orraloon]

It will be interesting to see how it goes and if the real problem timbers to dry(she oak and fruit trees) are still the problem timbers.
Good to have a go in any case. It will only cost a few bits of wood.
:2tsup:
Regards
John

[rsser]

Worth a go.

Should set up a high level of osmotic pressure; just a question of whether it improves or worsens the two types of timber moisture loss - cellular and non-cellular. One is lost first with timber drying and the imbalance causes the problem; can't remember which :doh: