Thread: The best way to dry wood

looks like ill have to put them in a burn pile shame to see 1000's of trees going up in flames
i just don't have the time really atm to do anything else with the wood

You are right, shame to burn it, even though they are relatively small, especially any burl.

What species are they? Perhaps best to offer them to other forumites for free to take away, from your piles before they are burnt, at least some may be saved.

I'm sure dai sensei meant to type "right" not "tight"

Welcome to the forum Michael. Do you know the guy who sells his turnings at the Cobram market? He, DaveTTC and I are members of the Murray Valley Woodturners, held up in Finley on the last Friday of the month (not December though). You are most welcome if turning is your bent

I have cut citrus branches before and not needed to seal them for turning later, but being of small diameter (about 40mm), they probably did not develop a lot of stress within the section to crack much as they dried. I would assume that the larger diameters you are talking about would require sealing on the ends/cuts like any other freshly cut timber. Any old enamel paint or sump oil lying about? Cheap and nasty but does the job. Any beehives nearby? Ask your local apiarist for his wax.

Drying timber is well covered on this forum so take a look because I don't often cut fresh timber and I wouldn't want to lead you astray.

Craig (CAG)

Originally Posted by dai sensei

You are tight, shame to burn it, even though they are relatively small, especially any burl.

What species are they? Perhaps best to offer them to other forumites for free to take away, from your piles before they are burnt, at least some may be saved.

i would have loved to have seen some of this wood turned
see atm growers around here and evrywhere in oz are doing it real hard here due to SPC not taking anymore fruit...
i do have the contacts here to get any sort of stone fruit wood plum cherry pear peach apple nectarine it would be good to see the farmer making a few bucks from it...

Originally Posted by dai sensei

You are tight, shame to burn it, even though they are relatively small, especially any burl.

What species are they? Perhaps best to offer them to other forumites for free to take away, from your piles before they are burnt, at least some may be saved.

Originally Posted by CAG

I'm sure dai sensei meant to type "right" not "tight"

Welcome to the forum Michael. Do you know the guy who sells his turnings at the Cobram market? He, DaveTTC and I are members of the Murray Valley Woodturners, held up in Finley on the last Friday of the month (not December though). You are most welcome if turning is your bent

I have cut citrus branches before and not needed to seal them for turning later, but being of small diameter (about 40mm), they probably did not develop a lot of stress within the section to crack much as they dried. I would assume that the larger diameters you are talking about would require sealing on the ends/cuts like any other freshly cut timber. Any old enamel paint or sump oil lying about? Cheap and nasty but does the job. Any beehives nearby? Ask your local apiarist for his wax.

Drying timber is well covered on this forum so take a look because I don't often cut fresh timber and I wouldn't want to lead you astray.

Craig (CAG)

gday Graig no i cany say i do know him tho when the market is on next i will say hello...
when you say seal the ends and cuts....so if i was to mill some into planks do i have to paint every where that i have cut? or just the ends

Originally Posted by cobram-guy

gday Graig no i cany say i do know him tho when the market is on next i will say hello...
when you say seal the ends and cuts....so if i was to mill some into planks do i have to paint every where that i have cut? or just the ends

I was thinking of turning blanks which often come in the form of rounds with all faces freshly cut, such as bowl blanks. These would need sealing all round. I would only seal the ends of planks, possibly up the sides two inches or so...

Craig

P.S.: Check up the top of the forum page as I am about to send a Private Message (PM) to you.

Originally Posted by CAG

I'm sure dai sensei meant to type "right" not "tight"

Yep , sorry, now fixed

Originally Posted by cobram-guy

i would have loved to have seen some of this wood turned
see atm growers around here and evrywhere in oz are doing it real hard here due to SPC not taking anymore fruit...
i do have the contacts here to get any sort of stone fruit wood plum cherry pear peach apple nectarine it would be good to see the farmer making a few bucks from it...

Yes, situation with fruit growers is not good.

Not sure about others, but I always give the owners who give me free wood a turned item or two from the wood - pens/bowls/pepper grinders etc, depending on how much I got, sometimes all of the above

Like you say, better the farmers make a buck out of it of they can though.