Thread: Hanging Out To Dry - Burls that is

Yes - the wax means that the wood is still wet. I don't think you can turn a pen green like this - it will crack/shrink...

I suspect that you can cut the blanks and then "sticker" them for a few months while they dry out... but don't cut them too small because they may bend/warp...

But I bet other people will have much better experience with this... I know there are some microwave techniques for drying timber that people may know. Also there's a trick involving freezing and thawing over and over that some people also use.

Just leave 'em on a shelf in a cool, dry place for 12 months. Time will dry 'em out nicely.

I think its a capital crime they don't season them before they sell them. You might as well grab your chainsaw and go out and get'em yourself if you want to wait for the things to dry out. I have some walnut I bought from a guy locally, great bloody big slab of it, got about another 2 years to go before it will be ready to use. There's a lovely crotch section in it just waiting to be a gunstock. Anyhow, the point being, is when you buy something at the store, I think it should be ready to use. They have kilns and the like where they dry them much faster and efficiently that we can.

Really the biggest thing that bothers me is I know so much of it gets wasted. With illegal logging and certain species being used up so quickly, it bothers me that they just rush it to market to make a quick buck and could care less how much of it gets wasted.

Matt, you're much better off buying them wet and resawing, resealing them and leaving them to dry naturally, rather then kiln drying. Much better recovery rate, kiln dried stuff can quite often have internal checking and collapse that you don't see till you work it

Yep. What DJ said.

The better places, such as The Woodsmith do this in shop. The wood he sells is well'n'truly dried... and premium quality at that. If is checks during drying, that's reflected in his price. (I love his Bargain Bin. ) However he is running a business and has to recoup the cost of shed storage time, so his prices can't compete with someone who sells green.

IMHO it's well worth the extra pennies.

Then there are the people who sell green but charge as much as Len. I avoid them like the plague, for fairly obvious reasons...

Buy em green and save the $$$, then cut them into slightly oversized blanks and sticker. The sizes you end up with for pen blanks should see them ready to turn in a few months depending on weather. Weigh the stack when first cut and then once a week (or longer if you forget). Once a stable weight is achieved you are good to go.

Corbs

Don't worry pen blanks don't take that long to dry out. Unlike bowl blanks.
bye Toni