Thread: Drying & sealing wet turned bowls

LOL.

I rough turn to a wall thickness of about 10% of the outside bowl diameter.

Usually do the Seaworld thing on end grain outside and inside and let the bowls sit separately for a few weeks checking every few days. If a check starts, I give it a squirt of cheap CA.

There are other methods like bagging, dumping a bunch in a cardboard box with some shavings or no shavings, only turning when the moon is full etc etc.

If by 'cracking' you mean a gap right through the wall, then my best bet is you're turning them too thin.

Good luck.

Ern

I think you are on the money. I just measured a few and found I was more likely to be 5% rather than 10%. I always get cracks on the base which is sometimes even thinner.

One of my thoughts was whether the problem might be the seals bad breath. It really stinks when he's eatin' a fish.

GCCC

Agree with ERN, consider leaving the wet turnings 20-25mm thick , then seal only the exterior, if at all.

I used to do this then pack in dry shavings in a milk crate, for 6 months.

Jeff

I've never bothered sealing, but they get packed with shavings in a box or something. No looking at them all the time either. I just forget 'em until I wonder what was in that box.

Do a search on the forum and Google for turning wet wood, drying timber, etc.

If you get 10 turners together, there will be 15 best ways of drying.

I have tried many ways, some crack and some don't.

LOL.

That's the gamble.

Lots of variables.

Trees cut down in winter: lower moisture content, better prospect of drying without checking.

Species vary a lot anyway. And the orientation of the blank in the log (or fork) makes a difference.

My worst batch was a bootload of big pieces of almond cut down in Spring. The stuff had beautiful figure. Despite trying a range of methods - rough turning, blanks cut and dried with bags, no bags, end-grain sealing, fingers crossed for days at a time: only got one successful bowl.

OTOH, a trailer load of NIP cut in winter ... no drama. Did one 25cm wide bowl green-turned down to final thickness. It went out of round by 1mm only as it dried, no checking.

Overall, better odds than the pokies for sure and more fun.

Hi GCCC,

I use to have trouble with cracking around the base (the chucking spigot) as well. Asking a friend it was recommended that I smother that area in CA. Wasteful, relatively expensive and I still lost a few.

Then I had an inspiration - Jubilee clamps around the chuck spigot.

I had a few and tried them, so far I've never lost a single turning, Vase, Bowl or Platter.

They are Stainless Steel so do not affect or are not affected by the damp wood or the shaving I bury them in.

So I bought a pile in an auto-jumble and use them on all my part turnings - works great for me.

Wood Forum Brains Trust

Many many thanks for the responses to my drying problem. At least I know now that it isnt straight forward....

kind regards, Randal

Originally Posted by dr4g0nfly

Hi GCCC,

I use to have trouble with cracking around the base (the chucking spigot) as well. Asking a friend it was recommended that I smother that area in CA. Wasteful, relatively expensive and I still lost a few.

Then I had an inspiration - Jubilee clamps around the chuck spigot.

I had a few and tried them, so far I've never lost a single turning, Vase, Bowl or Platter.

They are Stainless Steel so do not affect or are not affected by the damp wood or the shaving I bury them in.

So I bought a pile in an auto-jumble and use them on all my part turnings - works great for me.

Are they those hose clamps?

This sort of thing?


Yep! Answered my own question! Google is handy isn't it!

Could ne a handy idea some time.

Yes Tea-Lady, you've got it,

I mark the spigot either side of the Jaw No. 1 with a black marker so I know how to set the piece back in the jaws correctly, put the clamp around and do it up tight.

One clamp is fine for C Jaws, if I've used Gripper Jaws for a vase or deeper bowl, I might put two clamps on to account for the longer spigot depending upon the moisture content of the wood.

Of course this only works for spigots. for recesses I put my faith in crossed fingers and a big box of shavings!

.

I rough turn to a wall thickness of about 10% of the outside bowl diameter.

If a check starts, I give it a squirt of cheap CA.

There are other methods like bagging, dumping a bunch in a cardboard box with some

Pretty well what I do, putting abunch in cardboard boxes for me get a better result than most others.
In the box close the lid and check periodically filling any cracks with cheap CA.Camphor should not be a problem, its a very stable timber, providing you have got your wall thickness up around 1"+ or so. I rarely having problems with it.