Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Freezing wood
keith zimmerman, Normal IL
>Does anyone out there freeze blanks to stablize them? I would be interested in reading anyone thoughts on the subject. I have recently begun freezing some, but have no idea what I am doing.
Any thoughts or insights would be greatly appreciated.
keithz
Re: Freezing wood
Gary Evans
>Hi Keith,
Freezing wood is one more way to slow down the drying process and make it more controllable, especially with reactionary woods. Be aware that it is very slow and you would probably be better off to use more conventional methods for most woods.
Where freezing really stands out is in stopping the advance of the spalting process. The fungi which produce the spalting need 4 things to continue to grow and spread: food, oxygen, moisture and heat. Take away the heat and the spalting process stops. The freezer can give you the flexibility to process some wood that might otherwise go to waste before you can get to it.
GE
Re: Freezing wood
Russ Fairfield
>Turning frozen wood in the lathe isn't something that we would normally consider. However, freezing a piece of wet wood can make something turnable that would otherwise be a problem. The more water in the wood the better the results, and it becomes similar to carving a block of ice.
I discovered that all species of Palm can be easily turned as a solid chuck of ice. At room temperatrure it is like trying to turn a piece of rope. However, it behaves quite well when frozen. Yes, it is a mess and takes a long time because it has to be kept frozen, but the results are worth the effort. Rapid thawing is a problem as it becomes thinner and in a warm shop.