What can I expect?

Re: What can I expect?

Mike Schwing from Md.

>Jim, the answer is "only the bowls know how far they will move". If they were soaking wet, they are in for a good bit more movement, maybe! If they were nearly dry, 5 days will probably show you the majority of their movement, maybe! They appear to be well balanced, grain wise, so the movement should probably be pretty much even from one side to the other.

One of the nice things about natural edged bowls is that they're typically out of round, and even when they're not they appear to be, so with that out of the way, you tend to have more leverage in other surface _defects_ that a formal bowl would not be allowed. Cracks, checks, they're not normally favorable, but one can only do so much with air dried wood.

I would suggest that your natural edged bowls will survive with less checking if you put them inside a few paper grocery bags when you're done for a couple of weeks, slowing down the drying a bit. Little by little expose them until they're drying on their own accord.

Good luck!

Re: What can I expect?

John Trant (Baltimore/WashDC)

>Since you were able to get the bowls round again, I presume you turned the original natural edged bowls too thick-walled. That may be why they cracked.

If you need a bit faster turnaround, do a search for Dave Smith's denatured alcohol=assisted drying method. It substantially reduces the time between green turning and finish turning.

You should also notice something else about bowls turned in the "natural edge orientation" opposed to the "typical orintation". In the natural edge orientation, the bowl's figure is basically concentric circles. I find that far less pleasing than the figure you get when the grain or sapwood is well balanced in the normal face plate orientation. In general, I am not a big fan of natural edged bowls.

John

remove the 2 for email

Thanks Mike - I'll give the

Jim K in Trappe PA

>paper bags a try.

Jim

I'll need to take a look

Jim K in Trappe PA

>at some typical orientation bowls versus natural edge orientation bowls to see what you mean. I've seen some of the posts for alcohol, but don't know if I'm ready for that sort of alchemy yet! I did leave these bowls a little thick (about 1/2"), but not for any reason - it was free wood, and I am trying to learn by trying different things.

Thanks for your input! I've got tons to learn about this stuff!

Jim

Re: I'll need to take a look

JamieDonaldson

>The Polish wood kiln(aka-brown paper bag!)is the solution for your bowls. Make every effort to keep the wall thickness "uniform," and thin is better than thick.

Lots of Compliments!

Jennifer@Indy.USA

>Jim, it's really hard to tell how the bowls will react while drying. I would guess that they won't crack much because of the grain orientation....but I will say that you should expect to get lots of compliments on your work! These three bowls look great for just starting in November! I love cherry and these simple forms really look great in cherry. Nice job.

Jennifer