Re: Question For Mark Kauder
Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL
>Barb,
Thickness: I would think that you could get away with less than the normal 10% of diameter. I would think that an fat inch would be good.
Soaking time: I have never heard of anyone having problems from soaking too long (other than my waste blocks falling off two bowl I forgot about for a month). I might soak it overnight just to be sure it was saturated.
Amount of Alcohol: What I did was put the bowl in the bag, filled the bowl with alcohol, dumping a whole gallon in, letting it spill over into the bag, and then pulled the bag up tight to the bowl and zip-tied it shut.
This is one case were I think that I would use virgin alcohol - to make sure that nothing tainted the whiteness of the Holley. The alcohol I have been using is a very dark brown from several Walnut pieces, but it does not seem to have effected lighter wood that followed. The slight discoloration was quickly turned away in final finishing.
Someone on my website asked me the same thing about boiling and then alcohol soaking. I personally think that the boiling would be a waste of time. From what I understand, boiling's main advantage it to lessen the incidence of cracking. But distortion and drying times seem to stay about the same as regular drying processes. The alcohol process lessens the cracking and to some extent the warping, and speeds the drying. So, I do not see the point of the two step process.
Good Luck.
Mark
