Proper alcohol bowl wrapping technique???

Re: I'm not sure it make a lot of difference.

Al Crandall --NE of Indy--

>I haven't dried anything over 10" diameter yet, but everything I've wrapped has had a short strip of tape crossing each pleat on the rim so that all the tape more or less follows the rim's circumference. Even though you are using a lot more tape than I am, I bet we get the same results. Don't worry about it.

It should work OK.

Dave Smith, Longview, WA

>Hi Pete,

I wrap masking tape around the rim to hold the paper in place and then trim it even with the inside of the rim. I don't know how many pieces of newsprint is equivalent to a grocery sack. Several people have reported using newsprint with good results. I have had good luck drying white oak bowls. I have some pictures of a crotch piece that looked like hell when I took it out of the paper but I was able to get a nice finished bowl out of it. How thick are you leaving the sides?

Good luck.

Dave Smith

St. Patty's day and Murphy was hounding me in Longview, WA.

another question

jared

>remove 1 for email

Hello: I dont mean to hijack the thread but since you are here Dave here goes. I have been using the alcohol soak on 12-13 inch diameter blanks with good results for the most part. I have some blanks of walnut crotch that are 19 inches in diameter that I just cut up yesterday. Do you see a problem with using it on something that big? What about wall thickness of the roughed out bowl that size? Would 1.5 inches be sufficient? Thanks in advance. Jared

Re: Proper alcohol bowl wrapping technique???

Terry Quiram

>Pete

I have left bowls in the alchol for as long as a week. I tend to let the larger bowls soak longer. I have some 15" Cherry and Maple bowls drying now. I use brown paper sacks. I put the bowl inside the sack and mash the bottom of the sack down over the bowl and roll the opening of the bag under the lip of the bowl. I have lost 2 bowls out of 35. Both were Apple.

Terry

Re: Proper alcohol bowl wrapping technique???

Ron in Drums PA

>You are not nearly using enough masking tape, I think you should use at least twice that amount. A good way to tell if you used enough is to look at the roll, is there any left? If so, use more.

Kidding aside, I don't use masking tape. I use 3-4 rubber bands and about 4-6 layers of newsprint.

Re: It should work OK.

Pete in Holland

>Dave -

Have been leaving the wall stock on the 10-11" diameter bowls at about an inch. The first batch of bowls made from white oak were cut to about 5/8" and warped too much to save. Second batch were cut to near 1" and allowed bowls of about 3/8" finished wall stock, though 4 of the 7 cut cracked too much to salvage.

Pete

You might try anchorseal instead of newsprint.

Dave Smith, Longview, WA

>Hi Pete,

I leave the walls 5/8" to 3/4" for 11" bowls. I have some pictures of a crotch bowl after soaking and finished. I don't have time to do all the wizardry to post the pictures. I can email them to you if you are interested. You may want to consider putting anchoseal on the outside instead of newsprint to cause the inside of the bowl to dry and put the outside under compression. I assume the cracks are opening on the outside. How big are the logs you are cutting the bowls from? How long have the logs been down?

I hope we can solve your white oak problem.

Dave Smith

Rain is cold, its still winter in Longview, WA.

19" bowls are out of my league.

Dave Smith, Longview, WA

>Hi Jared,

You can always email me if you have any questions on alcohol drying process.

Crotch pieces are always a crap shoot for me. The fresher the wood to better your chances are of success. I think 1.5" is too thick but I have never turned anything that big so I know not of what I speak. Walnut dries faster than most other woods because of the open pores. Like I told Pete on the white oak, you may want to consider coating the outside with Anchoseal. Also, soak the thicker bowl at least a day.

Please keep data on what you do so we all can benefit from the outcome.

Dave Smith

Lathe challenged in Longview, WA.

Re: You might try anchorseal instead of newsprint.

Pete in Holland

>Dave -

Yes, the cracking typically occurs on the outside. Is this Anchor seal difficult to find? Are there local places to try to track down the stuff, or is mail-order the best route? Seems that is the tried & true method.

Thanx !

Weather here in Holland Michigan left us with an inch of snow this morning. Winter's not giving up yet.

Pete

Re: You might try anchorseal instead of newsprint.

bill Crommett in seneca

>Pete: What has the cold weather done to the tulips ?

Re: Proper alcohol bowl wrapping technique???

Barry on Salt Spring

>While we are on the subject, I have several arbutus bowls ranging from 8 to 15 inches on the go with alcohol, every thing seems ok so far. My question is what about hollow forms, say 8 to 10 inches by 4 or so wide small opening, 1 to 2 inches, is this suitable for alcohol soaking, if so how do we wrap these, or would we just use anchor seal or ??? thanks for the help.

Barry ..... on Saltspring

Re: Problem finding grocery sacks.

Al Crandall --NE of Indy--

>Hi Dave. Believe it or not, paper grocery bags are becoming scarce around here. There is only one major chain which still gives me the choice of "paper or plastic?" and we seldom shop this chain. I solved the problem by buying a 36" wide roll of painter's brown masking paper at Lowe's. It is dirt cheap and while I don't know the conversion of painter's paper to grocery bags, every small item I've used it on has dried successfully while using one layer. I tried saran wrap on two pieces and lost both of them. Might just be coincidence.

Re: Proper alcohol bowl wrapping technique???

Ron in Drums PA

>I have one from big leaf maple burl I'm waiting for the chance to get back to it's about 7" tall. I soaked it one month ago. I just wrapped it in newsprint and 2 rubber bands, Set it upside down. It's fine, no cracks.

I have a few others about 4"x3" also from maple burl, cherry and maple that are also fine.

Hollow forms dry well with alcohol method.

Dave Smith, Longview, WA

>Hi Barry,

I have dried several hollow forms with alcohol with great success. I usually take the wall thickness to 1/2" but I don't do giant pieces on my Jet 1236. Whole limb pieces with the pith in I turn to 3/8". I posted a holly vase with about 10 knots and the pith in the bottom which finished nicely. A couple knots had small cracks which felled in easily. The pith in the bottom had no cracks and is still sound today. Just wrap the outside leaving the mouth uncovered so air can circulate inside.

Good luck with the madrona. I have not been able to obtain any fresh madrona so I haven't tested the drying process on it. If I remember right a couple people have dried madrona with no problems. But I don't remember what I remember any more.

Good luck.

Dave Smith

Break is over, back to the shop in Longview, WA.

Re: Problem finding grocery sacks.

Mark Kauder, Phenix City, AL

>I am just using a double or triple thickness of newspaper w/o problem.

Mark

Check Sam's Club

Barbara Gill, Remlik VA

>

Re: Problem finding grocery sacks.

Ron in Drums PA

>I also use newsprint. But you can buy rolls of brown craft paper.

Re: You might try anchorseal instead of newsprint.

Pete in Holland, MI

>Bill -

Some tulips have been observed to be 4" out of the ground all ready. Snow doesn't appear to bother the plant too much. First blossoms shouldn't be ready for opening for 3+ weeks. Ever been to the Tulip Time Fesival ? Besides private gardens, the city plants somewhere around 1.5 million bulbs in the fall.