turning in desert climate

Anchorseal

Carole in VA

>And maybe some plastic garbage bags.

Re: turning in desert climate

John Lucas

>Ken

Mullberry is one of the worst woods for this. I try to seal them in the woods when freshly cut because it starts checking on the way home.

I leave wood in log form and as long as I can lift or drag it. If it looks like it's going to be a good while before I get to the wood I split them through the pith. This is especially true if I had to cut it into 3 foot or less lengths.

I seal the ends with achorseal as soon as possible. Fruit woods I seal immediately. Other woods I wait until I get home. If it's a log I find on the side of the road I cut about 2" off each end and then seal it or go home and try to turn it immediately.

I don't turn a lot of bowls so if it looks like the wood is starting to check pretty badly I mill it into squares starting around 4" and working down to 1" since I make a lot of ornaments and wine stoppers. This wood is sealed on the ends and put up to dry.

Anytime I have to stop turning a bowl I put a plastic bag around it and try to get back to it as soon as possible.

Bear in mind that I live in Tennessee so wood will last a lot longer here than where you are. The same precautions should help you.

Re: turning in desert climate

Barry Irby

>Ken, You are having the time of your life. This is great. You are like the kid in school who always had his hand up. Come to think of it, that was me. Go for it.

We all have to monitor and control the drying of the wood. Sometimes we need to slow it down and other times we are trying to speed it up. I live in humid south side VA and I still have to be careful if I leave a bowl or hollow form on the lathe for too long. Sometimes, too long is while I eat lunch. Like Carole said, if you are going to leave a blank or half turned piece sitting for a few days, put it in a plastic bag. In your case, you might throw in some damp shavings or wet paper towels. If you want to slow a piece down for longer than that try the Anchorseal. It will not absolutely stop drying, but it will slow it down a lot. YOU might have to use two coats.

Here, if I put a wet blank in a plastic bag and leave it, it will spalt in a few months. Sometimes I like that, but in a few more months, its rotten.

Might be a good idea to leave your blanks in the longest logs you can. If you take a 12" log 4' long and cut it into four pieces and then rip them in half along the pith, making eight bowl blanks, you may lose all of them if you don't bag or seal them and still turn them soon. If you seal the ends of the log and it still drys and cracks or checks, you may be able to cut six inches off each end and still use the three feet in the center and get six blanks.

Here we are waiting to see if a blank will spalt and rot or just dry out and crack. I guess you are just waiting for them to dry, but you don't have as long to wait. My problem is that the wood comes in bunches and sometimes I have more than I can turn and other times I'm scratching around looking for a likely victim to turn.

Continue to enjoy the learning curve.

Re: turning in desert climate - humidifier?

JL

>Here in the damp south, we work about spalting and getting the wood dry. You worry about it drying too fast. How about a humidifer? How about a humidity controled chamber? Get an old aquarium or something and put some water in the bottom. Put some racks (stainless steel or plastic) in it so the wood won't get wet. Put the bowl blanks in the chamber and put a lid on it. Maybe they'll dry slower in a more humid environment. You may still have to use Anchor Seal. You could wrap them in plastic or Saran, but that might encourage spalting.

My $0.02.

Re: turning in desert climate

Gary Evans, Tallassee, TN

>Ken,

A few years ago I corresponded with the "Lumber Lady" in Arizona about selling her some wood. She insisted that all pieces be completely coated in yellow glue as the low RH out there often caused pieces to come apart rapidly from excessive rate of moisture loss.

Gary

Re: turning in desert climate - humidifier?

ken chase

>Thanks. Good idea. About the spalting. I love the look of it and didn't know it was moisture that caused it. I thought it was fungus. I have bought spalted maple which was very expensive to cut into veneers for some of my projects. The wood was too soft to use in solid form. I guess it's O.K. for turning though.

Re: turning in desert climate - humidifier?

Gary Evans, Tallassee, TN

>Ken,

Spalting is the result of fungal activity, but the fungi need moisture as well as food in order to prosper.

Which reminds me of a joke: A mushroom goes into a bar and asks for a beer. The bartender says, "We don't serve mushrooms!" The mushroom says, "Why not? I'm a fungi!"

Gary

Re: turning in desert climate

RonZ

>Well, here in Israel we done past spring and now we have had heat waves and sand storms. The wood's starting to crack. Use either anchor seal as Carol suggests of white glue. we have a large fluctuation of climate here so I don't use bags, it might mold.