Microwave drying

[William Drylie]

Has anyone got any info regarding drying wood for plane making with a microwave?

Bill

[Bill Houghton]

Namesake,

You might do some searching on the message archives for the turning fora, here and elsewhere; or go down to your local library and look at the books on turning. If I recall correctly, 'twas the whirligig types who first experimented with this approach.

Bill, hoping it won't rain today (even though we need it)

[William Drylie]

I have seen some of the posts on the turning forum but don't know if it would work for something the dimensions of a plane blank. Say 2" thick x 4" wide x 12" long or 3" x 3" x 8" long.

Bill

[Jim Koepke]

When I scrolled down to the bottom of the page, there is a listing of similar topics.

There were four other microwave drying threads listed. Here is one:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=81629

jim

[William Drylie]

Jim

Yes I've seen those and read the one you mentioned, but they all seem to relate to turned items with wall thickness of less than an inch. The blanks I'm talking about are quite a bit thicker. Just wondered if anyone has tried it.

Bill

[Daren K Nelson]

You can dry larger pieces in the micro. 30-45 seconds on high, 3-5 minutes out to cool. If it does not get warm enough experiment with 45-60 seconds on. Repeat several times. You will notice after a couple minutes on the counter to cool it actually gets "hotter" to the touch because you are heating the water molecules inside and not just the surface. You will see water bubbling/steaming from the endgrain at first, then it will lessen. I have done I enough I just kinda know when a piece is dry. But the proper method is use a digital scale that measures in grams and weigh the piece and when it stops losing weight the water is gone.

A few things. One just don't leave it in there to cook, be patient and do the cycle thing even if it seams like it is taking forever on a thick piece, you can literally burn the material, not like fire but close enough to ruin wood fibers. And microwave drying can add stress to the wood and cause case hardening for one thing. Don't put the final dimensioned piece in either, leave it a little long and expect end check. You may not get it, but plan for it anyway.

I think that covers what I know. In short, yes it can be done, I do it. But it does take some practice with different species because they all dry differently. Since you are talking planes though my assumption is very hard wood, so they will dry slower that others. And done right with less degrade.

[William Drylie]

Daren:

Thanks for your reply! Yes your right I'm talking about Beech. I finally found a source for Beech in the proper size for plane making but it is green. As I'm old and impatient I don't want to wait the time for air drying.

Bill

[Jeff Johnson]

I have a similar issue. I have a chunk of dogwood that I'd like to turn into a mallet. Without a moisture meter, it's going to be difficult to judge.

I guess I'll just cut it a bit larger than the final and go low & slow with frequent cooldowns until it stops putting out vapor.

[Larry Edgerton]

I was experimenting a while ago and I found that a small tenon that was too tight to go in comfortably would slip in after a bit of microwaving. I haven't used this in actual work yet, it was just something I was curious about. Got the idea from doing post and beam work where they would make the tenoned piece out of dryer stock than the mortised piece. I have a plate rack to build for my wife, I will try it on that.