Green Purpleheart?

[Jeff Morneault]

Are blocks of exotic wood normally green when sold through Woodcraft, Rockler and similar stores? I bought a block of purpleheart 6x6x3 that I thought I'd be able to turn from start to finish in one session. It had been sitting on my shelf for almost a year before I decided what I'd like to do with it. (Ya I'm a little slow :)) As I turned it you could see the moisture coming off of it and the shavings were definately wet. Ended up roughing it out and put it on the drying rack. Take another look at it in 3 months :(

Jeff

[Stan Cook]

As far as I know, most exotic wood in stores is still somewhat green. Some pieces may be drier than others, but it is typically not kiln dried.

[Craig Powers]

From my experience, it depends. I've bought both wet and "dry"
wood from both Woodcraft and Rockler. My rule of thumb is if it
is completely sealed in parrafin, I consider it wet. If not, its probably
dry enough to finish turning. Just my .02

[Greg Just]

I agree with Craig. I would ask the salesperson to use a meter to test the moisture content of the wood.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have found the same thing Craig has.

[Curt Fuller]

A lot of the blocks I see at my local Woodcraft are sealed completely in wax. They look like they've been dipped in it rather than just sealing the ends. That's a great way for them to keep it from cracking or to hide any cracks that are already there. But the wood will never dry beyond the point it was when sealed like that. So if that was the case with your purpleheart, if it was green when they dipped it, it would still be green a year later I would think.

[Keith Christopher]

A lot of the blocks I see at my local Woodcraft are sealed completely in wax. They look like they've been dipped in it rather than just sealing the ends. That's a great way for them to keep it from cracking or to hide any cracks that are already there. But the wood will never dry beyond the point it was when sealed like that. So if that was the case with your purpleheart, if it was green when they dipped it, it would still be green a year later I would think.

I agree with Curt and the others here, it should also be noted that purple heart in my experience has a really unique way of storing water. I have some purple heart stock that I have had for about 5 years (flat sawn and unsealed) and I sometimes rip down some blanks from it.

I will sometimes be cutting it and have water 'appear' out of nowhere when I hit a little hidden water pocket.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Jeff - my experience with sealed wood has been limited to my yearly visits to Rockler in North St. Paul, MN. All the turning blanks there have been dipped in wax - and like Curt has already stated, at that point you have to assume they would quit drying as any and all moisture in the wood would be locked in until turned. I am still amazed at the prices on some of those turning blocks and seriously wonder if they are ever sold!

[Jim King]

I ship thousands of turning blanks to the States and Canada. We sticker them for a few months and then after air drying we cut them round and then wax all sides and then shrink wrap them. As kiln drying anything over 2 inches verges on the impossible you can assume 99% of the turning blanks on the market should be considered as if green unless they are very thin and unwaxed.

Shipping blanks that are not air dried and waxed and packaged is a waste of time for us as the shipping containers on top of the ship get hotter than a kiln and if not air dried well they will crack.

I personally would rather turn green wood down to a wall thickness of 3/4 inch and boil them and let them air dry for a few months before finishing . In this way it is almost impossible to get cracks.

[Jeff Morneault]

Thanks guys for all your input. I guess I'll treat all blanks I buy as green unless they're specifically tagged as kiln dried. Jim King thanks for chiming in I do appreciate your mention of the kiln drying process on thicker blanks. I think for starters though I'll scrape back some of the wax on the smaller blanks which don't have pith. The parrafin is thick and I'm sure now the moisture is not escaping.

Jeff