Turning wet vs dry...what do you do?

[Rick Cicciarelli]

Had a lesson on the lathe the other night and was a bit surprised to see that the guy does most of his bowl work on wet lumber...roughs it out to about 85-90% finished, pulls it off..lets it dry for like a month in a heated room, and then finishes it off once it is dry. For some reason I was under the impression most turning work was done on wood that was all ready dry that way the majority of movement from drying is done by the time you turn your bowl. Of course, I've only had one lesson on the lathe, so what do I know? I was just curious what the protocol was for most of you guys?

[charlie knighton]

i have not been turning long enough to have fully dry wood, most found and therefore free wood is green and freshly cut down, if you buy wood you can pick dry or green

[Bernie Weishapl]

Rick most of the turners turn green wood because it is easier to turn. I only use dry wood on small projects such as mini birdhouses, christmas ornaments, lidded boxes, etc. Hollow Forms, platters, bowls, etc. I use mainly green wood and turn it down so the remaining thickness is 10%. This leaves enough wood so after it dries and warps when your return it to the lathe to finish you have enough wood to make it round again. Some turn green wood to finish with walls of 1/4" or less. Let them dry and warp. Then they sand and finish without returning it to the lathe.

[Rick Prosser]

I am like Charley - my green wood has not had a chance to dry yet. It has been a little frustrating because I don't want to spend $$ on good, dry wood to practice with - and yet I want to finish some pieces NOW. I found that turning NE bowls green works out OK since the edges are varied and some warping is not a problem. I have also turned some green pecan, and it has not moved very much as it dried.

Green wood is easier to turn, but can move/warp a lot, and can take months to dry before the finish turning.

Dry wood is harder to turn, but you can finish it without waiting

Green wood is more likely to come FREE from friends and neighbors with downed trees.

I have found some downed trees that had dried out considerably, but you have to watch for checking and splitting. Seasoned firewood is also a source of dry-ish wood (my first turnings were from my dad's woodpile).

[Scott Conners]

Finding dry wood in small dimensions is reasonable, but a nice large bowl blank would take years to dry out, and then it would probably still be much higher moisture in the middle and move a bit when turned. If the pith is left in the log as it dries, it almost always splits. By turning green wood we gain control over splitting, as well as getting to work witht he wood when it's much easier to turn.
I try to turn wet when I have it, rough to 10% of the diameter, then I either air dry in paper or soak in DNA before air drying. The DNA soak drives out much of the water, and the alcohol dries much more quickly, letting you finish turn in a number of weeks instead of months or years. I've also used the microwave drying method with success when I was in a real hurry.

[Reed Gray]

It is close to impossible to dry large bowl sizes of wood without them cracking. The outside drys and shrinks while the inside doesn't. Simply too much mass. That is why we turn green wood. When you turn down to 10%, this is a small enough mass so that the wood, as long as it isn't dried out too fast, will dry okay, and warp. Then you can return it at your leisure. Me, I prefer the thinner (1/4 to 1/2 inch thick) warped bowls. Perfectly round bowls just don't look as interesting to me.
robo hippy

[David Pearson]

I've been turning green wood to finished product lately, except for finishing. It cuts and sands far easier than dry wood. I have a large amount of walnut and was having problems with cracking when I roughed them and left them to dry. Now I turn my bowls very thin, which is much easier to do with green wood, then I leave them to air dry for about a week. I finish them with danish oil, or mineral oil. It's impossible to get a friction finish on them after they dry, due to warpage. I agree with Reed, perfectly round bowls can get boring. You never know what shape it will end up after it dries. Here's a pic of some of my thin walnut bowls.

[Ben Galluzzo]

I had a shop teacher many years ago that showed me to pack the turned wet wood within its own turned shavings to help slow down the drying of the wood so it wouldn't crack and split from drying too fast. I don't know if that's a good way to dry wet turned wood, but I do know that the wood didn't crack, while a chunk of the wood that wasn't turned had sat out and cracked when drying in the same room.

btw, the wood from this particular project in which he showed me this trick on came from a birch tree in my parents yard that a drunk classmate took out with her car one night. I brought wood in for the entire shop class. Everyone made sure to thank the girl that took out our tree.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Rick - I turn green wood for all my bowls and hollow forms because it is what I have on hand. Like already mentioned - turn to 10% of the diameter, DNA soak, wrap and let dry for at least a month before finish turning.

Like Bernie - I only use dry wood on small items like Christmas ornaments, finials, etc.

[Burt Alcantara]

In the past I turned mostly dry wood because I couldn't keep up with my stock. There was a period that I kept find wood. Eventually, I there was so much I began to give some away because I had no where to store it. So, I ended up turning dry.

Now, the cycle is repeating. BIg logs in the yard but now I'm beginning to get back into turning green. Problem is, I keep forgetting they are green so I finish them in one sitting and most crack. Oh well, good practice.

Burt

[Ben Gastfriend]

I do green too, then use Dennis Peacock's DNA drying method.

[Curt Fuller]

I do green too, then use Dennis Peacock's DNA drying method.

Dennis's method works about as well as any I've tried. It's pretty hard to find any wood that's thick enough to turn a bowl from that isn't mostly green. Even the blanks you can buy are still green. They've been sealed to keep them green and from splitting.