Drying Alternative

[Jonathan Harvey]

I'm just wondering if you guys could give me your opinion on this drying method.

I don't have access to DNA here in Canada so I was thinking of alternative ways of drying. At this point I've just been letting everything air dry but wrapped up in newspaper or brown bags. I've had good success with this and seeing as I'm not in any real hurry it works for me.

Here is what I am wanting opinions on. What if one was to rough turn a bowl and then paint the whole bowl with anchorseal? Obviously the bowl would dry slow and I would "assume" that it would have very little movement due to drying so slow.

What do you guys think? would it work? do you see a major flaw in this idea?

I've got a few 14" bowls roughed out dated and coated with anchorseal so time will tell, but I would like to hear from people more knowledgeable then myself :)

Thanks in advance

[Dick Sowa]

Well, Anchorseal is a wax emulsion. Meaning that once applied, it leaves a wax film on your bowl. If you coat the whole thing, there is no place for moisture to escape. I always just coat the end grain part of the bowl. Bill Grumbine's video suggests only coating the end grain also.

[Mike Minto]

a couple of follow-up questions - does no moisture escape thru the AnchorSeal, or is it simply very slowed down? also, if you coat a tenon, will it be possible to hold a rough turned bowl a chuck, do you think or will it be too slippery? mike

[Jonathan Harvey]

a couple of follow-up questions - does no moisture escape thru the AnchorSeal, or is it simply very slowed down? also, if you coat a tenon, will it be possible to hold a rough turned bowl a chuck, do you think or will it be too slippery? mike


I too wondered if the tenon would be too slippery with anchor seal on it. I guess I'm going to find out. I figure that the anchorseal only penetrates the wood a small bit so all traces of achorseal would be turned out (so long as I can remount the bowl) while finishing the bowl to the final thickness.

In regards to the anchorseal allowing moisture to escape I have to assume it's at least semi-permiable. Even plastic bags are semi-permiable. I have no doubt that the bowls will dry very very slowly which I'm hoping will limit the movement of the bowl ???

[Dennis Ford]

I have done this before, you are correct that the bowl will dry very slowly. This does not guarantee that the bowl will not crack, but I have had good results avoiding cracking with the entire bowl coated with anchor-seal. There will still be considerable distortion once the wood is dry.

Two issues with this method:
Takes a lot of patience.
Wet wood is likely to mold under the anchor-seal.

[Wally Dickerman]

Sure, Anchorseal applied to the outside of the bowl or vessel will work. It's not an absolute seal so the wood will dry. It will help to keep the piece from cracking. It won't keep it from warping.

In my turning, I very liberally apply Johnson's paste wax to the outside. This method has been very successful for me for over 30 years. I live in hot dry Arizona. Right now I have around 60 to 70 pieces drying and not one is cracked.

I don't rough turn in the hot months of summer. If I have a piece that is very wet and is a wood that is prone to cracking I paper bag it for a few weeks.

I've never used alky or soap on my pieces.

Wally

[Bernie Weishapl]

a couple of follow-up questions - does no moisture escape thru the AnchorSeal, or is it simply very slowed down? also, if you coat a tenon, will it be possible to hold a rough turned bowl a chuck, do you think or will it be too slippery? mike

Mike if you true up the tenon there will be no wax on it. So you square the shoulder and round the tenon no wax. I have started painting the whole bowl with anchorseal. I have talked with Mike Mahoney about this. He does this on his bowls and has excellent luck.

[Leo Van Der Loo]

Jonathan wood does shrink, doesn't matter if it dries fast or slow, but wood does not get shorter, so with a regular (side-grain) turned bowl the bowl will distort, as the bowl gets thinner(side to side) and not shorter (end to end) it will get oval.

If there are knots or crotch in it the distortion gets more complicated but the same rules apply, (wood shrinks but doesn't get shorter when drying)