Prepping stock for wooden plane build

[Matt Benton]

I just purchased a 3x3x12 block of bloodwood for my first wooden plane build, a skew miter plane, Krenov style.

My question is how to best go about drying it. It is currently waxed, and the moisture content is between 13 and 15 with a moisture meter. Should I go ahead and cut it into parts (front, back and sides), then true up over a certain period of time, or just build it and re-flatten and square it as I go?

Thanks!

[george wilson]

Sounds too wet to use right away. It might take quite a while for something as dense as bloodwood to get down to 7%.

I haven't worked with much bloodwood,and what I did use was dry enough,so I could be wrong about the needed drying time.

I'd be afraid of cracking as it does dry,but you need to get the wax off so it CAN dry.

[Faust M. Ruggiero]

Rip the block down to 3/4" stock. Sticker it and practice plane making using hard rock maple for a couple years while the blood wood dries. When ready, true it, glue it and make your plane. The first few are learning experiences, the next few are keepers and the rest are gifts. They are all fun to make and all hone your skills.
fmr

[Zahid Naqvi]

The first few are learning experiences, the next few are keepers and the rest are gifts.

Ain't that the truth. I would also echo this sentiment. Make 2-3 planes first to fine tune your technique, then hit the primo lumber to make the keepers. The bloodwood I'd let dry, a rough number I have heard before is 1 year per inch of thickness for air dry. Not sure how the timings would change if this was placed inside a kiln.

[Graham Hughes (CA)]

To add to what others have said, wood dries much faster through its end grain than it does through face grain. So if you cut it to approximate length it may dry out quicker, but ripping it approximately isn't going to help much.

[curtis rosche]

take a tip from over at the turning forum. try using Denatured Alcohol. (DNA) soak the wood after taking off the wax, let it soak for about 24-48 hours, then take out and wrap up in paper towels, or towels, or newspaper. set in a cool dry area with little or no draft. come back in a couple months, and your peice will be dry

[David Keller NC]

Matt - I've purchased a lot of wood in a similar condition (still relatively wet and waxed). The species included true lignum, osage orange, ebony, bloodwood, and in one case, true english boxwood (wich I could get some more of that!).

What I'd say is that a fairly small blank like you have will dry considerably faster than a year or two if it's in a humidity-controlled shop.

That's not a good thing if you remove all of the wax, as it will likely check badly. But you must remove some of the wax or it will not dry. So what you want to do is to remove the wax on the sides by not the ends - do this with a cabinet scraper or a handplane.

Then, using a cheap kitchen scale, weigh the piece and record the weight directly on the blank. Leave it alone in your shop for 3 or 4 weeks, then weigh it again, leave it alone, weigh it, etc... What you will find is that the drop in weight will start to taper off rather quickly. When you get a couple of weight readings that are within 3 or 4 grams that are a month apart, you're ready to go. Note that this is a considerably better method than trying to do this with a moisture meter, because it ensures that the piece is at equilibrium with your shop humidity, not just that it's got a low MC.