Drying WET Blanks

[Donny Lawson]

When you get done with with that freshly done wet bowl do you always use the DNA or seal it and put it in a bag or what is your process?I've made 4 so far and sealed the end grain with anchorseal and put in a paper bag and stored them in the attic of my shop.I will make some more this weekend.I'm just wondering what your process is.Thanks
Donny

[Stephen Massman]

I coat the entire blank with anchorseal and then put them in the basement on a wire rack. The room has a dehumidifier. weighing every three weeks or when i remember.

I only use DNA when i am in a hurry.

[Joseph M Lary]

I put mine in my basement , and where you live i would say you dont have one . You need to keep them from getting hot and drying too fast. If i where you i would use the DNA and wrap the out side , or seal it and put it in a bag of shavings, plasitc bag but leave it open . the best thing to do is experiment with several ways and find the one that works for you . All woods are not going to dry the same . good luck thats my 2 cents.

[Matt Hutchinson]

I have found that different blanks require different drying techniques, but whatever I do it only involves Anchorseal. With rough bowls that have really crazy grain, or knots, or are of a species known to be particularly problematic, I seal the whole thing and place in the basement. If it's a nice clear piece of wood, I just seal the endgrain areas. In both cases I don't wrap in bags or anything.

I have also found that a lighter coat of Anchorseal can help decrease the drying time. For instance, I have a customer who wanted a 16" cherry salad bowl. I happened to have some freshly harvested cherry that was soaking wet. I roughed out two 16" bowls in early November and only coated the endgrain lightly with sealer, and they are now around 8 or 9% moisture content without any cracking issues.

Hutch

[Frederick Rowe]

Looking for an alternative to traditional sealing then air drying techniques, I came across Ron Kent's method using dish washing soap. Very inexpensive, worth trying.

http://www.ronkent.com/techniques.php

[Tony De Masi]

I use only the DNA method but not only because it's fast, relatively. I keep using it because it works very well. In over three years I've lost one bowl using this method and that was early on and I left the pith in the blank. I know a couple of local professional turners who use the LDD,liquid dish detergent, method and they swear by that as well.

Tony

[Reed Gray]

Drying methods can vary according to which type of bowl you turn. You can turn thick to 10% of the diameter (so 10 inch bowl will be 1 inch thick) and generally seal, then dry. Most who do this seem to do the DNA soak. You can also turn to final thickness (1/4 to 1/2 inch), and dry. With the thin turned bowls, the soaking does nothing, unless you use the LDD which makes them a lot easier to sand. They will be warped, but I prefer mine that way. I don't seal them, just wrap some of the 6 inch stretch plastic film (the stuff you wrap around boxes to keep them on a pallet, Office Max, or other similar stores) around the rim a couple of times, and stretch it tight. In both circumstances, round over the rims before drying.

robo hippy

[Bernie Weishapl]

Donny I use both methods. Anchorseal the whole bowl and put them on the floor no more than 2 or 3 ft up. Like Tony I have used the DNA method for 3 or so years and haven't lost but 2 bowls. I don't think I would put my blanks in the attic. I would keep them in a stable cool place.

[Donny Lawson]

The attic is just the open rafters in my shop.I placed some boards up there to store them on more or less to get them out of my way.With the DNA method does it take alot of it to get a bowl done? The reason I ask is that the DNA here is $15.28 a gal.I would probally have to buy a couple of gallons.Say, if I had 3 8" bowls to dry with DNA about how much DNA would it take?Roughly..I figure the wood will soak up some DNA but will I be buying a gallon of this stuff everytime I go out?
Donny

[Dan Forman]

I don't use either DNA or Anchor Seal, just wrap the green bowl in a paper grocery bag and let it sit for about three weeks, then take it out of the bag and let sit for a couple of months. I used to use DNA, but had more cracks with it than with just the paper bag. My shop is in the basement, humidity ranges between 35 and 50% depending on the season.

Dan

[Dale Bright]

Donny, I Ancorseal my bowls, no bag or wrap. I do just the endgrain on some and the whole bowl on others, depending on the species and their tendency to crack. I place them on the bottom shelf of a wire rack in my garage / shop / turning studio. I date them and wait a few months, normally 6 months. I have waited a year on some of the larger ones and only 2 or 3 months on some small ones. I have lost none to cracking while drying, out of around 150 or so.

I call it the garage when I am doing something other than turning. I call it my shop when I am turning but having an off day or just a turned out OK, day. I call it my studio when I have one of those few very good days that I am turning out some good work and everything just works.

Dale