Some of you are all wet!

[Josh Bowman]

I just bought some green wood sealer from The Woodturners Catalog. I've been doing some reading here and find other methods to deal with a wet green turning. What methods work? Right now I don't have any sealer so it just seemed right to stuff the bowl in a plastic bag of it's shavenings.

[David E Keller]

There are lots of options. I use the DNA soak and newspaper wrap method for drying rough outs. It's worked pretty well for me so far, and it's faster than the paint and wait method. There's nothing wrong with using a wax emulsion to seal the endgrain(or the whole piece) and waiting for nature to do it's thing. Some folks use boiling to help dry and prevent checking, but I've not ventured into that method yet. Good luck.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Josh - the concept is to slow down the loss of moisture. You can do that with a wax emulsion, a paper bag full of wet shavings, paint or even a plastic bag - however, the plastic bag traps moisture and leads to mold - which can be a good thing if you are trying to spalt your own wood.

Lots of different ways to do things and what works for me - may not work for you.

Good luck with your green wood sealer! Always worked great for me!

[Josh Bowman]

Tell me about DNA.....what is it, how long....etc.
Thanks in advance
Josh

[David E Keller]

Tell me about DNA.....what is it, how long....etc.
Thanks in advance
Josh

Rough turn the piece as usual then soak it in denatured alcohol for 24 hours or longer. Then remove the piece and let it dry for about 10 minutes. I then wrap the piece in a few layers of newspaper leaving a hole in the paper over the opening of the bowl/form. I put the whole thing in the cabinet with the date written on it. I usually wait at least a month before returning the piece to the lathe to finish it.

[Sean Hughto]

I think I read this from Bernie, so I'm not saying it's original, but it has worked well for me: I tunr the green blank to rough shape, but about 3 to 6 times as thick as I'm going to want the final. Then coat the whole thing in Anchor seal. Within 3 to 6 months depending upon the variables (how big, thick, wet, species, storage atmosphere etc.) I return it to final. It's worked great.

Other times, I've turned moderately dry blanks to final and used the paper bag method to prevent cracks. The warping occurs, but I look at at it as a feature rather than a flaw. The Bernie method yields a bowl that stays more circular with a flat rather than wavy rim.