Is it dry?

[Joe Shinall]

Just started turning as some of you know. I bought a ton of blanks on clearance at woodcraft in Jax about a month ago and I turned 2 so far. One of them warped a little on top a few days after turning. Are these blanks you get from places like that(wax coated) not dry? I thought they were and shouldn't warp.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Joe - most of them that I have seen should be treated as green wood! Meaning - either turn to finial thickness and let warp or do the twice turn method.

[John Keeton]

Joe, I have found that most all blanks at retail stores are wet. I buy from some sources and get dry wood.

With domestics, I can just about tell from the weight, but I do have a moisture meter, as well. I haven't turned exotics except for finials and a little cocobolo on a couple of goose calls.

[Barry Elder]

Usually they are waxed when they are green, and it takes many years for them to dry after the end grain is waxed. Especially if they are tropical or hardwoods.

[Joe Shinall]

Thanks guys, i was wondering because they did seem a little wet when turning. Didn't warp much, my wife couldn't even notice but of course I could. If that is all the warp I am going to get then I will just turn it to final thickness and let it be.

John, is there a website you order from where you get it dry?

[Allen Neighbors]

Steve and John are right on the money. I bought Lignum Vitae, Ebony, and Cocobolo... all of them were wet.
I think the wood they get in most of this type of store, like Woodcraft, has just been shipped in from around the world. It's just been harvested, waxed and shipped....
You can find some that's been in the store for a year or more, sometimes. that might be fairly cured out, but that's not often.

[Don Alexander]

just because 1 piece warped only slightly don't expect every piece to act similarly some of those waxed blanks will warp significantly it depends on several factors different species of wood have different movement tendencies , everyone of those waxed pieces will have different moisture levels and thats just to name 2 factors
HTH

[Joe Shinall]

just because 1 piece warped only slightly don't expect every piece to act similarly some of those waxed blanks will warp significantly it depends on several factors different species of wood have different movement tendencies , everyone of those waxed pieces will have different moisture levels and thats just to name 2 factors
HTH

Oh yeah, I knew this because one warped and one didn't. Same wood, same size blanks. They were all about a dollar a piece so I am using them as learning blanks anyways before I use the nicer ones. They will be turned twice.

[Michael James]

Oh yeah, I knew this because one warped and one didn't. Same wood, same size blanks. They were all about a dollar a piece so I am using them as learning blanks anyways before I use the nicer ones. They will be turned twice.

OMG......Woodcraft here gets outrageous sums for their blanks and nice amer. hardwood is as expensive as a lot of the exotics, or close. All the good suppliers here are going away. I suspect that is true for a lot of retailer outlets.

Can we get photos>>
mj

[John Keeton]

John, is there a website you order from where you get it dry?Joe, I have bought several blanks from Jeff Nicol here on the creek, and all of them were dry except for one piece, and Jeff told me that ahead of time. Good wood, good prices.

And, I have purchase way too much Claro walnut, dry, from Mike Smith (http://easternncwoodworkers.com/msmith/woodblocks.htm) Mike also has/had (goes thru a lot of wood!) some old growth redwood that was dry, and some BLM burls - of which I have purchased several. He has a variety of other domestics, some of which may be dry.

Also, Isaac Rapleja had a thread in the Classified forum thinning down his wood supply. He sold some maple burls, and several creekers (including me) purchased some. They were dry, as well. I believe he has some redwood burl in an ad right now.

That is a start for you. I would start with Jeff Nicol for some reasonably priced domestic blanks. I LOVE Claro walnut, and Mike has some very nice, highly figured blanks.

[Joe Shinall]

Michael, trust me, their prices are usually that way. I got in there one day when they had a ton come in and was clearing out their old stuff. I had my lathe for about 4 months before I turned a blank because I was looking for the best prices on some and didn't want to spend 20 bucks on a blank just for practice. I happen to be in there the right day.

There's some Red Gum, Ambrosia Maple, cherry, walnut, and a few others. For your viewing pleasure.

Thanks John, I will have to get with them and see what % of my paycheck I can spend :D

[John Keeton]

NICE HAUL!! And, great price! BTW, how long were you able to leave that stuff on the kitchen countertop????;) I'm not sure I could get by with that long enough to flip the shutter on the camera.

[Joe Shinall]

NICE HAUL!! And, great price! BTW, how long were you able to leave that stuff on the kitchen countertop????;) I'm not sure I could get by with that long enough to flip the shutter on the camera.

Wife was at work. Snapped the pics and then hauled the haul to the garage. Although, wasn't too good at cleaning the wax off the counter and almost got caught :eek:

[Kyle Iwamoto]

I've had kiln dried wood move on me. I was making pepper mills. If you release stresses in wood, it can move..... So, even for pepper mills, I turn twice.

[Don Alexander]

awesome wood and even better at the price :D

[Bernie Weishapl]

I was told at Woodcraft and Rockler in Denver to treat their wood as wet/green.

[neil mackay]

pretty well you can say wax=wet, especially imported as its sold by wet weight.
Dry weight can be horrendous for instance Tasmanian wet burl $3000 per cubic metre, dry around $6500+ per cubic metre.

[Joe Shinall]

pretty well you can say wax=wet, especially imported as its sold by wet weight.
Dry weight can be horrendous for instance Tasmanian wet burl $3000 per cubic metre, dry around $6500+ per cubic metre.


:eek::eek::eek:

Remind me to never ever speak the words Tasmanian wet burl. i feel that just thinking about it costs me about $500...