Dry Climate wood spliting/cracking

[Tim Thiebaut]

I have been having an issue with my wood spliting and cracking. Keep in mind all of the wood I am useing is store bought from Rocklers, it is all from their turning blank bins, with waxed ends etc. I guess I falsely assumed that they were complete dry, or they may in fact have been completely dry and this extremly dry climate we have in colorado is just sucking what little mosture is left in them right out. I had started a small jewelery box for my daughters upcoming birthday out of redheart, I had basicly finished it late last night and left it in the chuck to finish up this morning, when I went down the thing had split and cracked to the point it is ruined, I know it wasnt from sanding heat as I hadnt done any sanding other then very light touchs in a few areas, when I got to checking around other wood I havnt even touched yet has the same issue. The only problem I have had this with so far is with my Redheart & Cocobolo, but I am worried about cutting into my Claro Walnut, Zapto Chico, and Purpleheart blanks for fear of the same thing happening to them.

I have no other option then to use store bought wood as I cant get out into the woods like I used to because of physical limitations from an injury I suffered 3 years ago, I got into turning a month ago as my own self appointed mental and physical therapy, so my wood is expensive to aquire and I need to figure out how to protect it from being ruined.

Should I buy a mosture meter and if so what level of mosture should the wood have? And even if I know the mosture level I am not sure what to do with that info so I am open to any and all ideas of how to protect my wood from spliting while working on it, and while just stored in my shop, thanks as always for any and all input from you folks, Tim

[David E Keller]

Not sure if it would help, but how about a small humidifier in the area where the wood is stored. Obviously, you may need to be more fastidious about keeping your cast iron waxed, but that seems like a simple way to prevent over drying.

[Paul Williams]

Most of the wood I have purchased from Rockler has not been dry. I think it is safe to assume that if it is waxed all over it is not dry.

[Don Alexander]

haven't found a waxed blank yet that was dry almost 100% sure that they cut em from green logs and wax em immediately so that checking is kept to a minimum as drying is drastically slowed down as it should be
i usually take a paint scraper and scrape the majority of the wax off and then let the blanks set in the shop for at least a couple of weeks sometimes a couple of months ( haven't been turning a whole year yet ) i like turning them while they aren't spraying water everywhere but before they get real dry and generally turn to completion and finish then let nature takes its course as it dries from there works for what i've done so far but wouldn't be the best method for some stuff

my limited experience has been that letting a blank just sit as it comes with the thick layer of wax on it, it won't dry out for a long long time and i think thats the general idea actually HTH

[Tim Thiebaut]

Thanks for the info everyone, and thanks to Bruce for the PM, I will try all of the above, I will remove what wax I can today and let them set for a while before I turn them. I also went down and bagged all of the smaller pieces I could into frezzer bags so that they wouldnt be completely ruined by the time I got to them this week. Does anyone know of a supplier of already dried wood I could purchase some wood from? Thanks again...

[Paul Williams]

Our local woodcraft had some really nice looking walnut yesterday. They were asking $9 for a 2 1/2 by 9 by 16 blank. Also Rockler has been selling square pieces of ash and round turning blanks of curly maple lately. I think 2 to 2 1/2 was the thinckest and 9 or 10 inches was the largest. They were dry and not waxed. It appeared that the local Rockler stores each got a couple of pallet loads of the mable rounds. I don't know if it was a one time buy or if it is an item that they plan to carry.

[Tim Thiebaut]

Hi Paul, yea I went in last week and got 4 beautiful pieces of curly maple from them, and your right that is dry as a bone, they were on sale for $10 per stick thats half off. The stuff I got was approximatly 2 X 2 X 22 and has a fantastic grain pattern in it. I am going to run over there again this week and see what I can find, unfortunatly the only woodcraft we have in the denver area is on the far side of town from me, couple hours round trip to that store.

[Dan Forman]

Tim---Assume that anything with waxed ends is still wet, and must be treated as such. That means if you are turning a box, for example, you will have to turn it oversized, same as a bowl, put it in a paper bag, let it sit on the floor for about 3 weeks, take it out of the bag, let it sit for about 6 more weeks, then turn to final size. It will warp some as it's drying, so don't try to fit the cap until after both are fully dry.

Caution---If you remove the wax from the remaining pieces, they might well crack before you get to turn them. Please do some reading about how to deal with green wood.

Dan

[Michael James]

Please do some reading about how to deal with green wood. Dan
I would concur, and add my .02. Just on the south side of the Rockies from you, I have dealt with the same problem. My fix until I can get to a DNA soak spot is put anchor seal on it until I'm ready to continue. Warning: I rusted out brand new chuck jaws leaving a bowl roughout tied up in a plastic baggie for about 3 days in zero humidity!!!! Using a bag is a good short term bandaid but DONT BAG THE CHUCK TOO! :eek:

[Tim Thiebaut]

Well I guess I am going to have to rethink everything here, I thought the wood I was picking up from them was dry and ready to go. I havnt started doing any bowls yet, just small lidded boxes and things like that. I need to find some wood that I can turn while everything else is drying out I guess.

[David E Keller]

...Does anyone know of a supplier of already dried wood I could purchase some wood from? Thanks again...

Here's a recent thread dealing with sources for burl, but many of the suppliers listed also have non-burl wood:

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?155368-Burl-suppliers&highlight=

[Wally Dickerman]

Never, ever, leave a partially finished piece on the lathe overnight, or even for an hour or 2, without covering it with a plastic bag. You have removed all of the protection from the wood and it will probably crack. You will just about never buy a blank from a dealer that isn't very wet unless it's kiln dried. If it's covered in wax it will almost always be very wet. I speak from experience. A very wet blank of say, 4 inch thick will take years to air dry

My suggestion is to leave the wax on the wood until you are ready to to turn it. Either turn it to completion or rough turn it and cover it with a good wood sealer. If I rough turn the piece, which I usually do, I write the date on it. It will take 6 months or more to dry. I have had good success doing this and I live in the desert in Arizona, which is at least as dry as Colo.

You will almost never successfully turn a box from even partially wet wood. It will warp and the lid won't fit. It's a good idea to rough turn a box unless you know that it's completely dry.

Wally

[Don Alexander]

it would be wise to assume that Wally and Dan know more about handling wet turning blanks than i do :)

[Tim Thiebaut]

Thanks everyone for your input here, I have learned alot and will adjust the way I handle wood from now on, thanks again.

[Roger Chandler]

+1 for the plastic bag Wally mentioned. Anytime you turn a piece, and have to leave it for even 15 minutes, you should place a plastic bag over it! DAMHIKT!!! :eek:

Fruit woods like cherry and apple are the worst I have seen, but I have also seen walnut do it as well.

Once you lose a couple of pieces that way, it makes you either finish in one setting, or keep a supply of plastic bags or wrap around real handy. I use plastic grocery bags from Wally World mostly. Also a good supply of masking tape!

[Steve Schlumpf]

Tim - another vote for Wally's suggestion of covering your work with a plastic bag! I use that method all the time and it does work!

Check this place out for kiln dried wood: http://www.bellforestproducts.com/

We have our turning club meetings at their warehouse and get to check out a large variety of domestic and exotic woods while waiting for the meeting to get started! Beautiful stuff!

[Tim Thiebaut]

Thank you Steve, it looks like they have just what will work for me! Tim

[Bernie Weishapl]

Tim I turn my bowls and pieces to about 10% thickness. I do like Wally had mentioned and had watched Mike Mahoney at a demo tell us to coat the whole piece with anchorseal. Store it on the floor in a cool place with not much air movement. It does take a while for them to dry but so far so good on the stock I have. On lidded boxes, ornaments, mini birdhouses, etc I do use kiln dried wood.

[Tim Thiebaut]

Hi Bernie, I havnt moved up to bowls yet, still getting the hang of things with lidded boxes, ornaments, and I do have one mini birdhouse in the works as well, I just need some wood wide enough for the dome/roof piece.

[Jon McElwain]

You say you don't get out into the woods anymore? Well, I am fairly new to the area (Fort Collins), and I have not found a good place to find project wood in the woods around here. Perhaps your knowledge of the good spots to find hardwoods could be traded for a few retrieved bowl blanks??

[Tim Thiebaut]

Hi Jon, hardwoods no, believe me I wish I knew where there was some hardwood avalible!!! If I hear of any I will let you know though!