Jerry Marcantel
06-23-2011, 5:29 PM
On 4-15, I turned a tenon on each end of a small piece of green mesquite that ended up 8 1/8" long with a 2 7/16" od. I then cut two equal pieces 4" long and reinserted each back into the chuck and drilled a 15/16" hole about 2 3/4" deep.
After the holes were drilled, I put one piece into my DNA bucket, and the other piece went into a bag. The next day, I took the piece out of the DNA soak, surface dried it, stuffed it into a bag and weighed it. On 4-16, it weighed 325.2 grams. The piece that did not get the DNA soak, weighed 356 grams. I don't know why the difference, but that's what they weighed.
They were hung up in bags in a closet in an unlived in room in my house, (tool crib), which is not climate controled. Daytime temps inside were up to 75-95° during the day to as low as 60°-80° during the night.
Today, 6-23, I weighed them again. The DNA piece weighs 257 grams, showing a moisture loss of 68.2 grams.
The piece not soaked, weighed 261 grams, with a loss of 95 grams.
This was a fairly accurate and controled experiment and shows that DNA dosen't work that great for mesquite. I have found that turning a fresh green mesquite blank to finish size will net you an uncracked and slightly warped bowl, as apposed to rough turning, soaking in dna, bagging and then finding a bunch of cracks a month later. Fortunately, they are just hairline cracks, and can be hidden....
I made 14 salad bowls for a sister. They were all turned to 3/8" - 1/2" thickness. Half were soaked in DNA, bagged and let sit for 30 days. They had cracks. The other half not soaked showed no signs of cracks. I know, no pics, didn't happen...Just trying to stimulate conversation. ............ Jerry (in Tucson)
After the holes were drilled, I put one piece into my DNA bucket, and the other piece went into a bag. The next day, I took the piece out of the DNA soak, surface dried it, stuffed it into a bag and weighed it. On 4-16, it weighed 325.2 grams. The piece that did not get the DNA soak, weighed 356 grams. I don't know why the difference, but that's what they weighed.
They were hung up in bags in a closet in an unlived in room in my house, (tool crib), which is not climate controled. Daytime temps inside were up to 75-95° during the day to as low as 60°-80° during the night.
Today, 6-23, I weighed them again. The DNA piece weighs 257 grams, showing a moisture loss of 68.2 grams.
The piece not soaked, weighed 261 grams, with a loss of 95 grams.
This was a fairly accurate and controled experiment and shows that DNA dosen't work that great for mesquite. I have found that turning a fresh green mesquite blank to finish size will net you an uncracked and slightly warped bowl, as apposed to rough turning, soaking in dna, bagging and then finding a bunch of cracks a month later. Fortunately, they are just hairline cracks, and can be hidden....
I made 14 salad bowls for a sister. They were all turned to 3/8" - 1/2" thickness. Half were soaked in DNA, bagged and let sit for 30 days. They had cracks. The other half not soaked showed no signs of cracks. I know, no pics, didn't happen...Just trying to stimulate conversation. ............ Jerry (in Tucson)