Drying green Boxelder pen blanks

[dirk martin]

I've got some chunks of box elder, that has a lot of red flame in it.
These are fresh chunks.
I want to cut a lot of it into pen blanks, bottle stopper blanks, and maybe some into knife scales.

What's the best way to dry small blanks like this?

[Bill Bulloch]

Box Elder dries so fast that you probably will not have a problem with it. The friction from sanding should be sufficient to finish drying these small pieces ..... especially, the pen blanks and knife scales.

[Jim Burr]

It will dry as it spins...wear a face shield...it will get messy!

[Bernie Weishapl]

If I can't turn them right away I just cut them a little oversized maybe 1 X 1 and anchorseal the ends. Put them on the shelf and let dry.

[dirk martin]

What about 2" x 2" x 15" pieces of Bloodwood, and Purpleheart?
My moisture meter is reading 20% on those sticks, and they are fully coated with wax, thus as-is, they aren't drying a bit.
What's the best proceedure for getting the moisture down on those?

What if I scraped the wax off, and gave them an alcohol soak for 48 hours, then anchorsealed the ends, and monitor their weight loss daily ?

[Donny Lawson]

I do not have any problems with Box Elder. As far as pen blanks or stopper blanks just cut them a little oversized seal the ends and throw them on a shelf. They will be fine. I've got some stashed all over the shop. I'll get to it sooner or later.

[Bernie Weishapl]

Dirk when I buy that wood that is all waxed I scrape off the wax on all sides but leave the ends sealed. I don't DNA them.

[dirk martin]

I'm looking for a way to get to these MUCH SOONER than later, since I then want to run them thru my stabilizer.

[dirk martin]

Dirk when I buy that wood that is all waxed I scrape off the wax on all sides but leave the ends sealed. I don't DNA them.

But then you have a significant wait time for drying, right Bernie?

[Chris Burgess]

The waxed pieces may be dry. I am thinking your 20% is coming from the wax. Cut a slice off the end and test it or if you have a scale weigh it once a week until the weight comes back the same then I test it every 2 or 3 days and when I get the same reading 3 times I call it dry.

[Prashun Patel]

I am NO expert, but I didn't think wax could hold any water so it shouldn't have a moisture reading?

You might look into microwaving your blanks to dry them. You have to do it in bursts of 1 minute intervals, allowing it to cool somewhat between 'blasts'. It worked quite well for me the ONE time I did it this weekend on a 12" oak bowl blank; I imagine a pen blank with ample length might hold up pretty well.

[dirk martin]

Good thoughts, Chris.
I too wondered if it was from the wax, but when I cut into it, and put the meter on the fresh wood, it still read 20%.

[Donny Lawson]

I've only used DNA on one bowl and it has turned brown. Lesson learned. I guess the DNA does something to it.

[David E Keller]

+1 for the microwave... Beware of strange odors associated with the process which can be hazardous to you health... The smell itself is not dangerous, but your wife may be dangerous if she finds out what happened!

[Dave Bell]

I use a toaster over set to @ 180 degrees for 6-8 hours. Check the moisture content and repeat if necessary. Then stabilize and turn. Are you using Cactus Juice to stabilize with? I have just started to use it and it works great, especially on box elder. If you want to spice it up a bit, add some dye to the stabilizer.

Dave

[dirk martin]

I tried that, Dave, and got some pretty heavy cracking on the blank ends.
Should the ends be sealed before putting in the toaster oven?

[Dave Bell]

The end sealer is wax based....so no. Being it is box elder it does dry relatively fast if left out on it's own too. Leave enough material (thickness) to allow for warping so that the blanks can be trimmed down to size later.

Dave