My experience on drying live oak

[Tom Winship]

Most of you know that I am relatively new to turning and have turned a number of bowls from live oak over the last couple of months.
I have tried basically two methods of drying. The first I give credit to Kathy (turn and burn) Marshall for telling me about. (Don't know if she originated it or not).

First, I have tried turning the bowl to finished dimensions, left the tenon on the bottom for further finishing and stored the bowl in a zip loc bag. I open the bag slightly and increase the opening daily until the bag is fully open. I remove the bowl, apply a finish and turn off the tenon. Later modification is to finish the bowl including removing tenon and apply finish and buff wax after drying is finished. (Kathy applies the finish to hers immediately after turning.

Secondly, I rough, submerse in DNA for at least 24 hours, remove and drain for an hour or so, wrap in newspaper with a hole about 1" in dia. and store away for a couple of weeks. Both bowls I have done this way have cracked terribly.

Don't know if it is just for live oak, but the "Kathy method" works better for me. I get some distortion, but not the terrible cracking I got with DNA.

This will be my go to method until something changes my mind.

This is MO, FWIW. Comments solicited.

[Jamie Donaldson]

Tom- I have successfully turned several pieces of live oak over the years, and here are my methods, which don't vary much from my regular routine. I seldon turn wood wet enough to spit at me, and prefer to allow wood that is dripping wet to air dry in large chunks before time to finish turn. I then turn to final dimension in one session, sand and finish. By the time the cutting and sanding are completed the wood is usually dry enough to finish, and turning thin is part of the secret, especially with dense woods like oak. Sometimes I postpone finishing, but almost always season the pieces in a Polish kiln (brown paper bag!) in the shop, often for several weeks without bothering to look. There should be too little moisture left in the wood to start a mushroom farm in the bag, and I also mix in a few microwave sessions with some projects to speed up the curing process. This is one of the areas that turners learn by doing, and it takes practice with different woods to learn how each reacts to the curing process.

[Prashun Patel]

Tom-

Thanks for that method. I've tried anchorseal and dna, and I still have a devil of a time keeping oak from splitting. I find it split-prone not only from the pith on the end grain, but also close to the bark; i've had a few recent tenons split because I didn't turn them deep enough into the heartwood.

Fresh oak can have such an acidic aroma, huh? It can literally bring a tear to yr eye.

Have you ever tried fuming oak bowls? Since the pieces are relatively small, I'm thinking of building a little amonia tent... What's yr favorite finish on oak?

[Bill Bolen]

Most of the Oak variety's are know to crack readily. I believe I read something about live oak being even worse that the red or white speciecs I turn.

[Tom Winship]

James, thanks for your comments. Not totally different than mine.
Prashun, my go to finish at the moment is sand to 600, Bartley's Wipe On Gel Varnish (1 coat), then beeswax and buffed with a cotton wheel from HF. Have not tried any of the other waxes like carnuba, or diamond or any of those. Beeswax is shiny enough.
Bill, I have done flat work with red and white oak. Turned a water oak bowl this afternoon that I will show tomorrow. Love live oak when it is wet though. Beautiful grain. Looks like the outside of a cantaloupe (sp?) Live oak is so much more dense than the others. Heavy

[Dennis Ford]

I prefer to turn oak thin while wet and finish it after it warps and drys. I have also tried boiling and that helped reduce cracking and sped up the drying also (it still warped a lot). The small amount of live oak I have turned held together better than white oak or red oak but that is not saying much.