Another newbie question about turning green wood

[Tom Porter]

I turned my first natural edge bowl today (not really a bowl but we'll call it that for lack of a better term). I started with very green wood, turned and sanded it and then bagged it with shavings. I've done this with the other bowls I've done (I've only made about 5 so far). Yeah, they warp but since I'm new to this, I'm not really interested in rough turning things and coming back to them when they are dry in a few months. I'll do that once I have a bit of an idea what I'm doing. Besides, I've been happy with my results even though some aren't perfectly round.

So, here's my question: what would be the result if I were to finish the bowl before drying at all, say with Danish Oil or something similar? Will the finish not take to the green wood well? Will it cause the wood to warp more? I've tried searching on this but found a lot of stuff to try and sift through (especially since a search on Sawmill Creek apears return results with any of the keywords rather than only results with all of them).

BTW, here's the bowl in question.

252521

[Jerry Marcantel]

Tom, the green wood I've turned I usually weighed it first, put it in a bag, and shelved it to dry. I weighed it every 2 days and in about 2 weeks, they were dry. I live in Arizona with pretty low humidity. The ones I put in a bag with shavings got moldy. Nice bowl. What kind of wood is it?.................... Jerry (in Tucson)

[Jamie Donaldson]

This is a complicated subject Tom, and I don't turn any wood that is wet enough to spit at me, because it can't be sanded and finished until dry. But this applies moreso to vessels than open forms like bowls, where some warping is more acceptable, sometimes! I often cure turned bowls and vessels in a brown paper bag, never with shavings in a plastic bag, because that just becomes a fungus farm..

[David C. Roseman]

Tom, I've experimented with this recently, turning bowls green to finish, then right away applying a thin oil/urethane mixture (I like General Finish's Arm-R-Seal). Seems to help quite a bit by slowing the rate of moisture exchange, at least in the case of the Black Cherry and Black Walnut that I've been working with. Won't stop checking or warping completely, but seems to reduce it for me. The Arm-R-Seal adheres fine if the wood isn't extremely wet. Don't think I'd try this, tho, with a heavier polymerizing finish, like a wipe-on polyurethane.

Interested to hear what more experienced turners think.

David

[Tom Porter]

The wood is question is cherry. I bag them in paper bags. I've done it with and without shavings. The ones with shavings obviously dry slower, though I haven't enough experience to say whether the slower drying helps at all.

I figured it was a complicated issue. The one thing I've learned about turning so far is that if you ask 20 people a question, you seem to get 25 different answers. But that's part of the fun.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I generally turn NE bowls to finish and mostly 1/4" or less in thickness. I saturate it with antique oil till it won't take anymore. So far with cherry, walnut and maple I haven't had one crack. Knock on wood. lol They do move some but not much.

[Curt Fuller]

Tom, I just posted a piece where I'm doing just about exactly what you're asking about. Part of what I like about turning green wood is there's no guarantee what will happen. It might crack, it might not. Turning it thin will help reduce the chance of it cracking. It will most likely warp, and the surface will take on a rougher, grainy texture. But I personally like that. As for sanding and applying finish, it will gum up your sandpaper more than you like but you can wet sand with extra water or even a shot of WD-40 and get a pretty good surface. It won't take much oil or poly into the wood while it's green but after it's dried for a while you can give it another shot.

[John Keeton]

I've tried searching on this but found a lot of stuff to try and sift through (especially since a search on Sawmill Creek apears return results with any of the keywords rather than only results with all of them.Tom, you have received good advice on your main question. I just wanted to comment on perhaps a better way to search SMC. I use an advanced Google search, and find it much more effective. I limit the search to the domain sawmillcreek.com, and I try various modifications in the search string until I get what I want.

[Clint Baxter]

Tom

Just wanted to piggyback on what John said

If you do your search through Google, you can limit your search to a specific website. Go to Google and enter in your search in the following format:

site:sawmillcreek.org "rough turn" "green wood" finish

You list the site you wish to search first, and if you enclose the search terms in quotes, will only get results with the entire quotation.

The following example would bring up threads that have "rough turn" AND "green wood" AND "finish" at some point in the thread.

If you were to change your search to: site:sawmillcreek.org "rough turn green wood", then the threads would have to list instances
of "rough turn green wood" instead.

Made it a little easier on my searching when I realized I could limit my Google search to a specific website.

Good luck with your searching,

Clint

[John Keeton]

The search will also work with the following string - turning green wood site:sawmillcreek.org (no quotes) If you recall a particular piece someone did, include the individual creeker's name in the string along with a bit more description. It takes some practice, but it can be very useful.

[Tom Porter]

Thanks for all the advice. I decided to put a finish on the bowl today and see what happens. It will be another part of the learning curve.

[robert baccus]

Tom, after years of this game the only sure thing is that anything slightly green is an unknown. It may warp, crack, mildew or turn out perfect. There is species, orientation, grain, weather, time amd 40 other variables. If it is a really nice piece of wood, purchased or free, I rough-turn and endseal all over. Closed forms only get it on the outside. Double coat the rims and endgrain. I seldom have but a minor crack or so. Return and finish when the MC is 12%? It's all in the draw otherwise and some days you are the windshield---some days the bug. Rules are made to be broken or bested.