What moisture content would be good to turn.

[Jay Jolliffe]

I'm one for wanting to finish something on the lathe to end product. I haven't had good luck turning green & waiting for it to dry.Takes to long & I'm to impatient. I've come across blocks 28 percent. Is that dry enough to turn to the end product ?

[Dennis Ford]

You can turn to final thickness at any moisture content as long as you don't mind some warping. Most shrinkage occurs between about 20% and however dry it ends up (5 -10% depending on climate). 28% is pretty wet and it will shrink/warp some, it is also too wet for most finishes.

[John Keeton]

You will get some drying during turning depending on ambient conditions, and much of this depends on what you are wanting to turn. If the finished piece has "fitted" parts, such as a lid, then one would want wood that has reached an equilibrium for your given area and conditions. However, for most situations, I would think 12-14% would be sufficient to minimize movement and cracking.

i just saw Dennis' response. Keep in mind location and "equilibrium" in TX would likely require significantly drier wood than in Maine, I would think.

[Reed Gray]

Air dried lumber is considered 'stable' at 12% or so, which can vary a lot according to local conditions. Kiln dried is in the 8% range, but that can change/go up with storage in a more humid environment. Even dry pieces will move some.

robo hippy

[Bill Bukovec]

One thing that works for me is to green turn so much wood, you don't have time to get to it.

My wife said she wanted me to make four bowls for Easter. Luckily, I had enough blanks.

Since my wife "made me" turn some bowls, I checked every blank in the shop.

The moisture content was 6% from blanks I roughed out 6 months ago.

My shop is heated with wood and Minnesota gets pretty dry in the winter. Usually I wait a year for the green blanks to dry out.

Now that the bowls are done, my wife has a hard time parting with them.

[Michael Mills]

As John said, a lot depends on your area. It is greatly different here in NC than at my brothers in El Paso.
Here is a link to equilibrium by state/city for the 12 months.
It is normally quite a bit less if stored in a home rather than a shop (unless the shop has full climate control). The %'s listed are for normal storage.
http://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplrn/fplrn268.pdf

Charts start on abt page 4.

For where I am, I consider anything <15% good to go, in El Paso I would wait until <9%.