Has anyone turned a chalice with green wood?

[Brian Kent]

Is it possible to turn a chalice with green wood? If so, how would you let it dry?

[Geoff Whaling]

Check out www.bodgers.org.uk

[Brian Ashton]

If I'm turning a particularly nice project from wet wood, after it's rough turned it tends to live in the fridge in a plastic bag for a number of months. If you can keep the humidity level in the wood consistent throughout or at least limit the variability significantly you should have few problems with cracking, warping still tends to be a bit of a crap shoot though. What i do is take the piece out of the fridge and plastic bag once a day for an hour or so to let some of the moisture evaporate. Then pop it back in to let the moisture equalise again. Over the process I'll inspect it just before putting back in the fridge to see if any cracks are starting to form. If so I hit them with CA glue which usually stops them from progressing.

[Mike Holbrook]

I am new to green wood but I have been working with it for a couple years now, having taken a few classes, made a few chairs...The trick is often the thickness of the wood in question. Chair makers whittle split pieces of wood down into relatively thin pieces and then throw them in a kiln to dry them uniformly quickly. For thicker pieces many people keep them in a plastic "trash" bag with the shavings that were removed. The bag is shut tight to keep the moisture even in the bag. Some people open the bag periodically to reduce the moisture.

I took a class with Chris Schwarz at Highland Woodworking on building saw benches using green wood chair techniques and old style tapered mortises. The bench tops were 2 3/4" green poplar. I have some issues with those thick poplar slabs that I have not had with my 1 3/4" poplar chair seat. I also had an issue with cracking in a 2 3/4" hardwood log I was making into a froe club. It kept cracking even in a plastic bag for the first few months, although I wasn't particularly careful with a piece of wood designated to beat a froe with. My shop is underground, in my basement, which seems to control humidity and temperature to the point that I have minimal issues with most woods until they get 2" or more thick. I think the difficulty in answering this question is the variety of temperatures and humidities many woodworkers deal with. Different woods, of course, are better or worse at checking etc. while drying.

[Brian Kent]

I can turn a chalice fairly thin (just thick enough to not snap in use) but I am wondering about stem warpage as it dries. I just found out the wood I was just given - fern pine - has no photos for turned pieces. That means I can run a full regimen of experiments to see what works.

[daryl moses]

Funny you should ask......Just turned my first ever chalice the other day. Not the best as the stems are too thick but I don't have a steady rest and I chickened out.
I will try to post a pic, not sure how as i've never done it on this forum. These were turned out of green Sycamore, I turned them and stuck them in the microwave and finished them the next day. Not polished them yet.
The lidded box was turned out of what remained on the lathe after I parted one of them off.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/darylmoses/P1010027_2.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/darylmoses/media/P1010027_2.jpg.html)

[Brian Kent]

I love sycamore. Did you rough them out, microwave, and finish turning or did you turn them completely, microwave, then apply a finish?

[daryl moses]

I finish turned them all at once, took them inside, stuck them in the microwave for 30 seconds at a time. Let them cool for awhile them nuked them again.
I applied the finish the next day.
This wood was about as green as it gets. I was cutting a dead standing red oak and my aim was off knocking the Sycamore down in the process.
I love Sycamore probably my favorite lumber. It turns great green!!

[daryl moses]

Here is a pic of the inside. I didn't turn them very thin, I was a little nervous as this was the first time I had ever turned any end grain.
BTW, neither one warped nor cracked, even the one with the knot.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v457/darylmoses/P1010026.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/darylmoses/media/P1010026.jpg.html)

[Bruce Pratt]

If you are not turning with the "pith" on center, you will get distortion of the cup, and possibly some bending of the stem, depending on how thin. While drying, you could try splinting the stem by taping a non-ferrous (to avoid rust stains) metal rod to it, and you could make a small plywood donut to fit snugly around the rim of the cup to keep it round during drying. As other have said, slow drying is key. I find that double brown grocery bags works for me - YMMV.

[Robert Henrickson]

I turned many goblets with tall thin stems from fresh cut branches. Winter-cut provided the best moisture levels. In most cases the pith was included but was always kept offcenter. All were air-dried, often in open air or at most in a paper bag. The stems -- all thin -- did not distort, staying straight. The main place where distortion might occur was in the rim of the cup portion. There was minimal or no distortion where the pith would pass through the lower curve of the goblet.

[Brian Kent]

OK, here goes. This really goes fast with wet wood after working with kiln dried for a long time. This chalice and the bowl will be placed in paper bags (inside plastic too??) and set on the shelf.


I saw the start of some translucence on the rim, so I think I'll see how thin I can turn a cup and see if I can get some nice translucence going.

[Doug Ladendorf]

Those look nice Brian. You might try boiling as well. Rough turn, then boil, then store in a paper bag until final turning.

[daryl moses]

Looks good! I think the plastic bag is overkill with the chalice though. As thin as it is it will dry quickly.
What kind od wood is it?

[Brian Kent]

Very good question, daryl. Here is our best guess so far:
Podocarpus Gracilior, or "Fern Pine". It is not actually a pine, but the long thin leaves look something like wide, flat pine needles. But we really are not certain.

[Brian Kent]

2 more answers to questions:
Yes, they can be translucent.
No, I do not know how to keep them from falling apart when they are that thin.

I will measure the thickness for future reference