Rookie Questions about curing wood for bowl blanks

[Marty Gulseth]

Hi All,

So, Im not a turner - not yet, anyway. But a friend wants to try her hand at carving some small bowls, and she wants to use local wood. Here in the Inland Pacific Northwet, we have an abundance of Ponderosa (Bull?) Pine so she thinks that's a good place to start. (The nuances of carving pine - I'm not sure about that either, but that detail isn't part of my "assignment".)

So, I have several short logs, snatched away from a friend's woodpile, and I'm ready (I THINK!) to start curing them. I have a very general idea about curing "raw" wood prior to use for woodworking, but I've no idea what special precautions or tactics I should use for making "bowl blanks". I'm assuming: (1) the curing process will take a long time, I've already set her expectations on that detail; and (2) I presume that I should treat the ends with Armor-Seal (?) or perhaps just some generic latex paint?

I have a place in my shop where the logs can have mildly heated circulating air. Beyond that, and sealing the ends, what precautions and tactics shall I be taking to minimize the risk of splitting, etc.? Or, am I completely off-course here?

Thanks for any guidance and insights!

[Brice Rogers]

Others will reply with more detail but here are some important things:
1. Remove the pith !!! That is where the cracks originate
2. Consider rough turning (generally keep the wall thickness to be about 10% of the diameter). On red eucalyptus, this may not be enough.
3. Seal the end grain with paraffin, anchor seal or white glue.
4. Consider putting into brown paper bag to slow down moisture loss. But if you're in a humid area, this could lead to mold.

[Kevin Jenness]

If there are checks in the end grain now, cut them back to sound wood, split out the pith and block out as close to finished size as possible while leaving the full unchecked length and seal with anchor seal or pva glue. It's hard to keep short blanks from degrading. Once checks have started they will continue to propagate even after end sealing. I keep material like yours in an unheated covered shed until ready to use it.

It will take a long time to dry thick bowl blanks completely so it's best to start the shaping process while the material is green and in good condition. The blanks can be rough shaped and then dried slowly before finishing or taken to finished thickness and allowed to warp during a shorter drying period.

For medium length storage of round blanks start with log lengths, seal the ends and store off the ground and out of the wind and sun. Try to minimize moisture loss until ready to make a bowl, then cut off any checks, cut a blank to length and proceed to roughing out right away.

[Dave Bunge]

I agree with the advice above: you will have better luck making rough turned bowls and drying them vs trying to dry the whole logs. But, if you're not able to make rough turned bowls now, do as mentioned above and rip the log down the middle, through the pith, cut away any checks from the ends, seal the ends with something - Anchorseal or other wax emulsion is "best", latex paint will help some. If possible, leave the length 2-4" longer than the width to leave room to cut the ends off before turning, since the ends are likely to develop checking as the log dries.

Something to look out for - sap! Turning green wood pine can be a miserable experience due to resin and sap being flung everywhere. At least that's been my experience, probably with white pine. Not sure if that holds true for Ponderosa Pine.

[Reed Gray]

I don't like any of the pine/fir/cedar trees in the NW for turning. They may make good 'practice' wood since they can be readily available, but they are difficult to turn and get 'clean' surfaces. In Western Oregon, the juniper can be fairly nice, but still not my favorite. Myrtle, madrone, big leaf maple, walnut, apple, are all pretty nice. I wouldn't worry about getting wood till you have a lathe. Depending on where you are, if you find a near by club, that is a huge resource both for tools and lathes, and for wood. Many have wood gathering parties. I am in Eugene. I do have a bunch of bowl turning videos up on You Tube.

robo hippy

[Kevin Jenness]

The op's friend is not a turner, rather she plans on carving some bowls. Not the most efficient way to shape a bowl but more flexible as to form. Ponderosa pine is quite soft, so will be easy carving material.

[Darryl Hansen]

Hi All,

some generic latex paint?

I have a place in my shop where the logs can have mildly heated circulating air. Beyond that, and sealing the ends, what precautions and tactics shall I be taking to minimize the risk of splitting, etc.? Or, am I completely off-course here?

Thanks for any guidance and insights!
As others have said the Pith is where cracks will appear. After carving/turning the bowl soak in denatured alcohol for a day or so. The sap/moisture will combine with the alcohol. Dry for a bit until the bowl is easy to handle then wrap in in newspaper thickly and let dry for a month or two. You wll be able to tell when it is "dry" by the feel it will no longer be cool. Then finish to shape and apply finish as desired, Works about 95 % of the time. pine is a b to handle stary out of the flip area unless you look good in turpentine.

[Bernie Kopfer]

Hey Marty since you and I live in pretty much in the same climate, my experience with curing might be useful. The advice given about preparing your blanks is excellent. Sealing them with 10-20% diluted Titebond II or III has worked fantastically for me. I put the blanks on a shelf in the heated shop and usually in 3 months or less they are fully cured. But remember Titebond leaves a hard surface crust that might make carving more difficult. In the summer it is ridiculously fast around here.