Bowl Drying

[Tom Bucanan]

I have been doing alot of green turning (maple, beech, cherry) lately and I just started the DNA process. I have alot of large roughed out bowls with anchorseal on them in order to allow them to dry. First off, how long would an 18" maple bowl (1.75" thickness) covered in anchorseal take to dry. Also, any recommendations on removing the anchorseal so that I can put them in the DNA bath in order to speed up the process (I have sold a gallery 12" bowls, but they are interested in larger bowls). Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

[Mike Vickery]

The general rule is 1 year per inch. So for 1 3/4 it would be about 1 year and 9 months.

No idea on removeing the anchor seal

[Barbara Gill]

One way to remove Anchorseal is boiling according to a thread on another forum.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Tom......One suggestion might be to lightly turn off the outer coating of anchor seal?


Check out this thread in the woodworking articles forum here at SMC if you need some help with the DNA process

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=34370

BTW..........Welcome to the Creek!

[Tom Bucanan]

Thanks for all your help. I guess I will probably just let the thing dry and tell the gallery that I won't have anything ready for them for a couple of months. I have some 6-12" cherry bowls that will be dry in about a month so I'll see if they want any of that. But thanks for all the help.

[Alex Cam]

Hi Tom,

Another thing you might consider is weighing the bowls. They'll continue to lose weight until they reach equilibrium and are for all intents and purposes dry.

[Frank Kobilsek]

Tom,

Don't get discouraged about not having 'big bowls' available for your gallery. While you would think Big would be better (your gallery contact and I thought this way) they don't sell as often or as easily as smaller bowls. I enjoy 12 to 14" sized pieces but what sells is 6 to 8". Maybe its price, maybe its they don't want to carry it around all day at a show, but I think people can easily imagine a small space for a small piece of wood art in thier home. A space for a 18" display bowl is harder for the customer to imagine.

Keep creating all sizes but know big takes a special customer.

My .02 worth.

Frank

[Reed Gray]

Another alternative is to finish turn them while wet to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick and let them dry and warp, then sand and finish. Usually dry in 7 to 14 days. I like the warped shapes, and they sell well for me. As far as the soaking goes, I have done a test, where I weighed 3 sets of bowls (2 cored bowls to a set) over the drying period, and there was no measurable difference in drying time. I used one set of air dried, one set DNA soaked, and one set LDD (liquid dishwashing detergent) soaked. The only real difference was that the LDD soaked ones sanded out a lot easier than the DNA soaked ones. You may have to dry bowls in bags, but remember, dry too fast and they split, dry too slow, and they mold. It may take some experimenting to find out what works best for you.

robo hippy

[Dick Strauss]

Tom,
Some of the Anchorseal should wash off with water. If you add Dawn to the water, I'm sure you'll take it off in a hurry.

[Dave Wimmer]

Hi Tom,

Another thing you might consider is weighing the bowls. They'll continue to lose weight until they reach equilibrium and are for all intents and purposes dry.

I use a scale purchased on ebay for about $25. Usually stop loosing weight in about 2 weeks in my shop.