turning green wood question

[curtis rosche]

when turning green wood how dry does it have to be? i have a 16x5.5 cherry peice that when i cut it round you could feel it was wet and the meter said 20% is that to wet that itll crack?

[Jim Becker]

When I took David Ellsworth's course a few years ago, the fresh cut poplar was giving my a shower...literally...as I cut it on the lathe. While not a "given", rough turning even really wet wood to an even thickness will generally not have a lot of cracking issues with many species. The even thickness is the key as well as how you handle controlling moisture release from there.

[Joe Chritz]

I'm a straight novice at any turning stuff but if I understand correctly it is always a crap shoot if a green turning will dry without cracks and straight enough to clean up.

I have been doing some reading on drying with alcohol and it is supposed to help keep the movement down.

The advantages of turning green is you can just go lop off a branch and turn it, the disadvantages is you have to deal with a percentage of loss from weird drying.

Do a search on drying with DNA. Either here or google. Also for turning green wood. I started doing some reading but found so much info my eyes hurt.

Joe

[Richard A. Rivera, M.D.]

Curtis, you can turn that Cherry now. I have turned green blanks that were part of my neighbors tree only minutes prior. If you plan to wait a while, i would highly recomend you seal the end grain of both ends of the blank to tey to prevent checking with latex or one of the many products made for that job.

if you have not turned green before, it can be a real joy...shavings...not dust. And the tools stay cooler due to the moisture of the wood. If you do not have...I would highly recommend the book "Turning Green Wood" by Michael O'Donnell.

good luck...Dr. R...

[Brian Poor]

It really depends on what you want for a final product.

If you don't mind that the bowl will warp on a couple different planes, turn it to a final thickness and finish with oil now. Wet turning can allow incredibly thin walls if you are so inclined.

If you really want a more formal appearance, rough turn to about 1-1/2" wall thickness, then soak in denatured alcohol for a day or so. Take the bowl out of the bath, wrap the exterior of the bowl in kraft paper - tape it over the rim and leave the interior exposed. Place in a draft-free environment.
In about 3-4 weeks, the exposed wood should not feel cool to the touch, it will be at about ambient humidity.
Re-chuck and finish turn.

[Bernie Weishapl]

I have turned green wood to finial thickness and let it warp to whatever shape it wants. Most of the time I turn green wood and leave the wall thickness 10% of the diameter but never less than 3/4" thick no matter how small. I then soak for 24 to 72 hrs in Denatured alcohol. I wrap it in brown grocery sack and cut a opening on the bowl opening. I let it dry for 2 to 3 weeks. I put back on the lathe, true it up, sand and finish. I have only lost one bowl doing this. This is just my personel way I do it.

There are several ways to take care of green wood and seal it so it can be returned to the lathe to be finished. If you take care you will have good results. Even if it does crack and it is not to bad you can use epoxy with coffee grounds or epoxy and sawdust or a number of things to fill the crack. Then finish turning. Richard gave you a good book to read on this.

[curtis rosche]

you guys say to finish it then wait or soak it...... how quickly does it have to be finished? to get it finished turning will probably take me 2 days atleast be cause our shop class is only 80min long,,,,,,,(sucks next year they are changing it to 60min)

[John Fricke]

When your class is done for the day spritz your project with a little water and place it in a plastic garbage bag so it retains moisture. The Key is to keep it from drying too fast.