Turning an urn from green wood?

[Dave Duane]

Greetings. First time poster here. I have been turning, off and on, for a few years, but nothing real serious. I had started out woodworking on a ShopSmith but over time I acquired stand alone machinery and was only using the SS as a lathe. So, I finally broke down, sold the SS and bought a Jet 1642EVS. It is so much nicer that I'm sure I will be turning a lot more in the future.

I am now looking to turn an urn and have been unable to find a dry blank the size I need, so I'm looking at green wood. Would this be the same process as turning green wood for bowls...rough it out, wait a few weeks while it dries and then finish up the work? Or is it just not a good idea?

[robert hainstock]

I'm not a green wood turner, but I do know that anything made green will warp in the drying. Take a look at my November 25 post last year. I could email you the plans. If I were to do it again, it would be smaller. Good luck whatever you try.:)
Bob

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dave - Welcome to the Creek! Looking forward to seeing some of your work real soon!

I turn hollow forms out of green wood. I also use the DNA process for drying the blanks. As long as you leave enough thickness (~10%) so that you can turn the form to final shape - you shouldn't have any problems.

[Jim Underwood]

I'm going to be trying what Steve recommends. I roughed out a Peach HF the other day, and it'll be a while before it's ready.

I've also seen a local demonstrator turn the two piece urns in green wood. He just glues them together and lets them dry. He says as long as he keeps the grain matched he doesn't have any problems with the glue joint.

[Dave Duane]

I'm not a green wood turner, but I do know that anything made green will warp in the drying. Take a look at my November 25 post last year. I could email you the plans. If I were to do it again, it would be smaller. Good luck whatever you try.:)
Bob

Excuse me if this is a real stupid questions....but how do I get to your Nov 25 post. I tried searching on all posts by you, but they only went back to February of this year.

[Dave Duane]

Dave - Welcome to the Creek! Looking forward to seeing some of your work real soon!

I turn hollow forms out of green wood. I also use the DNA process for drying the blanks. As long as you leave enough thickness (~10%) so that you can turn the form to final shape - you shouldn't have any problems.

What is the DNA process? I tried searching the forum for DNA and got zero results. Not sure why it didn't at least return your post.

[William Bachtel]

What size dry wood are you lookin for? Wheres your location. I may have what you need.

[Steve Schlumpf]

Dave, check out this thread - it contains a lot of the info you asked.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=82777&highlight=Denatured+alcohol

[Don Robert]

Take a look at the "bible" for DNA drying:
http://www.woodcentral.com/cgi-bin/readarticle.pl?dir=turning&file=articles_473.shtml