Ken Salisbury
05-30-2004, 6:59 PM
I am continuing my experimentation with LDD treatment of bowl blanks.
I had a spalted beech bowl blank which I soaked in a 1/3 LDD and 2/3 water solution for 2 days. I then rough turned the blank to a wall thickness of 10% of the bowl diameter and put it back into the LDD/water solution for 2 days. I then turned to the approximate finished size and allowed it to air dry in the shop for 4 days before attempting to final turning and finishing.
While waiting for the beech bowl to dry I emerged 3 cherry blanks in the solution for 2 days, then rough turned to the 10% rule like before, replaced in the LDD for 2 days and then turned them to the approximate finished dimensions.
Now I had the beech bowl, somewhat drier, but still not dry enough and 3 bowls that were REALLY wet. I decided to use the microwave to remove more of the moisture. First I measured the moisture content of the 4 bowls using my Mini Ligno meter. The beech bowl which had been allowed to air dry for a few days measured 28% moisture content and the 3 cherry bowls measured 34%.
I microwaved all these bowls on medium power for 1 minute, removed and let stand for approx 45 minutes to cool and repeated that process 5 more times. I weighed each blank after each cycle with my postal scales to monitor the weight loss.
Results after running all 4 bowls through 6 cycles in the microwave:
The 3 cherry bowls lost 23%, 22%, 25% of their weight and the beech bowl lost 10% of it's weight.
The moisture content of all bowls was reduced to an average of 22%.
When these blanks were removed from the initial soaking they were close to jet black. Even after rough turning, as you can see in the photos the wood was still left darkenend by the LDD/water treatment. After the microwave drying there was a marked difference in the color coming back to the natural color of the spalted beech and the cherry.
Pictures 1 is prior to microwave treatment and picture 2 afterwards.
PRIOR TO MICROWAVING:
http://www.oldrebelworkshop.com/misc/LDD01.jpg
AFTER MICROWAVE PROCESS:
http://www.oldrebelworkshop.com/misc/LDD02.jpg
I am pleased with the results sp far. No warping or splitting is obvious and the moisture content is where I believe it to be satisfactory. Tomorrow I plan on remounting these bowls and do some light finish turning to remove any warping, sand and apply an oil finish. I also believe the sanding procedure will help dry them even more.
SO FAR SO GOOD ! ! ! ! ! !
I had a spalted beech bowl blank which I soaked in a 1/3 LDD and 2/3 water solution for 2 days. I then rough turned the blank to a wall thickness of 10% of the bowl diameter and put it back into the LDD/water solution for 2 days. I then turned to the approximate finished size and allowed it to air dry in the shop for 4 days before attempting to final turning and finishing.
While waiting for the beech bowl to dry I emerged 3 cherry blanks in the solution for 2 days, then rough turned to the 10% rule like before, replaced in the LDD for 2 days and then turned them to the approximate finished dimensions.
Now I had the beech bowl, somewhat drier, but still not dry enough and 3 bowls that were REALLY wet. I decided to use the microwave to remove more of the moisture. First I measured the moisture content of the 4 bowls using my Mini Ligno meter. The beech bowl which had been allowed to air dry for a few days measured 28% moisture content and the 3 cherry bowls measured 34%.
I microwaved all these bowls on medium power for 1 minute, removed and let stand for approx 45 minutes to cool and repeated that process 5 more times. I weighed each blank after each cycle with my postal scales to monitor the weight loss.
Results after running all 4 bowls through 6 cycles in the microwave:
The 3 cherry bowls lost 23%, 22%, 25% of their weight and the beech bowl lost 10% of it's weight.
The moisture content of all bowls was reduced to an average of 22%.
When these blanks were removed from the initial soaking they were close to jet black. Even after rough turning, as you can see in the photos the wood was still left darkenend by the LDD/water treatment. After the microwave drying there was a marked difference in the color coming back to the natural color of the spalted beech and the cherry.
Pictures 1 is prior to microwave treatment and picture 2 afterwards.
PRIOR TO MICROWAVING:
http://www.oldrebelworkshop.com/misc/LDD01.jpg
AFTER MICROWAVE PROCESS:
http://www.oldrebelworkshop.com/misc/LDD02.jpg
I am pleased with the results sp far. No warping or splitting is obvious and the moisture content is where I believe it to be satisfactory. Tomorrow I plan on remounting these bowls and do some light finish turning to remove any warping, sand and apply an oil finish. I also believe the sanding procedure will help dry them even more.
SO FAR SO GOOD ! ! ! ! ! !