Beginning turner here and loving every minute of it. I recently raided the wood pile and started making some wands. After posting a pic on social media I had a request from a co-worker to make her daughter a wand from a juniper tree that she just had cut down.

Which leads me to a bunch of questions:
  1. Can I turn the wand green and let it dry before finishing it (planned finish is either tru-oil or beeswax) or should I cut a blank and microwave dry it before turning, or turn green and seal green, or ???
  2. How does juniper turn? Anything I should be aware of before I throw it on the lathe? (My experience thus far has been with apple, elm, oak, purpleheart, and cherry all well seasoned)
  3. Is there any way to preserve the purple color of juniper or is it always going to change to brown over time?


Thanks in advance for any tips!