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:
- 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 ???
- 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)
- 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!